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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. Why does Bakhtin cite Goethe as a source about the nature of Carnival?

2. Bakhtin asserts that Rabelais' language, and the language of Renaissance France, was above all:

3. In the example Schneegans offers, what does Rabelais' Friar John assert makes women fertile?

4. Which grotesque elements does Bakhtin note were included in the procession of the feast of Corpus Christi?

5. One of Rabelais' main sources for his enumerations of food was a Medieval treatise about:

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the role of games in Rabelais' work?

2. How did games and gaming change after the Renaissance?

3. What is the connection between the banquet and speech?

4. What is the significance of Friar John's description of the monastery belfry as "fecund"?

5. What is the significance of the figure of the androgyne in Rabelais' novel?

6. Why is the "Hippocratic Anthology" significant to Rabelais' work?

7. How does Rabelais construct the episode of Epistemon's resurrection and of his visions in the underworld?

8. What is the significance of the two Russian eras of history to which Bakhtin refers in Chapter Three?

9. What is the nature of the carnivalesque crowd in Rabelais' novel?

10. How do the Medieval and Renaissance pictures of the cosmos differ?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore Bakhtin's study of language in Rabelais. What is "vernacular" or "colloquial" language? How is it different from "official" languages, like that of the Church or of the monarchy? How is verbal communication different from written communication, and who or what does each type of communication serve? How does Rabelais keep his language lively and never dull? How does Rabelais transform names, nicknames, proper nouns, and all other forms of speech?

Essay Topic 2

What connections do Bakhtin and the authors of the Foreword and the Prologue draw between Bakhtin and Rabelais? How were their lives and times similar? What common themes are evident in their writing? In which important ways do they differ?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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