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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. What are examples of carnivalesque victims?

2. Why are Rabelais' billingsgate elements considered "coarse and cynical" by most scholars?

3. According to Bakhtin's semiotic understanding, what irony is inherent within the creative power of language?

4. Rabelais' description of Alcibiades reflects:

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the "feast of fools," and why was it a particularly festive laughter in the Middle Ages?

2. How does Rabelais describe the human body in the context of grotesque realism?

3. How are being drenched in urine or covered in excrement treated in Rabelais' novel?

4. What was the effect of the suspension of social hierarchies during Carnival?

5. What do Rabelais' long lists of names and epithets signify?

6. Describe Friar John.

7. What role do oaths and profanities fill in Rabelais' novel?

8. How does Bakhtin interpret the prologue of _Pantagruel_?

9. Why does Bakhtin state that in Rabelais' novel everyday kitchen implements and foods have an intrinsic value?

10. In general, what happened to the use of humor in literature after Rabelais' time?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is significant about the marketplace in the Renaissance? What is its relation to folk culture? How are social relationships conducted in the environment of the marketplace? How are the "street cries" significant aspects of folk culture? What other "unofficial" elements of communication, social commentary, and social interaction are especially prevalent in the marketplace? Are there any carnivalesque elements of the marketplace?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the Medieval and Renaissance views of the world, including the individual, social, and cosmic aspects of the world. What spurred the change from the Medieval to the Renaissance way of thinking? How is this change, and the social, political, and religious controversies or struggles that accompanied it, evident in Rabelais' novel?

Essay Topic 3

Explore Bakhtin's study of language in Rabelais. What is "vernacular" or "colloquial" language? How is it different from "official" languages, like that of the Church or of the monarchy? How is verbal communication different from written communication, and who or what does each type of communication serve? How does Rabelais keep his language lively and never dull? How does Rabelais transform names, nicknames, proper nouns, and all other forms of speech?

(see the answer keys)

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