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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. From what does Panurge suggest the protective walls of Paris be built?

2. Bakhtin asserts that "The Play in the Bower" influenced Rabelais' work specifically in its:

3. What does Rabelais parody in his response to the episode of Gargantua's birth?

4. How does Bakhtin define "folly" as it relates to festivity?

5. The defense of the abbey by Friar John contains:

Short Essay Questions

1. What is "cosmic fear," and how is it treated in Renaissance folk culture?

2. Describe the figure of "Gros Guillaume" and his significance to Rabelais' novel.

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

4. How does Rabelais use the element of popular speech known as "coq-à-l'âne"?

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

6. Why does the logic of the grotesque ignore the closed surfaces of the body?

7. What did the Medieval stage resemble?

8. What is the significance of "cuckoldry," and how is it portrayed?

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

10. How is "folly" ambivalent?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Explain how laughter permeates every aspect of Renaissance folk culture, as Bakhtin argues it does. Cite specific examples from the text regarding the carnivalesque, the grotesque, official/unofficial modes of speech, and the ambivalence of certain forms and causes of laughter. Do these portrayals point to a greater "truth," as Bakhtin would say?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the importance of Rabelais' own historical context to his novel. How does he allude to, reinterpret, parody/travesty, or otherwise address contemporary people, places, and events? Cite at least two examples from Bakhtin's study.

(see the answer keys)

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