FAMST 70 UCSB FINAL questions and
correct answers
Signifier, signified, and sign - correct answer ✔✔1)the signifier is the sound associated with or
image of something (sound, image, a tree, etc)
2) the signified is the idea or concept of the thing (e.g., the idea of a tree)
3) a sign is the object that combines the signifier and the signified into a meaningful unit.
Connotation/Denotation - correct answer ✔✔Connotation represents the various social
overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings associated with a sign.
Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign, the literal meaning of a word
Myth - correct answer ✔✔A widely held but false belief or idea.
Hypodermic Needle Model - correct answer ✔✔an early model in mass communication
research that attempted to explain media effects by arguing that the media figuratively shoot
their powerful effects into unsuspecting or weak audiences
Intentional Fallacy - correct answer ✔✔assuming from the text what the author intended to
mean. the problem inherent in trying to judge a work of art by assuming the intent or purpose
of the artist who created it
Reader Response Criticism - correct answer ✔✔An approach to literature that focuses on the
reader rather than the work itself, by attempting to describe what goes on in the reader's mind
during the reading of a text.
, active audience - correct answer ✔✔the idea that people are not simply passive recipients of
media messages; they respond to content based on their personal backgrounds, interests, and
interpersonal relationships
Polysemy - correct answer ✔✔having many possible meanings or interpretations
Encoding/Decoding - correct answer ✔✔a theory that says that messages are encoded with
certain meanings by media producers and that audiences then "decode" the messages in
various ways, depending on things like their education level, political views, and other factors
dominant-hegemonic reading - correct answer ✔✔Consumers/viewers unquestioningly accept
the text/message that the producers are transmitting to them. Viewer identifies with presented
content and position
negotiated reading - correct answer ✔✔a reading in which the viewer accepts some of the
hegemonic (dominant) meanings, but also recognizes some exceptions
oppositional reading - correct answer ✔✔a reading in which the viewer correctly decodes the
denotational and connotational meanings of a text, but challenges it from an oppositional
perspective
culture jamming - correct answer ✔✔a strategy to disrupt efforts by the corporate world to
dominate our cultural landscape
read/write culture vs. read/only culture - correct answer ✔✔Read/write culture is "reading"
culture by listening to it or reading representations (ex: musical scores). They add to the culture
they read by creating and re-creating the culture around them.
Read/only culture is culture less practiced in performance or amateur creativity and more
comfortable with simple consumption.
correct answers
Signifier, signified, and sign - correct answer ✔✔1)the signifier is the sound associated with or
image of something (sound, image, a tree, etc)
2) the signified is the idea or concept of the thing (e.g., the idea of a tree)
3) a sign is the object that combines the signifier and the signified into a meaningful unit.
Connotation/Denotation - correct answer ✔✔Connotation represents the various social
overtones, cultural implications, or emotional meanings associated with a sign.
Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign, the literal meaning of a word
Myth - correct answer ✔✔A widely held but false belief or idea.
Hypodermic Needle Model - correct answer ✔✔an early model in mass communication
research that attempted to explain media effects by arguing that the media figuratively shoot
their powerful effects into unsuspecting or weak audiences
Intentional Fallacy - correct answer ✔✔assuming from the text what the author intended to
mean. the problem inherent in trying to judge a work of art by assuming the intent or purpose
of the artist who created it
Reader Response Criticism - correct answer ✔✔An approach to literature that focuses on the
reader rather than the work itself, by attempting to describe what goes on in the reader's mind
during the reading of a text.
, active audience - correct answer ✔✔the idea that people are not simply passive recipients of
media messages; they respond to content based on their personal backgrounds, interests, and
interpersonal relationships
Polysemy - correct answer ✔✔having many possible meanings or interpretations
Encoding/Decoding - correct answer ✔✔a theory that says that messages are encoded with
certain meanings by media producers and that audiences then "decode" the messages in
various ways, depending on things like their education level, political views, and other factors
dominant-hegemonic reading - correct answer ✔✔Consumers/viewers unquestioningly accept
the text/message that the producers are transmitting to them. Viewer identifies with presented
content and position
negotiated reading - correct answer ✔✔a reading in which the viewer accepts some of the
hegemonic (dominant) meanings, but also recognizes some exceptions
oppositional reading - correct answer ✔✔a reading in which the viewer correctly decodes the
denotational and connotational meanings of a text, but challenges it from an oppositional
perspective
culture jamming - correct answer ✔✔a strategy to disrupt efforts by the corporate world to
dominate our cultural landscape
read/write culture vs. read/only culture - correct answer ✔✔Read/write culture is "reading"
culture by listening to it or reading representations (ex: musical scores). They add to the culture
they read by creating and re-creating the culture around them.
Read/only culture is culture less practiced in performance or amateur creativity and more
comfortable with simple consumption.
