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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Artaud, where does the great public look to along with the music hall or the circus for violent satisfactions?
(a) The zoo.
(b) Television.
(c) The movies.
(d) The opera.

2. In what year were the letters dated from "Letters on Cruelty"?
(a) 1938.
(b) 1941.
(c) 1932.
(d) 1911.

3. To whom does the author address the first letter in "Letters on Cruelty"?
(a) Alexander Pierre.
(b) Jean Racine.
(c) Mme. Richeliou.
(d) J. P.

4. "When the poetic spirit is exercised, it always leads toward a kind of boiling ______, an essential disintegration of the real by poetry."
(a) Freedom.
(b) Redemption.
(c) Anarchy.
(d) Dissimilation.

5. In his second letter of "Letters on Language," Artaud states that he finds the duality between author and _____ in the context of theater totally absurd, since there should be no difference between them."
(a) Actor.
(b) Mise en scene.
(c) Director.
(d) Stage manager.

Short Answer Questions

1. In his "Letters on Cruelty," Artaud writes of who, which "carts off vanquished princes and makes them his slaves"?

2. Artaud claims that the public thinks first of all with its what?

3. What second film does Artaud mention in his first note of "Two Notes"?

4. Artaud writes, "Cruelty is above all lucid, a kind of rigid control and submission to ______."

5. Who appears with his men like giants alongside their tiny vessels in Act 1 of Artaud's proposed production?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss how Artaud's time and place impact his vision of the theater.

2. What is Artaud's subject of his second note in "Two Notes"?

3. In Artaud's "Letters on Language," he insists that the task of "mise en scène" must not be subordinated to spoken or written words as if this task was simply an accessory to theater. What does this mean?

4. Discuss the use of masks and accessories as described in the First Manifesto.

5. How does Artaud describe the correlation between actions and language in his "Letters on Language"?

6. What does Artaud write in his "Letters on Language" regarding the psychology of characters?

7. Discuss the stage as described by Artaud in his First Manifesto.

8. What physically must an actor learn to localize in his body?

9. What does Artaud describe "cruelty" in reference to in his letters?

10. Discuss Artaud's feelings about the cinema as he describes them in "The Theater of Cruelty."

(see the answer keys)

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