View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the beginning of Chapter 6, Bakhtin argues that Rabelais' entire novel exhibits a clear, general __________ thematic trend.

2. What do wine and oil symbolize in Rabelais' novel?

3. Goethe traces the roots of Carnival to the:

4. According to Bakhtin, how did Rabelais invent many of the locales and characters in his novel?

5. How does Friar John interpret the riddle he and Gargantua hear?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the nature of the carnivalesque crowd in Rabelais' novel?

2. Why does the logic of the grotesque ignore the closed surfaces of the body?

3. What is the connection between the banquet and speech?

4. Why does Bakhtin choose to relate Goethe to Rabelais' work?

5. Which elements of Villon and Tappecoue's (Ticklepecker's) episode make it a "tragic farce"?

6. Briefly describe the two opposing lines of thought in the "querelle des femmes."

7. What does Bakhtin mean when he writes that popular-festive carnivalesque performances have no "footlights"?

8. Why are eating and drinking two of the most important manifestations of the grotesque body?

9. Why does Bakhtin assert that we cannot make the mistake of interpreting Rabelais' images of the material body lower stratum with our modern sensibilities?

10. What is the significance of Friar John's description of the monastery belfry as "fecund"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of debasement in Medieval and Renaissance folk culture. How was debasement associated with the lower stratum of the body? Who or what were targets of debasement? How was debasement or degradation accomplished? How is humor associated with debasement? What is the ambivalent nature of debasement in folk culture?

Essay Topic 2

What connections do Bakhtin and the authors of the Foreword and the Prologue draw between Bakhtin and Rabelais? How were their lives and times similar? What common themes are evident in their writing? In which important ways do they differ?

Essay Topic 3

Define the term "carnivalesque" as Bakhtin uses it. Then, demonstrate this definition by applying it to at least two of the episodes, characters, or scenes which take place in Rabelais' novel. What does the carnivalesque demonstrate about the nature of folk culture? What role does humor play in the carnivalesque?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 954 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample