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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. Which aspect of Renaissance culture does Bakhtin stress is still apparent in Western society today?
2. What are the three categories of the "comic" which Bakhtin cites from Schneegans?
3. "Fat William," of comic folklore, symbolized:
4. Bakhtin describes Rabelais' depiction of the underworld as:
5. What does Bakhtin assert is evident in Rabelais' plan for Pantagruel's journey?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is the significance of the two Russian eras of history to which Bakhtin refers in Chapter Three?
2. What does Bakhtin mean when he writes that popular-festive carnivalesque performances have no "footlights"?
3. What is "cosmic fear," and how is it treated in Renaissance folk culture?
4. Briefly describe the two opposing lines of thought in the "querelle des femmes."
5. How is "folly" ambivalent?
6. Why does Bakhtin assert that we cannot make the mistake of interpreting Rabelais' images of the material body lower stratum with our modern sensibilities?
7. What is the significance of Friar John's description of the monastery belfry as "fecund"?
8. Why is the "Hippocratic Anthology" significant to Rabelais' work?
9. What was "prandial libertinism"?
10. What did the Medieval stage resemble?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the theme of debasement in Medieval and Renaissance folk culture. How was debasement associated with the lower stratum of the body? Who or what were targets of debasement? How was debasement or degradation accomplished? How is humor associated with debasement? What is the ambivalent nature of debasement in folk culture?
Essay Topic 2
Choose three main characters from Rabelais' novel and explain the meanings of their names (for example, Gargantua, Pantagruel, Panurge, King Anarchus, Friar John, Lord Basche, etc.) Discuss any connotations their names may have, any allusions to people, places, historical events, or mythology, and what their names represent in the context of carnivalesque folk culture.
Essay Topic 3
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.
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This section contains 949 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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