Deck 6: Framing and Reframing

Question 1

Which of Kenneth Burke's four master tropes is relevant to the ways that framing shapes and creates via perspective?

A) Metonymy
B) Synecdoche
C) Irony
D) Metaphor

Answer 1

Metaphor

Question 2

Who replaced the American "war on drugs" frame with a "public health frame"?

A) Ronald Reagan's First Lady
B) Bill Clinton's HHS Director
C) George W. Bush's Surgeon General
D) Barack Obama's Drug Czar

Answer 2

Barack Obama's Drug Czar

Question 3

Republican researcher Frank Luntz is responsible for all of the following framing metaphors except:

A) "Contract with America"
B) "War on Terror"
C) "Choose life"
D) "Climate change"

Answer 3

"Choose life"

Question 4

To say "the glass is half full" to a pessimist is to:

A) Present the same reality but from a different perspective
B) Take an ambiguous situation and redefine it through multivalenced discourse
C) All of the above
D) None of the above

Question 5

When Americans want to "reduce rates of increase to Medicare" while also wanting to prevent "cutting back on Medicare spending", they are:

A) Invoking the relevant frame from their repertoire to address the situation
B) Engaging in illogical and unsystematic framing behavior
C) Registering their ambivalence to the frames of politicians
D) All of the above

Question 6

The point of "Gee Officer Krupe" from West Side Story is to illustrate:

A) That we hold competing verbal repertoires
B) Lakoff's strict father frame
C) That we engage in responsive metacommunication
D) That metaphors are dominant over synecdoche

Question 7

Reflexive metacommunication:

A) Can be used at the beginning of a speech to frame how the speech should be heard
B) Is employed to comment on one's own messages
C) Can be used to set the boundaries for what fits into the discussion and what does not
D) All of the above

Question 8

Concerning Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas:

A) Anita Hill "went meta" to advance her case
B) Anita Hill worked to avoid meeting challenges directly
C) Clarence Thomas employed "metamoves" to defend himself
D) Clarence Thomas answered the charges directly

Question 9

George Lakoff argues that we conceive of politics and policy through the framework of the:

A) Family
B) Nation
C) Business
D) Church

Question 10

Which is not a step for analyzing frames?

A) Generating a detailed text description
B) Looking for same reality frames
C) Comparing the text with other similar texts
D) Creating a thesis only after analyzing the frames

Question 11

Framing is seeing something differently and changing its meaning.

Question 12

Metaphor, for Kenneth Burke, is linked to perspective.

Question 13

The "war" metaphor and frame is regularly employed by both Democratic and Republican presidents.

Question 14

Frank Luntz advised Republicans to refuse to use the frame "global warming" and to replace it with "climate change".

Question 15

The term "frame," when applied to language, is itself metaphorical.

Question 16

When a reporter says, "the issue is genocide", an instance of framing has occurred.

Question 17

To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality to promote a definition, interpretation, or evaluation.

Question 18

Often, seemingly opposed cultural framing expressions reside comfortably in the verbal repertoires of individuals.

Question 19

Two dominant American cultural frames are "self-reliance" and "equality."

Question 20

To say it is moral to pursue self-interest is to engage Lakoff's nurturing parent frame.

Question 21

Thematic news frames are the most prevalent today.

Question 22

Reflexive metacommunication is a frame-altering reply to what others have said in an interactive situation.

Question 23

Clarence Thomas framed his Supreme Court confirmation hearings as "high-tech lynching."

Question 24

The objectivist approach to psychotherapy helps the patient construct a version of the truth.

Question 25

"I have a sense that you're angry at your mother, but you think it's awful to feel that" is an example of coactive framing in psychotherapy.

Question 26

Discuss "cultural frames" and how they are linked to "verbal repertoires". Consider the paradoxes involved. Explain how individuals manage the paradoxes and contradictions that cultural frames create.

Question 27

Compare George Lakoff and Frank Luntz. What does each teach us about framing? How are they similar? How do they differ? Which of them makes a more persuasive case and why?

Question 28

Define "reflexive metacommunication" and "responsive metacommunication", providing examples. What, exactly, is the linkage between these two concepts and "framing"?

Question 29

Discuss the "war" metaphor as employed by recent American presidents, providing examples. Which of George Lakoff's frames for understanding politics does the "war" metaphor appeal to the most, and why?

Question 30

What is your frame for understanding and engaging your college education? Be sure to specify the metaphor that undergirds your frame and explain how the frame impacts the way you approach your studies.