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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. "Friar John" is heavily associated with:
(a) Nature and the earth.
(b) Food and battles.
(c) Sex and love.
(d) Intellect and spirit.

2. What do oaths and curses have in common with town announcements and the calls of vendors?
(a) They all are familiar parts of the society of the marketplace.
(b) They all are forbidden during certain times of the year.
(c) They are all said with the same feelings in mind.
(d) They are the only socially acceptable methods of greeting strangers.

3. What are the targets of the abusive language in Rabelais' prologue to the Third Book?
(a) Members of the aristocracy whose political ideals are not in keeping with Rabelais' ideals.
(b) Representatives of old, hypocritical, serious Medieval philosophy.
(c) Average townsfolk who have imbibed too much wine.
(d) Foreign travelers who have offended the traditions of Carnival.

4. Comic rituals in Medieval and Renaissance Europe were:
(a) Necessary to mercantile transactions.
(b) Taboo in all settings but the royal court.
(c) Freed of the trappings of religious dogma and mysticism.
(d) All that which linked the living to the dead.

5. The vocabulary of the prologue of _Gargantua_ is:
(a) Quietly reflective and speculative.
(b) Purely abusive and vulgar.
(c) Objective and editorially distant.
(d) Loaded with comparatives and superlatives.

6. Why does Friar John beat thousands of men in his abbey?
(a) As a show of force to deter invaders.
(b) To save France from atheism.
(c) To save the abbey's vineyards.
(d) Another Friar challenged him.

7. Who is Janotus de Bragmardo?
(a) A robber who stumbles across Gargantua's treasure.
(b) A scholar sent to recover church bells from Gargantua.
(c) A clown who mocks Gargantua at Carnival.
(d) A market vendor scheming to cheat Gargantua.

8. What do Rabelais' various works indicate about the popular notion of urination?
(a) Urination fertilizes the earth and creates bodies of water.
(b) Urination is disgusting and should be done privately.
(c) Urination can only be used for comic purposes.
(d) Urination is a medical mystery that baffles doctors.

9. Why did Bakhtin feel his times were comparable to those of the Renaissance?
(a) The literatures and cultures of both eras bore a distinct resemblance.
(b) Both eras were times of broad social change that left people unsure of how to proceed.
(c) The specific threat of disease was killing many people in both times.
(d) Two political leaders of the different eras were incredibly alike.

10. Medieval parodies were:
(a) Focused on the negative aspects of society.
(b) Limited to parody of individuals.
(c) Concerned with the positive, humorous aspects of everything.
(d) Limited to religious parody.

11. In Rabelais' time, jurons, or profanities and oaths, were most often concerned with:
(a) Monarchs who subjugated their people.
(b) Sacred themes, such as saints and relics.
(c) Family ties, such as one's in-laws.
(d) Marketplace vendors who cheated their customers.

12. What was the most prevalent medium of the culture of the common folk in the Renaissance?
(a) Pantomime.
(b) The spoken word.
(c) Semaphore signals.
(d) Printed newspapers.

13. What was the reception of Rabelais' work in the eighteenth century?
(a) Other writers used his topics as a jumping-off point for their own works.
(b) Other writers strove to emulate his style.
(c) His work was viewed as unintelligible and barbaric.
(d) His work was viewed as a revival of Classical writing.

14. What was unique about the Russian Revolution?
(a) People of all classes and occupations were centrally involved.
(b) It was purely a religious revolt.
(c) Only the elite class was involved.
(d) It continues into the present day.

15. What repressive organization was Bakhtin forced to join in order to continue writing?
(a) The Russian Union of Writers.
(b) The National Writers' Agency.
(c) The Post-Revolution Press
(d) The Soviet Society of National Fiction.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do some critics argue has been absent from Russian literature?

2. How does Bakhtin define the novel?

3. How does Bakhtin interpret the relevance of the cries of Paris to Renaissance France?

4. What are examples of carnivalesque victims?

5. The episode in which Pantagruel and his companions defeat King Anarchus' knights combines:

(see the answer keys)

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