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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In his second letter from "Letters on Language," Artaud states, "My plays have nothing to do with ______ improvisations."
(a) Copeau's.
(b) Jarry's.
(c) Racine's.
(d) Nietzsche's.

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

3. In Artaud's Second Manifesto, he describes the spectacle itself as being formed along the lines of _________ which will be materialized in gestures and movement before decaying into sounds and words.
(a) Bible verses.
(b) Dream sequences.
(c) Ancient myths.
(d) Current events.

4. "When the poetic spirit is exercised, it always leads toward a kind of boiling ______, an essential disintegration of the real by poetry."
(a) Freedom.
(b) Redemption.
(c) Anarchy.
(d) Dissimilation.

5. What does Artaud say has "maintained us for ten years in an ineffectual torpor"?
(a) Musicals.
(b) Theater.
(c) Opera.
(d) Movies.

Short Answer Questions

1. In his first letter of "Letters on Cruelty," Artaud writes, "I do not systematically cultivate _____."

2. In what year were the letters dated from "Letters on Cruelty"?

3. What does Artaud compare actors of the "current" theater to in "The Theater and Cruelty"?

4. In his first manifesto, the author writes "Every spectacle will contain a physical and ______ element, perceptible to all."

5. To whom is Artaud's first letter in "Letters on Language"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the events of the last two acts of "The Conquest of Mexico."

2. Discuss how Artaud's time and place impact his vision of the theater.

3. How does Artaud describe what "cruelty" is not referring to in his letters?

4. What must the actor control in order to relate emotions he wants to convey?

5. What is Artaud's subject in his first note from "Two Notes"?

6. To whom is Artaud's third letter written in "Letters on Cruelty"? What is the author's tone in this letter? Why?

7. What are the differences the author notes between the athlete and the actor?

8. Discuss and describe Artaud's depiction of lighting for the Theater of Cruelty in the First Manifesto.

9. Discuss the themes and content of the "Theater of Cruelty" based on the second manifesto. What is the spectacle like?

10. Discuss Artaud's feelings about the cinema as he describes them in "The Theater of Cruelty."

(see the answer keys)

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