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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. In the preface, Artaud makes an analogy remarking that we (white Europeans) are unaware that to anyone else, we might be the ones who what?

2. What is the name of the ship in Artaud's metaphor of the plague?

3. Artaud writes of the comparison of theater to alchemy, "It is that alchemy and the theater are so to speak _____ arts, and do not carry their end--or their reality within themselves."

4. Artaud suggests that "true theater" should not mirror human life but instead should evoke what?

5. What is proposed by the author as meant to shake up the foundations of civilization and culture as a whole?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does "gold" represent in Artaud's analogy of "The Alchemical Theater"?

2. What are the author's feelings about psychology and the theater? What of poetry?

3. What are the sources of the essays in "The Balinese Theater"?

4. In what reference does Artaud comment on Plato in "The Alchemical Theater"?

5. What does Artaud write of civilization and culture in his Preface?

6. What does the author claim is the reasoning behind why the public is turning away from the "higher" arts in "No More Masterpieces"?

7. What is the link between art and culture in the Occidental theater? How must this change, according to Artaud?

8. What must occur for the theater to be restored, according to the author?

9. What is the "reality" of the Balinese theater, according to Artaud?

10. In "Oriental and Occidental Theater," how does Artaud describe the downfall of the West?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss and describe the Theater of Cruelty as the author presents it in his First Manifesto. What are the essential elements? How does it differ from the contemporary theater of Artaud's time?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Artaud's use of metaphor as he relates the theater to the plague. What are the benefits of both? What are the downfalls?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the role of "culture" in society and life according to Artaud. How does the theater relate to this culture?

(see the answer keys)

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