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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 are the three categories of the "comic" which Bakhtin cites from Schneegans?
2. What does Rabelais associate closely with the underworld?
3. How does Bakhtin interpret Rabelais' work as a response to the hardships of France in 1532?
4. What are examples of that which Bakhtin calls "cosmic terrors"?
5. What Renaissance series of works was highly influential to Rabelais' notion of the grotesque body?
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. What is the significance of the figure of the androgyne in Rabelais' novel?
3. Which elements of Villon and Tappecoue's (Ticklepecker's) episode make it a "tragic farce"?
4. What is the significance of Friar John's description of the monastery belfry as "fecund"?
5. What did the Medieval stage resemble?
6. What is "cosmic fear," and how is it treated in Renaissance folk culture?
7. Why is the "Hippocratic Anthology" significant to Rabelais' work?
8. How does Rabelais use the element of popular speech known as "coq-à-l'âne"?
9. What is the connection between the banquet and speech?
10. How is "folly" ambivalent?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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.
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
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?
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This section contains 963 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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