Chapter 3 Practice Quiz

. A representation is ________.

a full and exact description of the thing it describes or refers to

a simplification or interpretation of the thing it describes or refers to

a lexicon

prosaic

. In C. S. Peirce's categorization of signs, a symbol ________.

looks like the object it describes

is related to the object it describes

bears no direct resemblance to what it signifies

is indeterminate

. The literal or most obvious interpretation of a sign is _______.

the symbol

representation

denotative meaning

polysemy

. If you are watching a television show and realize you are understanding the meaning of the show due to your knowledge of similar shows in the same genre, this is an example of which of the following?

An index

Denotative meaning

Intertextuality

Genre analysis

. The fact that any given sign can have many meanings illustrates the ________.

indeterminacy of representation

structural nature of meaning

iconic nature of communication

symbiosis of the sign

. In semiotics, a sign is comprised of ________.

a signifier

a signified

a representation

Both a and b

. As a social model of communication, the encoding/decoding model draws attention to the fact that communication is given form by ________.

money

technology

journalists

social factors

. The issue of agency/structure is also a key question for trying to understand and explain ________.

how media systems operate

the role of media in our lives

how certain theories envision the process of communication

who supports our media structure

. Literary criticism's roots reach back to when ________.

written records first emerged

Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church

pre-Confederation Canada existed

the printing press was invented

. Vladimir Propp's work focused on which of the following areas related to media content?

Signification

Semiotics

Narrative structure

Discourse analysis

. For post-structuralists, "meaning" is made in the act of ________.

analyzing

encoding

visualizing

decoding

. Discourse analysis focuses on ________.

a speaker's expressed intent

mythological allusions

rhetorical conventions

how language positions us in the social world

. All of the following are examples of the "filters" identified by Herman and Chomsky that impact news media except ________.

belief in the "miracle of the market"

media's reliance on government as source for news

indeterminacy of representation

the concentration of ownership in the hands of a few large private corporations

. In the 1930s, soap operas were designed to socialize a home-confined, female audience with disposable income into ________.

understanding media

the art of consuming

a better understanding of human relations

dramatic content

. The key attraction of reality TV to producers and television networks is ________.

its flexibility

that it employs real-life situations

its low cost

its ability to attract audiences

. The process of the encoding/decoding model does not include which of the following?

Professional values that guide media producers

The broad political and economic processes involved in media production

A semiotic analysis of media content

The shared field of social institutions within which media is produced

. Structuralism can be used to ________.

identify common themes in stories from different countries

uncover ideological meanings in specific media content

provide insights into the ways in which language structures the form and content of communication

All of the above

. Content analysis has shown that ________.

there is a general lack of representation of people of colour in mainstream Canadian media

Canada's self-described national newspapers mainly cover news in the cities and provinces in which they are based

Advertising in Canadian TV commercials promote accurate representations of visible minority groups

Both a and b

. Understanding how artistic or professional conventions structure or dictate the production and consumption of content is the focus of what type of analysis?

Content analysis

Genre analysis

Structural analysis

Discourse analysis

. Advertising is one of the most heavily studied forms of media content because ________.

of its cultural significance

of its ability to uphold capitalism

it is so easy to criticize

None of the above

. In C. S. Peirce's categorization of signs, an icon looks like the object it describes.

True

False

. Denotative meaning refers to the range of subtle or less obvious meanings.

True

False

. Media representation of a hockey game is essentially the same thing as the live game itself.

True

False

. In semiotics, the signified is an idea or mental concept.

True

False

. Polysemy refers to how we make meaning out of a media text based on our knowledge of other signs we have encountered.

True

False

. The most analyzed of all the narrative genres on television is comedy.

True

False

. Advertising attempts to create a relationship between particular products and potential consumers.

True

False

. The indeterminacy of representation refers to the idea that signs are only correctly interpreted in one way.

True

False

. A symbol is a sign that bears no direct resemblance to what it signifies.

True

False

. Most media content theories posit there is essentially no agency for media audiences in terms of the texts that they consume.

True

False

. Language can both enable and constrain communication.

True

False

. Literary criticism solely focuses on the interpretation of texts in terms of the intentions of the author.

True

False

. Post-structuralism emerged as a critique of the idea that texts have consistent structures put in place through the process of encoding.

True

False

. Discourse analysis can also be structuralist in character.

True

False

. Dove's Real Beauty Campaign is an attempt to resignify the usual advertising meanings of beauty.

True

False

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