Chapter 12: Qualitative Understanding of Content: Rhetorical and Critical Analyses, and More

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Rhetorical analysis is the study and analysis of ______.

a. argumentation and persuasion

b. interpretation and meaning

c. the structure and properties of stories

d. human communication as drama

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Rhetorical Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Narrative and discourse analysts study ______.

a. argumentation and persuasion

b. interpretation and meaning

c. the structure and properties of stories

d. human communication as drama

Learning Objective: 12.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Narrative Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. What do semioticians study?

a. argumentation and persuasion

b. interpretation and meaning

c. the structure and properties of stories

d. human communication as drama

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Semiotics

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. What do critical analysts study?

a. argumentation and persuasion

b. interpretation and meaning

c. the structure and properties of stories

d. the ways in which communication maintains power structures in society

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Critical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, agent refers to the ______.

a. action taking place

b. the means by which an action takes place

c. the individual(s) taking action

d. reason an act was done

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, purpose refers to the ______.

a. action taking place

b. the means by which an action takes place

c. reason an act was done

d. the explanation offered by individuals in an interaction

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. The basic interest of discourse analysis is in ______.

a. the characteristics of language itself

b. how language is used to develop and position ideas and concepts

c. the evolution of language

d. the motivations behind language use

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Discourse Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Utterances in conversation analysis are units of ______.

a. grammar

b. syntax

c. speech

d. pronunciation

Learning Objective: 12.3: Describe the basic concepts and coding used in conversation analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Utterances

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. ______ are basically a search for patterns and variations in content.

a. Coding and quantifying

b. Coding and analysis

c. Analysis and quantifying

d. Coding and confirming

Learning Objective: 12.3: Describe the basic concepts and coding used in conversation analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Discourse Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Which of the following is a disadvantage of the qualitative analyses of content?

a. They may be less precise.

b. They do not provide rich descriptions.

c. They cannot analyze both text and documented human interaction.

d. They have only one interpretation.

Learning Objective: 12.1: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the qualitative analyses of content.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Analyses of Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Which one of the following of Jakobson’s semiotic functions establishes the sender’s expectations of the receiver?

a. expressive

b. conative

c. poetic

d. referential

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Roman Jakobson Visits Sam’s Car Lot

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Which one of the following of Jakobson’s semiotic functions establishes the agreed meaning for words?

a. conative

b. poetic

c. referential

d. metalingual

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Roman Jakobson Visits Sam’s Car Lot

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Which one of the following of Jakobson’s semiotic functions establishes the speaker’s emotional state?

a. conative

b. poetic

c. expressive

d. referential

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Roman Jakobson Visits Sam’s Car Lot

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Which one of the following of Jakobson’s semiotic functions establishes the communication context or dominant message?

a. conative

b. poetic

c. referential

d. phatic

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Roman Jakobson Visits Sam’s Car Lot

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Two major approaches to critical analyses are ______.

a. Marxist and experimental

b. feminist and observational

c. Marxist and observational

d. Marxist and feminist

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Critical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, “ratio analysis” means examining the ______.

a. ratio of ethos to pathos

b. relative significance of each pentad unit

c. relative significance of text to graphics

d. relative significance of categories to units

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Which of the following is an advantage of the qualitative analyses of content?

a. They can all give us value judgments of the content.

b. They can tell us generalizable information.

c. They offer a multiplicity of approaches to understanding text and image.

d. They are used only for analyzing text.

Learning Objective: 12.1: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the qualitative analyses of content.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Analyses of Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. ______ analysis is the research approach most likely to take an interest in the stories people tell.

a. Dramatistic

b. Rhetorical

c. Semiotic

d. Narrative

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Narrative Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. ______ analysis is the research approach most likely to take an interest in studying how messages are used in argumentation and persuasion.

a. Dramatistic

b. Rhetorical

c. Semiotic

d. Narrative

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Rhetorical Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Semiotics is concerned with the relationship between language, and especially signs, and meaning.

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Semiotics

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. An advantage of semiotic analyses is the range of situations in which they can be applied.

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Semiotics

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Narrative analyses generally attempt to identify a plot, setting, characters, and order of events in people’s accounts of their lives.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Narrative Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Narrative analysis is a quantitative approach to analyzing people’s reports of their lives.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Narrative Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Two major schools of critical analysis are feminist criticism and Marxist criticism.

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Critical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Marxist criticism generally seeks to examine communication content for messages that reinforce the ideology of those in power.

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Marxist Criticism

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Metaphor analysis is not a tool of critical researchers.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Metaphor Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Marxist criticism generally seeks to examine the aesthetic quality of messages.

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Marxist Criticism

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Rhetorical analyses examine message content to understand the nature of persuasion.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Rhetorical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Critical approaches to the study of communication question the notion of objectivity.

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Critical perspectives do not address social problems or inequalities.

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. From a critical perspective, metaphor analysis can reveal how language maintains and promotes organizational power structures.

Learning Objective: 12.2.4: Explain, with examples, critical analyses and the assumptions underlying them.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Critical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. The central belief underpinning rhetorical and critical analyses is that one definitive interpretation of communication content is possible.

Learning Objective: 12.1: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the qualitative analyses of content.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction: Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Analyses of Content

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Essentially, rhetorical analysis means examining communication content to identify and assess its persuasive strategies.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Aristotle’s concept of ethos addresses the use of logic in argumentation.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Aristotle’s concept of pathos addresses the use of character in argumentation.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Aristotle’s concept of logos addresses the use of emotion in argumentation.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. In Aristotelian rhetoric, the nature of the audience is unimportant.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The nature of the speech setting or context is unimportant in Aristotelian rhetoric.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, act refers to the action taking place.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, agency refers to the means by which an action takes place.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, agent refers to the individual(s) taking action.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. In Burke’s dramatistic analysis, purpose refers to the reason an act was done.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Fantasy theme analysis is an approach to understanding group consciousness and shared values.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Fantasy Theme Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Fantasy theme analysis is basically an approach to understanding fiction.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Fantasy Theme Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. A master narrative is a story or explanation that has the most credibility with group members as an explanation for their successes or failures.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Fantasy Theme Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. Symbolic convergence is a state of agreed understanding among group members as to what unites them and differentiates their group from other groups.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Fantasy Theme Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. A weakness of fantasy theme analysis is its inability to explain illogical behaviors.

Learning Objective: 12.1: Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the qualitative analyses of content.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Fantasy Theme Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Narrative analysis is based on documents only.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Narrative Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. A metaphor is a simple term used to explain or summarize a more complex entity or concept.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Metaphor Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. Metaphor analysis includes a search for the basic or root metaphors that shape the way individuals think.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Metaphor Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. The basic interest of discourse analysis is in how language is used.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Discourse Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. In discourse analysis, the coding of content is quantitative.

Learning Objective: 12.3: Describe the basic concepts and coding used in conversation analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Discourse Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. Utterances in conversation analysis are units of speech.

Learning Objective: 12.3: Describe the basic concepts and coding used in conversation analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Utterances

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Explain each of the Aristotelian terms: ethos, pathos, and logos.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. With examples, explain how you would use Aristotle’s concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos to determine the effectiveness of either political campaign advertising or advertising for a commercial product?

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Aristotelian Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Describe Burke’s dramatistic pentad and explain how it might be applied in practice.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Explain, with examples, the use of Burke’s ratio analysis.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Dramatistic Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Identify the key elements of fantasy theme analysis and explain how it might be applied in practice.

Learning Objective: 12.2.1: Explain, with examples, the main types of rhetorical analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Fantasy Theme Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Explain the concept of narrative analysis and how it might be used in practice.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Narrative Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Explain the basic concept of discourse analysis and identify its strengths and weaknesses as you see them.

Learning Objective: 12.2.2: Explain, with examples, narrative, metaphor, and discourse analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Discourse Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Explain the concept of semiotic analysis and how you might do a semiotic analysis of news or advertising content.

Learning Objective: 12.2.3: Explain, with examples, semiotic analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Semiotics

Difficulty Level: Hard