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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why did Hippocrates assert such an influence on Rabelais?
(a) The theme of religious fervor in his works.
(b) The theme of the grotesque body in his works.
(c) Hippocrates' exclusive emphasis on folk culture.
(d) All his works were set in the marketplace.

2. What does Bakhtin assert is evident in Rabelais' use of games that combine play and prophecy?
(a) A ponderous, scholarly approach to the study of history.
(b) A disregard for the importance of historical figures.
(c) A carnivalesque conception of the historical process.
(d) A highly spiritual notion of the relevance of human history.

3. Gargamelle gives birth to Gargantua as a result of:
(a) Eating too much tripe.
(b) Praying for a child.
(c) A spirit impregnating her.
(d) Casting a spell of birth.

4. Bakhtin finds food and drink representative of society because:
(a) Certain societies eat only certain foods.
(b) The work of collecting and preparing meals was a community affair.
(c) Feasts were the only time available for socialization.
(d) The type of food or drink determines the type of person.

5. According to Schneegans, what is the grotesque in art?
(a) A caricature that has reached exaggerated dimensions.
(b) A spoken-word performance involving violent acts.
(c) A representation of an otherworldly object.
(d) A portrait that has been defaced.

Short Answer Questions

1. The principle of "negation" in popular-festive imagery is always:

2. "Fat William," of comic folklore, symbolized:

3. What actual event probably inspired Rabelais' story of Pantagruel's birth?

4. Bakhtin finds that ___________ are especially closely interwoven with the grotesque body.

5. Bakhtin discusses "Cyprian's Supper," which is a play about:

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Bakhtin assert that we cannot make the mistake of interpreting Rabelais' images of the material body lower stratum with our modern sensibilities?

2. How is "folly" ambivalent?

3. How did games and gaming change after the Renaissance?

4. What does Bakhtin mean when he writes that popular-festive carnivalesque performances have no "footlights"?

5. Why does the logic of the grotesque ignore the closed surfaces of the body?

6. What is the significance of "cuckoldry," and how is it portrayed?

7. How do the Medieval and Renaissance pictures of the cosmos differ?

8. Why is the "Hippocratic Anthology" significant to Rabelais' work?

9. How does Rabelais respond to the geographical changes of his own time and world?

10. Why are eating and drinking two of the most important manifestations of the grotesque body?

(see the answer keys)

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