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. Artaud writes, "Cruelty is above all lucid, a kind of rigid control and submission to ______."

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

3. Artaud claims that it is certainly with his ____ that the actor thinks.

4. What does Artaud assert is the principle concern of the actor physically?

5. What is the name of the third act of Artaud's proposed production?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. Discuss the stage as described by Artaud in his First Manifesto.

4. What are the different types of breathing the author refers to?

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

6. Describe how Artaud defines the images and movement of the "Theater of Cruelty" in his second manifesto.

7. What is the author's criticism of the performance he writes of in the second of "Two Notes"?

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

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

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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "The Theater of Cruelty: First Manifesto," Artaud discusses the need for a "new language" for the theater as "a metaphysics of speech, gesture, and expression, in order to rescue it from its servitude to psychology and "human interest." What does he mean by this?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the role of spoken language in Oriental Theater and Occidental Theater. What are the differences? What did Artaud make of these?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss and describe the Theater of Cruelty as the author presents it in his First Manifesto. What are the essential elements? How does it differ from the contemporary theater of Artaud's time?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 894 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample