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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. "What voluntary breathing provokes is a spontaneous reappearance" of what?
(a) Life.
(b) Emotion.
(c) Death.
(d) Fear.

2. The author claims that actors in France no longer "know how to do anything but" what?
(a) Bore.
(b) Stand.
(c) Talk.
(d) Sing.

3. 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 physicality.
(c) In movies.
(d) In dreams.

4. What will be avoided in terms of costuming in the Theater of Cruelty?
(a) Renaissance apparel.
(b) Masks.
(c) Modern dress.
(d) Asian-inspired costumes.

5. What is the title of the first act of Artaud's proposed production for the Theater of Cruelty?
(a) "Final Ship."
(b) "Warning Signs."
(c) "Evil Awaits."
(d) "Blast of Cannons."

Short Answer Questions

1. What film does the author discuss in his first note of "Two Notes"?

2. Artaud claims in his first letter of "Letters on Language" that while it still qualifies as "theater," a play which depends entirely on a scripted text is nothing but a _____ of theater.

3. What does Artaud write of the set for the Theater of Cruelty?

4. In his Second Manifesto, Artaud describes the themes for the Theater of Cruelty as based on the ________ of ancient civilizations from all over the world.

5. Artaud claims that the psychological theater descended from whom?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Discuss the use of masks and accessories as described in the First Manifesto.

3. How does Artaud describe the correlation between actions and language in his "Letters on Language"?

4. What is Artaud's approach to the audience in the theater of cruelty?

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

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

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

8. What movie does Artaud use in comparison to his main subject in the first note of "Two Notes"? What does he write of American filmmakers?

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

10. In Artaud's "Letters on Language," he insists that the task of "mise en scène" must not be subordinated to spoken or written words as if this task was simply an accessory to theater. What does this mean?

(see the answer keys)

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