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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. Upon what was the performance based which Artaud discusses in his second note of "Two Notes"?
(a) "The Great Gatsby."
(b) "As I Lay Dying."
(c) "The Sun Also Rises."
(d) "The Last Tango."

2. Of the word "cruelty," Artaud writes in his letters that the word represents "irreversible and absolute" what?
(a) Rage.
(b) Determination.
(c) Inspiration.
(d) Loathing.

3. To whom is Artaud's first letter in "Letters on Language"?
(a) Aguste Francois.
(b) M.B.C.
(c) J.P.
(d) M. R. de R.

4. What does Artaud claim that the approach of psychological theater is?
(a) Rational.
(b) Absurd.
(c) Insane.
(d) Boring.

5. In his first letter from "Letters on Language," Artaud writes "It seems, in brief, that the highest possible idea of the theater is one that reconciles us philosophically with _____."
(a) Cruelty.
(b) Life.
(c) Death.
(d) Becoming.

Short Answer Questions

1. In his second letter from "Letters on Language," Artaud underlines the fact that _____ precede language.

2. What does Artaud compare actors of the "current" theater to in "The Theater and Cruelty"?

3. "What voluntary breathing provokes is a spontaneous reappearance" of what?

4. What is the title of the first example Artaud writes the Theater of Cruelty will undertake?

5. In his first manifesto, the author writes "Every spectacle will contain a physical and ______ element, perceptible to all."

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Hieronymous Bosch and why does Artaud write about him in "The Theater of Cruelty"?

2. What is Artaud's subject in his first note from "Two Notes"?

3. Describe how Artaud defines the images and movement of the "Theater of Cruelty" in his second manifesto.

4. What must the actor control in order to relate emotions he wants to convey?

5. What are the differences the author notes between the athlete and the actor?

6. What are the different types of breathing the author refers to?

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

8. Discuss and describe Artaud's depiction of lighting for the Theater of Cruelty in the First Manifesto.

9. In Artaud's first letter in "Letters on Cruelty," who is he writing to and what is his principle subject?

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

(see the answer keys)

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