2023-2024

TERM-1
MODEL ANSWERS
CLASS: X A SUBJECT: SOCIAL STUDIES TOPIC: Print Culture and the Modern
World

Q1 Give reason for the following:

a. Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295.

A1a. Marco Polo, the Italian explorer, visited China and learnt the technology of woodblock printing. When
he returned to Italy in 1295, he brought this knowledge back with him. Gradually this knowledge spread
from Italy to other parts of Europe.

b. Martin Luther was in favour of print and spoke out in praise of it.
A1b. In 1517, Martin Luther, the religious reformer, wrote ninety-five theses that criticised the corrupt
practices of the Catholic Church and pasted these on the church door in Wittenberg. Very soon, thousands of
copies of Luther‟s theses were printed, spreading his ideas among people. Martin Luther was deeply moved
to realize the power of printing, which brought about the reformation movement and the eventual birth of
Protestantism.

c. The Roman Catholic Church began keeping an Index of prohibited books from the mid-sixteenth
century.
A1c. Print and popular literature encouraged many distinctive interpretations of religious faiths and ideas.
In the 16th century, Menocchio, a roller in Italy, began to read books available readily in his locality. He
gave a new interpretation of the Bible and formulated a view of God and creation that enraged the Roman
Catholic Church. As a result, Menocchio was hauled up twice and ultimately executed when the Roman
Catholic Church began its inquisition.

d. Gandhi said the fight for Swaraj is a fight for the liberty of speech, liberty of the press, and freedom
of association.
A1d. Mahatma Gandhi said these words in 1922 during the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22).
According to him, without the liberty of speech, the liberty of the press and freedom of association, no
nation can even survive. If the country was to get free from foreign domination, then these liberties were
quite important.

Q2 Write short notes on what you know about:

a. The Gutenberg Press

A2a. The Gutenberg Press was the first printing press of Europe. It was invented by Johannes Gutenberg
of Strasbourg. He grew up in a large agricultural estate and had knowledge and experience in operating
olive and wine presses. He invented the printing press around the year 1448, with the Bible being the first
book to be printed.

b. Erasmus‟s idea of the printed book

A2b. Erasmus, the Latin scholar, was not happy with the printing of books because he was afraid that this
would lead to the circulation of books with rebellious ideas. He felt that although a few books may give

1
 useful information, the majority of books may just be irrelevant or illogical, through which scandalous or
irreligious ideas will spread, ultimately leading to incitement of rebellion.

c. The Vernacular Press Act

A2c. The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878 by the British government in India. This act provided
the government with extensive rights to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. If a vernacular
paper published any seditious material, the paper was banned, and its printing machinery was seized and
destroyed.

Q3. What did the spread of print culture in the nineteenth century India mean to:

a. Women [Link] poor [Link]

A3a Women: Women became as important as readers and writers. Reading habits improved among them.
With an increase in literacy, women took a great interest in reading and writing. Many journals started
emphasizing the importance of women‟s education. Many magazines and books were especially published for
women. The print culture gave women some amount of freedom to read and develop their own views on
various issues, especially those related to women.

[Link] Poor: As the literacy rate improved in Europe as well as in India, printed material, especially for
entertainment, began to reach even the poor. In England, „penny magazines‟ were carried by peddlers and
sold for a penny so that even poor people could buy them. Those who could not read could listen to the
stories and folklore. These stories and folklore could be read out to them by others. Books could be hired
for a nominal fee from some book owners. Even in India, very cheap small books were brought to the
market in 19th-century Madras towns, which allowed poor people to have access to print culture.

[Link]: Reformers used newspapers, journals and books to highlight the social evils prevailing in
the society. Raja Ram Mohan Roy published the „Sambad Kaumudi’ to highlight the plight of widows.
From the 1860s, many Bengali women writers like Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting the
experiences of women, about how women were imprisoned at home, kept in ignorance, forced to do hard
domestic labour and treated unjustly by the menfolk they served.

Q4. Why did some people in the eighteenth century Europe think that culture would bring
enlightenment and end despotism?

A4.

a. With the spreading of new ideas after the coming of print culture, the ideas of scientists and philosophers
became more accessible to the common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and
published.
b. Books as a medium of progress by the eighteenth century: Books became a medium of spreading progress
and enlightenment, which could change society and the world. It was also believed that the books could
liberate society from despotism and tyranny.
c. Writings of scholars: The writings of thinkers such as Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine and Voltaire
were also widely printed and could gain popularity. Thus, their ideas about science, rationality and
reasoning found their way into popular literature.
d. Scientific discoveries: Maps and more accurate scientific diagrams were widely printed when scientists
like Issac Newton began to publish their discoveries. They could influence a much wider circle of
scientifically-minded readers.
Q5 Why did some people fear the effect of easily available printed books? Choose one example from
Europe and one from India.

A5. Some people, especially from the upper class, feared the effect of easily available printed books due to
the spread of literacy among the common people. They feared that they might lose their position or
authorities. Some people thought that it might lead to the spread of rebellions and irreligious thoughts.

2
 Example:
i. In Europe, the Roman Catholic Church tried to curb printed books through the Index of Prohibited
Books.
ii. In India, the Vernacular Press Act imposed restrictions on Indian press and various local newspapers.

Q6. What were the effects of the spread of print culture for poor people in nineteenth-century India?

A6. Public libraries were set up in the early twentieth century, expanding access to books. These libraries
were located mostly in cities and towns and, at times, in prosperous villages. For rich local patrons, setting
up a library was a way of acquiring prestige.

From the late nineteenth century, issues of caste discrimination were written about in many printed tracts
and essays.

Jyotiba Phule, the Maratha pioneer of „low caste‟ protest movements, wrote about the injustices of the
caste system in his Gulamgiri (1871). In the twentieth century, B.R. Ambedkar in Maharashtra and E.V.
Ramaswamy Naicker in Madras (better known as Periyar) wrote powerfully on caste, and their writings
were read by people all over India. Local protest movements and sects also created a lot of popular journals
and tracts, criticising ancient scriptures and envisioning a new and just future.

At the very least, it made poor people aware of their rights and their place in society and Print media
showed the way in which they can improve their lot in life.

Q7 Explain how the print culture assisted in the growth of nationalism in India.

A7. Print culture assisted in the growth of nationalism in India in the following ways:

a. By the end of the 19th century, a large number of newspapers in Indian vernacular languages were
published, making it easier to circumvent the language barriers among the various ethnic groups of Indians.
b. These newspapers published articles written by national leaders. Their ideas were communicated to the
masses through these newspapers.
c. The people of different communities and places were thus connected by print media. Newspapers
conveyed news from one place to another, creating a pan-Indian identity.
d. The nationalist newspapers exposed the colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. As these
were written in spoken languages of various regions, the common man could easily understand the content.
e. For example, when Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote articles
sympathising with them. He was arrested, which provoked protest among the masses. Thus, it is clear that
print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India.
Q8. How did china remains a major producer of printed material for a long time?
A8. 1. Merchants used print in their everyday life as they collected trade information.
2. Text books for the civil services examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the
imperial state.
3. The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, romantic plays.
4. Rich women began to read and many women began publishing their poetry and plays.
5. Wives of scholar and officials published their work and courtesans wrote about their lives.

Q9. What were the chief characteristics of the earliest print culture in Japan? Explain.
A9. Buddhist monasteries from china introduced hand printing technology into Japan.
2. The oldest Japanese book printed in AD 868 in Diamond Sutra.
3. In Medieval Japan poets and prose writers were regularly published and books were cheap and
abundant.
4. Printing of visual materials led to increasing publishing practices.
5. In the late 18th century in the flourishing urban circles city at Edo, illustrated collections of paintings
depicted urban culture involving artisans, courtesans and tea house gathering.
3
 6. Books for women, musical instruments, tea ceremony, flower arrangements, proper etiquettes were
published.
Q10. How did china remains a major producer of printed material for a long time?
A10. 1. Merchants used print in their everyday life as they collected trade information.
2. Text books for the civil services examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the
imperial state.
3. The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, romantic plays.
4. Rich women began to read and many women began publishing their poetry and plays.
5. Wives of scholar and officials published their work and courtesans wrote about their lives.
Q11. What were the chief characteristics of the earliest print culture in Japan? Explain.
A11. 1. Buddhist monasteries from china introduced hand printing technology into Japan.
2. The oldest Japanese book printed in AD 868 in Diamond Sutra.
3. In Medieval Japan poets and prose writers were regularly published and books were cheap and
abundant.
4. Printing of visual materials led to increasing publishing practices.
5. In the late 18th century in the flourishing urban circles city at Edo, illustrated collections of paintings
depicted urban culture involving artisans, courtesans and tea house gathering.
6. Books for women, musical instruments, tea ceremony, flower arrangements, proper etiquettes were
published.
Q12. What was the reaction of religious authorities and monarchs about printing?
A12.1 Not everyone welcomed the printed books and those who did also had fears about it.
2. It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read then irreligious thoughts might
spread.
3. The authority and value of the valuable literature would be destroyed.
Q13. What were the views of Mercier?
A13. 1. According to Mercier, „the printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public
opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away.”
2. In many of Mercier„s novels, the heroes are transformed by the acts of reading.
3. Mercier believed that power of print will bring down despotism.
Q14. Explain the role of visual art and images in printing in India.
A14. 1. With the increasing number of printing presses, visual images could be easily reproduced in
multiple copies.
2. Painters like Raja Ravi Verma produced images for mass circulation.
3. Cheap prints and calendars were bought even by poor to decorate the walls of their houses.
Q15. Why was Menocchio hauled and executed?
A15. 1. Menocchio a miller in Italy began to read books that were available in his locality.
2. He reinterpreted the message of bible and formulated a view of god and creation that enraged the Roman
Catholic Church.
3. When the Roman Church began its inquisition and repress heretical ideas, Menocchio was hauled up
twice and ultimately executed.
Q16. How print was used by the Imperial court of China?
A16. 1. The imperial state in china was, for a very long time the major producer of printing material.
2. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through civil services
examinations.
3. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state.
Q17. How print was diversified by the seventeenth century in China?
A17 1. By the seventeenth century as urban culture bloomed in China, the use of print diversified. Print
was no longer used just by scholar-officials.
2. Merchants used print in their everyday life, as they collected trade information.
3. Reading increasingly became a leisure activity.

4
 4. The new readership preferred fictional narratives, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies of literary
masterpieces and romantic plays.
Q18. Explain the contribution of Kitagawa Utamaroto to art?
A18. 1. Kitagawa Utamaro born in Edo in 1753 was widely known for his contributions to an art form
called Ukiyo or depiction of ordinary human experiences, especially urban ones.
2. These prints travelled to contemporary US and Europe and influenced artists like Manet, Monet and van
Gogh.
3. Publishers like Tsutaya Juzaburo identified subjects and commissioned artists who drew the theme
outline.
Q19. How did print come to Europe?
A19. 1. In the eleventh century Chinese paper reached Europe via silk route.
2. Paper made possible the production of manuscripts carefully written by scribes.
3. Then in 1295 Marco Polo a great explorer returned to Italy after many years of exploration in China.
4. China already had the technology of woodblock printing. Marco Polo brought this knowledge back with
him
Q20. Explain the features of Indian Manuscripts before the age of print.
A20. 1. India had a very rich and old tradition of hand written manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, as
well as in various vernacular languages.
2. Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on hand made paper.
3. Pages were some time beautifully illustrated.
4. They would be either pressed between wooden covers or sewn together to ensure preservation.
Q21. Explain the drawbacks of Indian manuscripts?
A21. 1. Manuscripts were highly expensive and fragile.
2. They had to be handled carefully.
3. They could not be read easily as the script was written in different styles.
4. So manuscripts were not widely used in everyday life.
Q22. Write any three innovations related to printing press?
A22. 1. By the mid-nineteenth century, Richard M Hoe of New York had perfected the power driven
cylindrical press. This was capable of printing 8000 sheets per hour.
2. In the late nineteenth century, the offset press was developed which could print up to six colours at a
time.
3. From the turn of twentieth century, electrically operated presses accelerated printing operations.
Q23. What strategies were adopted by printers and publishers to sell their products in Europe?
A23. 1. In nineteenth century periodical serialized important novels which gave birth to a particular way of
writing novels.
2. In the 1920s in England popular works were sold in cheap series, called the Shilling Series.
3. The dust cover or the book jacket is also a twentieth century innovation.
Q24. Why was Hickey persecuted by General Warren Hastings?
A24 1. From 1780 James Augustus Hickey began to edit the Bengal Gazette, a weekly magazine that
described itself as a commercial paper open to all but influence by none.
2. So it was private English enterprise, proud of its independence from colonial influence that began
English printing in India.
3. Hickey published a lot of advertisements, including those that related to the import and sale of slaves.
4. But he also published a lot of gossips of company‟s senior officials in India. Enraged by this Hickey
persecuted by General Warren Hastings.
Q25. How were lives and feelings of women written and printed in various books?
A25 1. Lives and feelings of women began to be written in particularly vivid and intense way.
2. Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their women at home and sent them to schools when
women‟s schools were setup in the cities and towns after the mid 19th century.
3. Many journals began carrying writing by women and explained why women should be educated.
Q26. How were workers influenced by the print revolution?
A26. 1. Lending libraries had been in existence from the seventeenth century onwards. In the nineteenth
century lending libraries in England began instruments for educating white-collar workers, artisans and
lower middle class people.
2. Some time self educating working class people wrote for themselves.
5
3. After the working day was gradually shortened from the mid nineteenth century, workers had some time
for self-improvement and self expression. They wrote political tracts and autobiographies in large numbers.
Q27. How did the print popularized the ideas of the enlightened thinkers?
A27. 1. The writings of enlightened thinkers provided a critical commentary on traditions, superstitions
and despotism.
2. They argued for the rule of reason rather than custom, and demanded that everything be judged through
the application of reason and rationality.
3. They attacked the scared authority of the church and the despotic power of the state.
Q28. Describe the contribution of scientists and philosophers in the development of
popular literature.
A28 1. Historians have argued that writings of famous philosophers created the conditions within which
French Revolution occurred.
2. The Scientists like Isaac Newton began to publish their discoveries they could influence a much wider
circle of readers with the scientific bent of mind.
3. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were complied and published and maps and scientific diagrams
were widely printed.
4. The ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people.
Q29. Which factor led to reading mania in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe?
A29. 1. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries literacy rate went up in most parts of Europe.
2. New forms of popular literature appeared in print, targeting new audiences. Book sellers employed
peddlers who roamed around villages, carrying little books for sale.
3. Cheap books were available in the market and the production of books was very high.
4. Newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade as well as news of developments in
other places.
Q30. Highlight the common conviction of people in the mid 18th century about the print culture.
A30. 1. Many people believed that books could change the world, liberate society from despotism and
tyranny and a herald a time when reason and intellect would rule.
2. Louise-Sebastien Mercier a novelist in France declared, “The printing press most powerful engine of
progresses and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away.”
3. By the mid 18th century, there was a common conviction that books were a means of spreading progress
and enlightenment.
Q31. Write about the uses of manuscripts in India?
A31 1. These written manuscripts provide information on the existence of different civilizations.
2. Manuscripts emphasizes on the importance of the survival of different civilizations.
3. The manuscripts are considered precocious as a source of history in the recent tomes.
Q32. Why did James Augustus Hickey claim that the “Bengal Gazette was a commercial paper open
to all but influence by none”? Explain
A32 . 1. From 1780 James Augustus Hickey began to edit the Bengal Gazette, a weekly magazine that
described itself as a commercial paper open to all but influence by none.
2. So it was private English enterprise, proud of its independence from colonial influence that began
English printing in India.
3. Hickey published a lot of advertisements, including those that related to the import and sale of slaves.
4. But he also published a lot of gossips of company‟s senior officials in India. Enraged by this Hickey was
persecuted by General Warren Hastings.
Q33. Examine the role of missionaries in the growth of press in India.
A33. 1. The printing press first came to Goa with the Portuguese missionaries in the mid-16th century.
2. Catholic priests printed the first Tamil Book on Indian religion in 1579 at Cochin.
3. By 1710, Dutch protestant missionaries had printed 32 Tamil Texts many of them were translations of
older works.
Q34. Explain any two steps taken by „Ulemas‟ to defend their religion.
A34 1. Ulemas feared that colonial rulers would encourage conversion of religion to Christianity.
2. To counter this they used cheap lithographic presses, published Persian and Urdu translations of Holy
Scripture and printed religious newspapers and tracts.
6
 3. The Deoband Seminary published Fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in their
everyday lives, and explaining the meaning of Islamic doctrine.
Q35. How did the religious communities in India make use of printing technology to spread their
ideas? Explain.
A35. 1. Ulemas of Muslim community used cheap lithographic presses, published Persian and Urdu
translations of Holy Scripture and printed religious newspapers and tracts.
2. The Deoband Seminary published Fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct 9 / 12 themselves in
their everyday lives, and explaining the meaning of Islamic doctrine
3. Hindu published religious texts like Ramcharitmanas in vernacular language from Calcutta.
4. In Bengal „Samachar Chandrika‟ was published by Hindu Orthodoxy.
Q36. Describe the issues related to caste as taken by the different reformers of India.
A36 1. Jyotiba Phule the Maratha pioneer of low caste protest movements wrote about the injustices of the
caste system in his Gulamgiri.
2. In the twentieth century B.R. Ambedkar, E.V. Ramaswamy and Mahatma Gandhi wrote on caste
discrimination and their writings were read by people of all over India.
3. Kashibaba a Kanpur mill worker wrote „Chhote or bade ka Sawal‟ in 1938 to depict the relation between
caste and class exploitation.

Q37. How did the Vernacular Press Act affected the vernacular newspapers?
A37. 1. The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was passed which empowered the government to censor reports
and editorials.
2. Government kept a regular tract of vernacular newspapers. If a report was judged seditious, the
newspaper was warned and if warning was ignored, strict actions were taken by the government.
3. In the case of violation of the act was repeated, the press was seized and the machines were confiscated.
Q38. Give three examples of women of conservative families who began to reading, writing in secrecy.
A38 1. Rashsundri Debi a young married girl of a very orthodox family learnt to read in secrecy of her
kitchen and wrote her autobiography- „Amar Jiban‟ in 1876.
2. Tarabai Shinde and Pandita Ramabai from Maharashtra wrote books and highlighted the miserable lives
of widow in upper caste Hindu families.
3. Kailaishbashini Debi wrote books about painful experiences how women had to go through in their
families and imprisoned at home.
Q39. Explain any three reasons due to which children become large readers in the 19th century
Europe?
A39 1. In Europe primary educations became compulsory.
2. Children became an important category of readers.
3. Grimm Brothers of Germany compiled folk tales from peasants and published a collection in 1812.
4. Production of school textbooks became critical for the publishing industry.
5. A children press was set up in France.
Q40 . Explain any three reasons due to which women become large readers in the 19th century
Europe?
A40 1. Especially penny magazines were published to attract the women readers.
2. Penny magazines were manuals teaching proper behaviors and housekeeping.
3. Literacy rate was increased among the women.
4. Some of the best known novelists were women.
Q41. How print revolution led to the development of reading mania in Europe.
A41. As literacy and schools spread in European countries there was a virtual reading mania.
1. A new forms of popular literature appeared to target new readers
2. There were ritual calendars along with ballads and folk tales.
3. In England penny chapbooks were carried by petty peddlers known as chap men and sold fora penny, So
that even poor could buy them.
4. In France these law priced books were called Bibliotheque Bleue as they were bound in cheap blue
covers.
7
 5. There were romances, histories, books of various sixes, serving developed to combine information on
current affairs with entertainment.
6. Periodical pressed developed to combine information on current affairs with entertainment.
7. The idea of scientists and scholars had now become more accessible to the common people.
Q42. How did oral culture enter print and how was the printed material transmitted orally?
Explain?
A42. Oral culture entered print into the following ways –
1. Printers published popular ballads and folktales.
2. Books were profusely illustrated with pictures. Printed material was transmitted orally in the following
ways:-
[Link] were sung at gathering in villages, taverns and in towns.
II. They were recited in public gathering.
Q43. Explain the impact of print on Indian women.
A43. 1. Writers started writing about the lives and features of women and this increased the number of
women readers.
2. Women writers write their own autobiography. They highlighted the condition of women,their ignorance
and how they forced to do hard domestic labour.
3. A large section of Hindu writing was devoted to the education of women.
4. In the early 20th century the journals written by women become very popular in which women‟s
education, widowhood, widow remarriage were discussed.
5. Many writers published how to teach women to be obedient wives.
Q44. By the end of the 19th century a new visual cultural was taking shapes. Write any three features
of this new visual cultural.
A44. 1. Visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies.
2. Printers produced images for mass circulation cheap prints and calendars could be brought even by the
poor.
3. By the 1870‟s caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and news papers.
4. Mass production of cost and visual images reduced the cost of production. So cheap prints and calendars
were available in the market even for the poor to decorate the walls of their homes.

Q45. „Many Histories have argued that print culture created the conditions within which the French
Revolution occurred.‟ Explain.
A45. The print popularized the ideas of the enlightened thinkers who attacked the authority of the church
and the despotic power of the state.
2. The print created a new culture of dialogue and debate and the public become aware of reasoning. They
recognized the need to question the existing ideas and beliefs.
3. The literature of 1780‟s mocked the royalty and criticized their morality and the existing social order.
This literature led to the growth of hostile sentiments against.

Cosmopolitan Educational & Welfare Society’s, QUEEN‟S SCHOOL Mobile number: 9156614054
CBSE Affiliation number-1130377 E-mail:- [Link]@[Link]
Nandkheda Road, Parbhani. Website: [Link]