Chapter 07 – Popular Culture and Intercultural Communication
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following statements best defines cultural texts?
a. They refer to the assumption of the centrality or superiority of European culture.
2. Which of the following terms is best defined as traditional rituals and traditions that maintain
cultural group identity?
d. primitive culture
3. What initially motivated the exportation of U.S. popular culture?
a. a desire to share new information and technological advances
4. Which of the following is an example of popular culture?
d. ballet
5. Which of the following statements is true about cultural imperialism?
a. It refers to the idea that many White people have superiority over people of color.
6. Which of the following statements is true about popular culture?
d. Popular culture, when industrialized, can be adequately described in terms of the buying
and selling of commodities.
7. Which of the following is an important characteristic of popular culture?
a. It is easy to avoid as it fails to serve social functions.
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c. It is currently consumed exclusively on radios and televisions.
d. It is the same as folk culture.
8. Details concerning the average age, sex, and income of a magazine’s readership are known as
_____.
a. cultural identities
9. Which statement is NOT true about popular culture and information about cultures?
d. People use popular culture texts to negotiate their relationships with cultural identities.
10. Which of the following is a difference between folk culture and popular culture?
a. Unlike folk culture, popular culture can be adequately described in terms of the buying and
selling of commodities, when industrialized.
11. Which of the following statements is true about popular culture and stereotypes?
a. Sometimes we unconsciously accept stereotypes presented in the media.
12. African American female characters who often appear as background scenery in television
shows serve to perpetuate _____.
a. cultural imperialism
13. Which of the following is true about how people resist cultural texts?
a. A person’s preference for popular culture is based more on media sensitivity than on
cultural values.
14. Which of the following is true about the Navajo GI Joe doll?
a. It is a form of cultural imperialism.
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*c. It is a way in which the history of an underrepresented group is made available to the
public.
d. It reaffirms stereotypes.
15. Identify a true statement about popular culture.
a. All popular culture serves to open forums for public deliberation.
16. The impact that U.S. and Western media have had on the rest of the world is known
as _____.
a. electronic colonialism
17. Which of the following is a true statement about resisting popular culture?
d. Resistance necessarily happens on an individual level.
18. Which of the following statements is true about electronic colonialism?
a. It refers to domination by one country through political, economic, and cultural
19. Swynton and Linwall are neighboring nations. Swynton is economically, technologically,
and financially more powerful than its neighboring nations. Recently, Linwall has been
raising concerns of growing erosion of its cultural values and neglect of its traditional values.
It is also strongly concerned that its entertainment industry is not performing well. The
government of Linwall holds that this moral and cultural degradation observed in Linwall is a
result of large-scale import and infusion of movies, music, and goods from Swynton. This
scenario exemplifies _____.
a. culture shock
20. The fact that we are bombarded with popular culture every day and everywhere illustrates
that it is _____, a characteristic of popular culture.
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a. folk culture
21. Which of the following is NOT true about the consumption of popular culture?
22. Which of the following scenarios best exemplifies a stereotype?
a. Bernice, a student, thinks it is important for women to pursue higher education.
True or False
23. There is a great deal of research on why U.S. television programs are so successful in other
cultures.
24. People resist the use of popular culture as a forum for dealing with social issues.
25. Cultural groups are generally depicted accurately in popular culture.
26. The U.S. film industry makes more money on their films outside the United States than they
do inside.
27. Much of the current consumption of popular culture happens on radios and televisions.
28. Intercultural contact and intercultural communication play a central role in the creation and
maintenance of popular culture.
29. The complex ways in which people negotiate their relationships to popular culture make it
difficult to understand the role of popular culture in intercultural communication.
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
*a. True
b. False
30. Stereotypes are powerful ways that people organize their perception of the world and the
society they live in.
31. Television is more a forum for discussing and working out ideas on a variety of topics than a
reflection of reality.
Essay Questions
32. Identify and discuss four characteristics of popular culture.
33. Compare and contrast folk culture and popular culture.
34. Identify and provide examples of the ways in which someone might resist popular culture.
35. Identify and discuss four of the five ways of thinking about cultural imperialism. What are
the ramifications for intercultural communication from each of these perspectives?
36. What are the effects of underrepresentation of various groups in popular culture?
37. What cultural values are represented by shows such as Survivor or Joe Millionaire?
38. How do cultural texts influence cultural identities?