Chapter 4: Verbal Communication
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Narratives serve a strategic purpose by ______.
a. providing a way to make the conversation more interesting
b. providing a way to lengthen the conversation
c. providing a way to summarize the discussion
d. providing an account, explanation, or conclusion that provides the speaker’s
perspective
2. The elements of Burke’s dramatic pentad used to analyze stories are ______.
a. scene, agent, method, medium, message
b. scene, agent, act, actuality, event
c. scene, agent, act, agency, plot
d. scene, agent, act, agency, purpose
3. The way that a speaker emphasizes certain elements of the pentad in telling a story
can reveal ______.
a. the person’s failure to communicate
b. the person’s perspective on or view of the world
c. the person’s ability to deceive
d. the person’s popularity
4. The accommodation process includes which two types?
a. Indulgence and divergence
b. Indulgence and convergence
c. Convergence and divergence
d. Maleficence and indulgence
5. Which of the following would not constitute an account of one’s communication?
a. Lying
b. Justification
c. Excuse
d. Explanation
6. Burke likened the interconnected relationship of the elements of the pentad to which
of the following?
a. The five corners of a home plate in baseball
b. Five points on a star
c. The five fingers on a hand
d. The five players on the court for one side in basketball
7. The element of act in Burke’s pentad refers to ______.
a. where it happened
b. who was involved
c. what happened
d. why something happened
8. The element of agency in Burke’s pentad refers to ______.
a. where something happened
b. who was involved
c. what occurred
d. how the act was accomplished
9. The element of agent in Burke’s pentad refers to ______.
a. where something happened
b. who performed the act
c. what happened
d. how the act happened
10. The element of purpose in Burke’s pentad refers to ______.
a. why the act took place
b. where the act occurred
c. who was involved
d. what happened
11. The element of scene in Burke’s pentad refers to _______.
a. the situation or location of the act
b. who was involved
c. what happened
d. how the act happened
12. Convergence in talk refers to ______.
a. people speaking in different styles
b. people indicating distance or dislike
c. people speaking in the same style
d. people avoiding closeness or enjoyment
13. According to Duck and McMahan, talk serves these three functions for relationships.
a. Instrumental, polemic, pragmatic
b. Instrumental, expressive, pragmatic
c. Instrumental, indexical, essential
d. Instrumental, essential, minimalist
14. The indexical function of talk in relationships means that ______.
a. talk can make something happen
b. talk can indicate something about the nature or status of the relationship
c. talk can create the essence of the relationship
d. talk can terminate the relationship
15. The term facework refers to ______.
a. managing your ability to smile attractively
b. managing your dignity or self-respect
c. managing your complexion
d. managing your relationship
16. “High code” in speaking would most likely be ______.
a. casual, welcoming, and friendly
b. relaxed and informal
c. formal and professional
d. informal and less professional
17. The term polysemy refers to ______.
a. multiple meanings for the same word
b. limited meanings for the same word
c. multiple meanings for multiple words
d. limited meanings for multiple words
18. The term connotation refers to ______.
a. the use of language to identify something in a simple and straightforward way
b. failing to understand the implications and background behind words
c. the use of language to identify something in a specific or literal way
d. understanding the implications and background behind words
19. The term denotation refers to ______.
a. understanding the implications and background behind words
b. the use of language to identify something in a specific or literal way, such as by the
generally accepted dictionary definition
c. failing to understand the implications and background behind words
d. the use of language to identify something in a complex and subtle way
1. CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY. Cultural styles of talk include the categories of ______.
a. feminine and masculine
b. convergent and divergent
c. high-context and low-context
d. collectivist and individualist
2. CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are likely to be considered Devil
terms?
a. Lazy
b. Baby
c. Cheater
d. Traitor
3. CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY. Low code is more likely to be used when talking to
______.
a. a friend
b. a person you grew up with
c. a person you’ve known for a long time
d. someone you just met
4. CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY. Frames help people understand communication by
shedding light on ______.
a. how they should assign meaning to verbal communication
b. how they may expect others to communicate
c. how they should be communicating
d. how they should assign meaning to nonverbal communication
1. There is a direct connection between symbols and what they represent.
2. The acceptance and application of the usage of symbols determines how they are
represented through ideas.
3. Symbolic activity, along with language usage, assists in the way that personalities,
identities, cultures, and realities are transacted.
4. Communication can work only when individuals use similar words to indicate or
denote the same items.
5. “You think what you can say” is the proposal of the mood-congruent hypothesis.
6. Media references are common because of the denotative means with which they are
associated.
7. Relationships are developed and maintained through symbolic activity.
8. In the communication field, God terms and Devil terms are absolutes for all people in
the same society.
9. The management of people’s dignity or self-respect is known as face.
10. Word connotations may vary across cultures.
11. The way in which you say something (nonverbally) to someone indexes the
relationship.
12. The nonessential function of talk happens when talk makes a relationship real or
brings it into being.
1. When are words given meaning?
2. Why do people communicate differently depending upon the group they find
themselves in?
3. Explain why, according to Bernstein, working-class speakers struggled more when
attempting to communicate.
4. What was Kenneth Burke’s motivation for creating the pentad?
5. Why would a person converge by using “company lingo” when speaking with a
coworker?
Essay
1. Explain the difference between restricted code and elaborated code.
2. Provide an example of conversational hypertext, as detailed by the text’s authors.
3. How might Kenneth Burke’s concept of God and Devil terms not be viewed as
absolute in communication?
4. Explain how relationships regulate verbal communication.
5. Explain the difference between positive and negative face wants.
6. Why is it essential in conversation that people using the same words share the same
world?
7. Explain the politeness theory.
8. Why do people wish others to view them in a positive light?
9. Explain the instrumental function of talk.