Page 1
Answer Key
1. A
Page 2
45. E
87.
88.
89.
90.
Page 3
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
1. According to the textbook, the mass media are industries that produce and distribute
cultural products to large numbers of people.
A) True
B) False
2. No media existed prior to the coming of the electronic era in the nineteenth century.
A) True
B) False
3. Gutenberg played an active role in the transition from oral to written culture.
A) True
B) False
4. The manuscript culture that existed between 1000 B.C.E. and the mid-fifteenth century
primarily served the ruling classes.
A) True
B) False
5. With the coming of the printing press, the printed newspaper became the first
mass-marketed product in history.
A) True
B) False
6. Gutenberg’s invention of movable type allowed the book to become the first
mass-marketed communication product in history.
A) True
B) False
7. The printing press fostered the rise of tribal communities.
A) True
B) False
Page 4
8. The computer was the first electronic medium.
A) True
B) False
9. The telegraph and newspapers transformed news into a salable commodity.
A) True
B) False
10. In the linear model of mass communication, gatekeepers are the authors, producers, and
organizations that create the message.
A) True
B) False
11. The senders of messages often have little control over how their messages will be
received.
A) True
B) False
12. The meaning of a message can be affected by a recipient’s gender, age, education level,
ethnicity, and occupation.
A) True
B) False
13. Mass media audiences generally seek out messages that correspond to their cultural
beliefs and values.
A) True
B) False
14. Media marketers refer to network programs that are repurposed for cable as
“cross–platform” programs.
A) True
B) False
15. Google is the most profitable company of the digital age so far.
A) True
B) False
Page 5
16. Although the way we consume media today focuses on individual interests on mobile
devices, a positive result of the digital age is that family and friends gather to binge watch
programs on weekends or at holidays.
A) True
B) False
17. The classical view of art is that it should aim to instruct and uplift.
A) True
B) False
18. According to the textbook, the high–low model of culture limits the way we look at and
discuss culture today.
A) True
B) False
19. Most forms of culture demonstrate multiple tendencies; for example, a film could be
both conventional and innovative.
A) True
B) False
20. Lassie went off the air because children got tired of seeing the same plot every week.
A) True
B) False
21. A high–low vertical hierarchy is a more multidimensional way of looking at culture than
viewing culture as a map.
A) True
B) False
22. James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake challenges readers to decode its complex narrative.
A) True
B) False
23. Efficiency and individualism are both values of the modern period.
A) True
B) False
Page 6
24. Modern artists such as Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and Charlie Chaplin (Modern
Times) predicted a future in which technology would lead to less oppression and more
individual freedom.
A) True
B) False
25. Populism tries to appeal to elite people by highlighting the differences between them and
the ordinary people.
A) True
B) False
26. Critics contend that postmodern style borrows too heavily from other eras and devalues
originality.
A) True
B) False
27. Postmodern culture questions the value of scientific reasoning and rational thought for
solving society’s problems.
A) True
B) False
28. The textbook contends that many forms of media and culture cannot accurately be
described using binary terms such as liberal and conservative or high culture and low culture.
A) True
B) False
29. Local culture is most closely identified with which of the following historical periods?
A) Premodern (before 1800s)
B) Modern (1800s–1950s)
C) Postmodern (since 1950s)
30. Factories are most closely identified with which of the following historical periods?
A) Premodern (before 1800s)
B) Modern (1800s–1950s)
C) Postmodern (since 1950s)
Page 7
31. The “virtual office” is most closely identified with which of the following historical
periods?
A) Premodern (before 1800s)
B) Modern (1800s–1950s)
C) Postmodern (since 1950s)
32. Quill pens are most closely identified with which of the following historical periods?
A) Premodern (before 1800s)
B) Modern (1800s–1950s)
C) Postmodern (since 1950s)
33. The typewriter is most closely identified with which of the following historical periods?
A) Premodern (before 1800s)
B) Modern (1800s–1950s)
C) Postmodern (since 1950s)
34. Global Culture is most closely identified with which of the following historical periods?
A) Premodern (before 1800s)
B) Modern (1800s–1950s)
C) Postmodern (since 1950s)
35. Which stage in developing a critical perspective best corresponds to identifying central
characters, conflicts, topics, and themes?
A) Description
B) Analysis
C) Interpretation
D) Evaluation
E) Engagement
36. Which stage in developing a critical perspective best corresponds to making an informed
judgment?
A) Description
B) Analysis
C) Interpretation
D) Evaluation
E) Engagement
Page 8
37. Which stage in developing a critical perspective best corresponds to answering the
question “So what?”
A) Description
B) Analysis
C) Interpretation
D) Evaluation
E) Engagement
38. During which stage of developing a critical perspective do you look for patterns?
A) Description
B) Analysis
C) Interpretation
D) Evaluation
E) Engagement
39. During which stage in developing a critical perspective would you take action as a
citizen?
A) Description
B) Analysis
C) Interpretation
D) Evaluation
E) Engagement
40. ______ are the cultural industries that produce and distribute cultural products to large
numbers of people.
A) Modern technologies
B) Oral communications
C) Illuminated manuscripts
D) Mass media
E) Communities
41. According to the textbook, the mass media have passed through which five historical
stages?
A) Voice, pen, press, telegraph, computer
B) Ancient, medieval, Renaissance, modern, postmodern
C) Speech, manuscript, book, image, information
D) Face-to-face, local, regional, national, global
E) Oral, written, print, electronic, digital
Page 9
42. Plato wanted to banish which group from ancient Greece because he thought they would
undermine oral storytelling?
A) Printers
B) Poets
C) Persians
D) Prophets
E) None of the options are correct.
43. Which of the following is not considered a consequence of the printing press?
A) The rise of the middle class
B) The concept of the nation-state
C) An increased sense of community and mutual cooperation
D) A decline of religious authority
E) An increase in literacy rates
44. Which of the following does the textbook identify as a result of the printing press?
A) The emergence of the style of communication known as the Socratic method
B) A separation of communication from transportation
C) The emergence of more centralized nation-states, given that leaders could more
easily distribute information
D) The emergence of tribal communities
E) None of the options are correct.
45. The transformation from an industrial, print-based society to one grounded in the
Information Age began with the development of the _______.
A) sound recording
B) printing press
C) newspaper
D) magazine
E) None of the options are correct.
46. Which of the following was a contribution of the telegraph?
A) The transformation of information into a commodity
B) The concept of nationalism
C) The rise of the middle class
D) The development of the pony express
E) All of the options are correct.
Page 10
47. According to your textbook, which of the following is a consequence of the quick
development of new technologies in the digital era?
A) We no longer use older technologies like the radio.
B) Cyberbullying and phishing
C) Traditional leaders in communication have even more control over information.
D) Traditional leaders in communication have lost some control over information.
E) None of the options are correct.
48. Which of the following is the best way to characterize the transitions between the print,
electronic, and digital eras?
A) The exact lines between each era are clear.
B) As new technology was invented, the older forms of technology were rapidly
discarded.
C) Each wave of newer technology came at the same time as more and more people
moved from urban areas to rural areas.
D) In practice, the eras overlapped as newer technologies disrupted and modified older
technologies.
E) Changes in the eras of mass communication had little effect on most people.
49. The key development that allowed for the transition to the digital age was _______.
A) the ability to convert images, text, and sounds into binary code
B) the telegraph
C) the ability to broadcast voices, music, and other sounds via the radio
D) television
E) None of the options are correct.
50. The linear communication model can be criticized on the grounds that it _______.
A) assumes that culture is hierarchical
B) asserts that audiences create their own meanings from messages sent
C) suggests an active sender and a passive receiver
D) conforms too closely to the EPS model
E) is flexible enough to describe the way consumers use the Internet
51. A cultural approach to understanding mass communication _______.
A) is easier to understand because it outlines a linear flow of information from sender
to receiver
B) argues that gatekeepers decide which information and messages flow to the
audience
C) argues that diverse audiences will interpret the same information differently
D) argues that diverse audiences interpret information in the same way
E) None of the options are correct.
Page 11
52. Selective exposure ___________.
A) is a TV show about the quirky inhabitants of a remote town in Alaska
B) refers to the process of media gatekeepers selecting information to which an
audience will be exposed
C) deals with how much time audiences choose to spend with any media
D) refers to the fact that people tend to seek out messages that agree with what they
already believe
E) refers to early film development techniques
53. A cultural approach to media focuses on ________________.
A) the industry’s lack of concern with control and distribution of production
B) how the audience has lost the love of story
C) how audiences are unifying with one meaning on the available media
D) how media is produced rather than on how messages are transmitted
E) None of the options are correct
54. Which of the following is one of the four stages in the emergence of a new mass medium
that the textbook describes?
A) Invention stage
B) Testing stage
C) Entrepreneurial stage
D) Consumer stage
E) Obsolete stage
55. Which of the following is one definition given in the textbook for the term media
convergence?
A) The consolidation of different mass media holdings under one corporate umbrella
B) The appropriation of American products by foreign advertisers
C) The gathering of multiple press figures at a media event such as a press conference
D) A concentrated and organized stream of Internet traffic to one site for the purpose
of crashing it
E) None of the options are correct.