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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In his second letter of "Letters on Language," Artaud states that he finds the duality between author and _____ in the context of theater totally absurd, since there should be no difference between them."
(a) Director.
(b) Mise en scene.
(c) Stage manager.
(d) Actor.

2. What does Artaud intend to do with the stage in the Theater of Cruelty?
(a) Abolish it.
(b) Light it on fire.
(c) Raise it.
(d) Put barriers around it.

3. What is the title of the first example Artaud writes the Theater of Cruelty will undertake?
(a) "The Ends of Time."
(b) "David and Goliath."
(c) "The Spanist Conquistador."
(d) "The Conquest of Mexico."

4. Writing of language in his first manifesto, Artaud states, "It is not a question of suppressing the spoken language, but of giving words approximately the importance they have ______."
(a) In tribal rites.
(b) In movies.
(c) In physicality.
(d) In dreams.

5. According to Artaud, what the athlete depends upon in ______ is what the actor depends upon in shouting a passionate curse.
(a) Running.
(b) Fighting.
(c) Catching.
(d) Throwing.

6. What is the title of the second note Artaud writes in "Two Notes"?
(a) "Thoughts on Film."
(b) "Monkey Business."
(c) "Autour D'une Mère."
(d) "Animal Crackers."

7. "The soul can be physiologically reduced to a skein of" what, according to the author?
(a) Thoughts.
(b) Breath.
(c) Movement.
(d) Vibrations.

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

9. In his first letter of "Letters on Cruelty," Artaud writes, "I do not systematically cultivate _____."
(a) Fear.
(b) Horror.
(c) Cruelty.
(d) Bloodshed.

10. In his "Letters on Cruelty," Artaud writes of who, which "carts off vanquished princes and makes them his slaves"?
(a) Egyptian kings.
(b) Ethiopian Ras.
(c) Nazis.
(d) Colonizers.

11. What does Artaud write of the set for the Theater of Cruelty?
(a) Sets will be elaborate.
(b) Sets will be made of fabric.
(c) Sets will be period-specific.
(d) There will be no set.

12. Artaud writes, "At the point of deterioration which our sensibility has reached, it is certain that we need above all a theater that _________."
(a) Wakes us up.
(b) Enrages us.
(c) Frightens us.
(d) Enables us.

13. What does Artaud assert is the principle concern of the actor physically?
(a) Breath.
(b) Physique.
(c) Emotions.
(d) Strength.

14. In his last letter from "Letters on Cruelty," Artaud writes "the desire characteristic of _____ is cruelty since it feeds upon contingencies."
(a) Power.
(b) Eros.
(c) Lust.
(d) Athena.

15. In his second letter of "Letters on Cruelty," Artaud refers to what as being in a sense of constant creation?
(a) Music.
(b) Art.
(c) Theater.
(d) Film.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Every breath has how many kinds of time?

3. 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 _____."

4. To whom does the author address the second letter from "Letters on Cruelty"?

5. Artaud claims that the lighting equipment now in use would no longer be what for the Theater of Cruelty?

(see the answer keys)

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