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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How are Bakhtin and Rabelais similar?

2. What are the "intelligentsia"?

3. How does Rabelais accomplish the grotesque degradation of his target in the prologue to the Third Book?

4. The vocabulary of the prologue of _Gargantua_ is:

5. What does young Gargantua study in order to become acquainted with the common folk?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the "feast of fools," and why was it a particularly festive laughter in the Middle Ages?

2. Why do modern readers find it difficult to read Rabelais' novel?

3. Why does Bakhtin state that in Rabelais' novel everyday kitchen implements and foods have an intrinsic value?

4. How does the marketplace become an indicator of folk culture in general?

5. Why does the speaker of the prologue of the Third Book invite only good men to drink?

6. What do Bakhtin's examples of Rabelais' tales of extraordinary urination have in common?

7. What is the underlying nature of all of Rabelais' images?

8. How does Rabelais describe the human body in the context of grotesque realism?

9. What role do oaths and profanities fill in Rabelais' novel?

10. What does Rabelais parody with the character of Janotus de Bragmardo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the "querelle des femmes" and Rabelais' perspective on it. How does Rabelais' novel portray women and femininity? Is Bakhtin's explanation of Rabelais' perspective on the querelle des femmes problematic in any way? Feel free to address this issue using terms of modern feminist theory.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the meaning and significance of "grotesque realism." How is it manifested in Rabelais' time? How is the material body presented in the tradition of the grotesque? Why does Bakhtin connect folk culture so closely with the grotesque? Use examples from the text to support your points.

Essay Topic 3

What roles do games play in Rabelais' novel and in the Renaissance? Discuss how games and gaming fulfill an "unofficial" social role as opposed to an "official" one. What images, traditions, and symbols does Bakhtin associate them with? How are games representative of folk culture? How did games and gaming change after the Renaissance?

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