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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. What were "street cries"?

2. According to Bakhtin's semiotic understanding, what irony is inherent within the creative power of language?

3. The vocabulary of the prologue of _Gargantua_ is:

4. What is "man's second nature," according to Renaissance Christian doctrine?

5. Comic rituals in Medieval and Renaissance Europe were:

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Rabelais' relationship with the fairs based upon?

2. What do Rabelais' long lists of names and epithets signify?

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

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

5. In general, what happened to the use of humor in literature after Rabelais' time?

6. What are the "cris de Paris," or "street cries"?

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

8. What about the episode of the Lord of Basche is carnivalesque?

9. Describe the Renaissance student writings.

10. How is degradation expressed, in terms of Rabelais' grotesque realism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the relationship between praise and abuse. Use examples of this theme from what Bakhtin identifies as billingsgate and marketplace language and from popular-festive forms in Chapters 2 and 3. How were praise and abuse part of the tradition of "unofficial" language, and specifically how did they oppose "official" language? Are there elements of the grotesque in praise and abuse?

Essay Topic 2

What is significant about the marketplace in the Renaissance? What is its relation to folk culture? How are social relationships conducted in the environment of the marketplace? How are the "street cries" significant aspects of folk culture? What other "unofficial" elements of communication, social commentary, and social interaction are especially prevalent in the marketplace? Are there any carnivalesque elements of the marketplace?

Essay Topic 3

What is a "blazon"? How are blazons part of the carnivalesque and grotesque traditions of folk humor? What sorts of people or things were turned into blazons, and why? How is the theme of duality related to the blazon? How does Rabelais employ blazons in his novel?

(see the answer keys)

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