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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. In which twentieth-century movement was the grotesque especially evident?

2. The episode in which Pantagruel and his companions defeat King Anarchus' knights combines:

3. To what does Bakhtin compare the various cries of Paris?

4. What are the targets of the abusive language in Rabelais' prologue to the Third Book?

5. How are Bakhtin and Rabelais similar?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was the general perception of laughter in the Renaissance?

3. What does Bakhtin mean when he argues that laughter affirms the people's unofficial truth?

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

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

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

7. How does Bakhtin interpret the prologue of _Pantagruel_?

8. Describe the Renaissance student writings.

9. Describe two episodes of beatings or injury are specifically centered around the theme of feasting.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the nature of Medieval and Renaissance popular dramatic forms. On what occasions were performances held? What genre were these performances, and what was their common subject matter? What does Bakhtin mean when he asserts that such performances had no "footlights"? Citing examples from the text, explore the theme of universalism in these dramas.

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This section contains 878 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample