COM 314: Test #1 Review

1. According to your Jian, Schmisseur, and Fairhurst, which of the following is not a
definition of communication?
2. According to Jian, Schmisseur, and Fairhurst, which of the following is a possible
relationship between (D)iscourse and communication?
3. According to your Jian, Schmisseur, and Fairhurst, what is the relationship
between (d)iscourse and (D)iscourse?
4. According to Phillips and Jorgensen, which of the following is not a principle of
social constructionism?
5. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, what is the distinction between langue and
parole?
6. According to Johnstone, what are the goals of discourse analysis?
7. According to Johnstone, what is the relationship between discourse and the
medium through which it is represented?
8. According to Laclau and Mouffe, all discourses aspire to what condition?
9. In what ways do Laclau and Mouffee differ from Marx in their conceptions of
social class?
10. According to Laclau and Mouffe, a (D)iscourse that has the appearance of
objective fact does because it is?
11. In what sense if society possible?
12. According to Lacan, what does it mean the subject is split never quite becoming
itself?
13. According to Laclau and Mouffe, antagonisms occur due to which of the
following conditions?
14. Which of the following best defines Laclau and Mouffes notion of articulation?
15. In what ways does Faircloughs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) differ from
Laclau and Mouffes Discourse Analysis?
16. What is the primary goal or aim of CDA?
17. In CDA, intertextuality refers to what practice?
18. Accroding to CDA, what is an ideology?
19. In CDA, what are the three dimensions of any particular analysis?
20. At what level of analysis does interdiscursivity enter into CDA?


Define and provide an example for five of the following terms. I will remove five of the
following on the day of the test.

1. Social constructionism
2. Suture
3. Subject
4. Closure
5. Floating signifier
6. Nodal point
7. Logic of equivalence
8. Logic of difference
9. Antagonism
10. Genre
11. Intertextuality
12. Discursive practice
13. Social practice
14. Nominalization
15. Interdiscursivity

Write a short essay on one of the following: I will remove one of the following on the day
of the test.

1. Compare and contrast two different definitions of (D)iscourse (Laclau and
Moufffe; Fairclough; Jian, et. al.). How are they alike? How are they different?
Which do you prefer and why?
2. How would you define the relationship between (D)iscourse and ideology? Is it
closer to Laclau and Mouffe who see no clear distinction between the two or is
more like Faircloughs conceptualization?
3. Compare and contrast the three different structures for circulating meaning in
society (Mills power elite; Dahls pluralism; hegemonic-dominance). Which do
you think best describes how meaning moves through society? Provide an
example.