1What is the central issue in defining graphic design?
What distinguishes graphic design from other forms of mark-making.
2What should you determine about the earliest example of graphic design?
Why its characteristics qualify it as graphic design.
3What distinction should be considered when defining writing?
The difference between writing, pictographs, and proto-writing.
4What should you determine about the earliest example of writing?
Why its characteristics qualify it as writing.
5What question should you ask about quipus when defining writing?
Whether quipus count as writing and why.
6What question should you ask about Lascaux tally marks?
Whether they count as writing and why.
7What did “civilized” originally mean?
The original historical sense of the term, contrasted with its later definition.
8What four traits characterize civilization in the cited Wikipedia definition?
State development, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic communication through writing.
9Why do definitions of graphic design, writing, and civilization matter?
They shape how historical examples are classified and understood.
10When was the Bronze Age period discussed in the study guide?
Approximately 3300–1200 BCE.
11What were common uses of writing in the Bronze Age?
The study guide asks for three major purposes and examples for each.
12What is a logographic writing system?
A writing system in which signs represent words or meaningful units.
13What is a phonetic writing system?
A writing system that represents sounds of spoken language.
14What is acrophonic writing?
A system where a sign takes its sound from the initial sound of its name.
15What is a logography?
A writing system based on signs representing words or meaningful units.
16What is an abjad?
A writing system primarily representing consonants.
17What is an alphabet?
A writing system representing consonants and vowels with separate letters.
18What is an abugida?
A writing system in which consonant symbols carry an inherent vowel modified by vowel marks.
19What is a syllabary?
A writing system in which symbols generally represent syllables.
20Which script category should be identified for Egyptian hieroglyphics?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
21Which script category should be identified for Sumerian cuneiform?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
22Which script category should be identified for Chinese?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
23Which script category should be identified for Arabic?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
24Which script category should be identified for Hebrew?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
25Which script category should be identified for Greek?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
26Which script category should be identified for Latin?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
27Which script category should be identified for Cyrillic?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
28Which script category should be identified for Hangul?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
29Which script category should be identified for Hiragana?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
30Which script category should be identified for Katakana?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
31Which script category should be identified for Cherokee?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
32Which script category should be identified for Thai?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
33Which script category should be identified for Devanagari?
Determine whether it is a logography, abjad, alphabet, abugida, or syllabary.
34What should you know about Chinese script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
35What should you know about Korean script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
36What should you know about Japanese script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
37What should you know about Egyptian hieroglyphic direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
38What should you know about Hebrew script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
39What should you know about Arabic script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
40What should you know about Greek script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
41What should you know about Latin script direction?
The direction or directions in which it is written and read.
42What should you know about phonetic writing system classifications?
At least three categories, their examples, and distinguishing traits.
43What question should you consider about the earliest phonetic writing system?
Which example is earliest and what characteristics make it phonetic.
44What question should you consider about Egyptian hieroglyphics?
Whether they qualify as a phonetic writing system and why.
45What question should you consider about Japanese?
Whether it counts as a phonetic writing system and why.
46Why do many Western European languages use the same basic alphabetic characters?
They share a historical alphabetic tradition despite differences in spoken languages.
47How have writers adapted shared alphabetic characters to different languages?
They developed tactics to represent unique spoken-language sounds.
48What theory of writing origins should you know?
The monogenetic versus polygenetic theory.
49What is a monogenetic theory of writing?
The theory that writing originated from one source.
50What is a polygenetic theory of writing?
The theory that writing originated independently in multiple places.
51What does Meggs credit with inventing writing?
The study guide asks you to know Meggs’s attribution.
52What does Meggs credit with inventing printing?
The study guide asks you to know Meggs’s attribution and compare it with lectures.
53What does Meggs credit with inventing paper?
The study guide asks you to know Meggs’s attribution and compare it with lectures.
54What does Meggs credit with inventing typographic printing?
The study guide asks you to know Meggs’s attribution and compare it with lectures.
55How widely does Meggs say typographic printing was used in China?
Know Meggs’s characterization and compare it with the lecture narrative.
56How does Meggs characterize Chinese script?
Know his characterization and how it differs from the course lectures.
57What role did women have in printing in East Asia?
Know their role as discussed in the course materials.
58Why are there two sizes or “cases” of letters?
Majuscules and minuscules developed from different historical letter traditions.
59What are majuscules?
Capital letters or uppercase forms.
60What are minuscules?
Lowercase letter forms.
61When deciding between majuscules and minuscules, what should English writers know?
Where and when each form originated and how modern conventions determine usage.
62What do capital letters connote today?
They have a particular contemporary “vibe” and are used in different social contexts.
63What should you know about modern uses of capital letters?
Three situations in which people commonly use them and why.
64What is the modern “vibe” of minuscules?
A different social and stylistic impression from capital letters.
65What should you know about modern uses of minuscules?
Three situations in which people commonly use them and why.
66How do modern English-language printed books echo Western European manuscripts?
They retain five traits identified in the study guide.
67Why were medieval manuscripts extremely expensive?
Their materials and production required substantial resources and skilled labor.
68What should you demonstrate when explaining manuscript costs?
Specific knowledge of the materials and labor required to produce manuscripts.
69What is printing?
A process that must be distinguished from non-printing or proto-printing.
70What should distinguish printing from proto-printing?
The defining characteristics used to determine whether an example qualifies as printing.
71What examples of early mark-making should be evaluated as printing?
Stamped clay bricks, seals, Chinese chops, rubbings, squeezes, and cattle brands.
72What is typography or typographic printing?
Printing using movable type, distinguished from other printing methods.
73What is the difference between typographic and block printing?
Typographic printing uses movable type; block printing uses a fixed carved block.
74Does the All-Reaching Tantra count as typographic printing?
Determine whether its characteristics meet the definition of typographic printing.
75Does Jikji count as typographic printing?
Determine whether its characteristics meet the definition of typographic printing.
76Does the Gutenberg Bible count as typographic printing?
Determine whether its characteristics meet the definition of typographic printing.
77Does the Catholicon of c.1469–70 count as typographic printing?
Determine whether its characteristics meet the definition of typographic printing.
78What is relief printing?
Printing from a raised surface.
79What is intaglio printing?
Printing from recessed areas of a surface.
80Which is generally easier and cheaper to print: relief or intaglio?
Relief printing.
81What is the relationship between typography, movable type, and letterpress?
They are all forms of relief printing.
82Is typography a relief or intaglio process?
Relief.
83Is letterpress a relief or intaglio process?
Relief.
84Is movable type a relief or intaglio process?
Relief.
85What is xylography?
Woodcut or block printing, generally a relief process.
86Is xylography typographic printing?
No; it is usually relief printing but not typographic.
87What is woodcut printing?
A relief printing process using a carved wood block.
88What is block printing?
A relief printing process using a carved block.
89Is engraving relief or intaglio?
Intaglio.
90What is the only intaglio process listed in the study guide?
Engraving.
91When does Meggs say printing arrived in Europe?
Know Meggs’s date and compare it with the course lecture narrative.
92Who does Meggs credit with independently inventing printing in Europe?
Know the person, place, and date Meggs identifies.
93What does Meggs credit Gutenberg with inventing?
Know Meggs’s list and compare it with recent historical and material evidence.
94What should you compare about Gutenberg’s supposed inventions?
Meggs’s claims versus recent historical and material evidence.
95What should you know about movable type before Gutenberg?
Three examples, including dates, locations, and people when applicable.
96What effects does Meggs attribute to typographic printing in Europe?
Know the effects he says occurred in Europe but not five hundred years earlier in China.
97What does the course lecture narrative add to the discussion of printing’s effects?
It differs from Meggs’s account and should be compared with it.
98What is the focus of the day 8 reading by Blaise Agüera y Arcas?
The argument Agüera y Arcas makes in the assigned reading.
99What should you know about European printing before Gutenberg?
Examples that pre-date Gutenberg and the 1440s.
100What did Gutenberg really invent?
Know the course’s evidence-based answer rather than assuming he invented printing itself.
101What did Gutenberg print?
Know what works Gutenberg printed.
102How did Gutenberg print?
Know the printing methods he used.
103How does Paul Needham argue Gutenberg printed the Catholicon?
Know Needham’s argument about the Catholicon’s production.
104What did Europeans initially use typographic printing for?
Know the early purposes of typographic printing in Europe.
105What did printers working in Italy contribute to European book style?
Know their contribution to the style of European books.
106What role did women have in early European printing?
Know their role in the development of early European printing.
107What does the exam format include?
Multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank and two- and three-point short answers.
108How many points come from multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions?
14 points.
109How many points come from two-point short-answer questions?
18 points.
110How many points come from three-point short-answer questions?
18 points.
111What should short answers include when questions ask for evidence?
Specific evidence supporting the answer.
112Why should you review quizzes before the exam?
Quiz questions are fair game for the exam.
113What chapter does the guide call Meggs’s notorious chapter 3?
“The Asian Contribution.”
114What should you know about chapter 3 of Meggs?
Its arguments, especially “The Asian Contribution.”