Print Culture and the Modern World Class 10 Worksheet History Chapter 2

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Objective type Questions
Q1: Vellum is :
(a) metal frame in which the types are laid and the text compressed
(b) a parchment made from the skin of animals
(c) the art of beautiful and stylised writing
(d) a historical account or folk tale in verse, usually sung or recited
Ans: B

Q2: The earliest print technology was developed in :
(a) China, Japan and Korea
(b) France, China and India
(c) Germany, Korea, Vietnam
(d) China, Japan and Germany
Ans: A

Q3: Who were deeply anxious about the collapse of Muslim dynasties ?

(a) Jesuit priests
(b) Hindus
(c) The Ulama
(d) Portuguese missionaries
Ans: C

Q4: This city became the hub of the new print culture, catering to the Western-style schools :
(a) Mumbai
(b) Tokyo
(c) Shanghai
(d) New York
Ans: C

Q5: He developed the first-known Printing Press in the 1430s :
(a) Martin Luther
(b) Marco Polo
(c) Warren Hastings
(d) Johann Gutenberg
Ans: D

Q6: Which one of the following was NOT the reason for the popularity of scientific ideas among the common people in eighteenth century Europe ?
(a) Printing of idea of Isaac Newton
(b) Development of printing press
(c) Interest of people in science and reason
(d) Traditional aristocratic groups supported it.
Ans: D

Q7: Who wrote Ramcharitmanas ?
(a) Tulsidas
(b) Gangadhar Bhattacharya
(c) Kashibaba
(d) Ram Chaddha
Ans: A

Q8: Calligraphy is :
(a) the art of making ceramics
(b) the art of making pottery
(c) a style of music
(d) the art of beautiful and stylised writing
Ans: D

Q9: When was the Vernacular Press Act passed ?
(a) 1820
(b) 1878
(c) 1857
(d) 1907
Ans: B

Q10: It is a historical account or folk tale in verse, usually sung or recited :
(a) Taverns
(b) Vellum
(c) Ballad
(d) Galley
Ans: C

True or False

Q1: Dr.Ambedkar was also known as ‘Periyar’. (True/False)
Ans: False

Q2: Those people who believed in the teachings of the Church were known as heretics. (True/False) 
Ans: False

Q3: Print popularised the ideas of the enlightenment thinkers. (True/False)
Ans: True

Q4: Manuscripts in India were cheap and durable. (True/False)
Ans: False

Q5: The Vernacular Press Act was passed in 1878. (True/False) 
Ans: True

Assertion and Reasoning Based Questions

Q1: Assertion : As literacy and schools spread in African countries, there was a virtual reading mania. 
Reason : Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to tribals.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (d) As literacy and schools spread in European countries, there was a virtual reading mania. Churches of different denominations set up schools in villages, carrying literacy to peasants and artisans.

Q2: Assertion : The new reading culture was accompanied by a new technology.
Reason : From hand printing there was a gradual shift to mechanical printing.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (a) The reason thus correctly justifies the assertion.

Q3: Assertion : The first book that Gutenberg printed was the Bible. 
Reason : About 500 copies were printed and it took two years to produce them.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (c) About 180 copies were printed and it took three years to produce them. The reason is thus false.

Q4: Assertion : Children became an important category of readers.
Reason : Primary education became compulsory from the late nineteenth century.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (a) The reason justifies the assertion.

Q5: Assertion : In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther wrote Ninety Five Theses criticising many of the practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
Reason : This led to a division within the Church and to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (a) A printed copy of the Theses was posted on a Church door in Wittenberg. It challenged the Church to debate his ideas. Luther’s writings were immediately reproduced in large numbers and read widely. The reason thus correctly justifies the assertion.

Q6: Assertion : Print and popular religious literature stimulated many distinctive individual interpretations of faith even among little-educated working people.
Reason : Through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates went up in most parts of Europe.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (b) Both assertion and reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.

Q7: Assertion : There was intense controversy between social and religious reformers and the Hindu orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and idolatory.
Reason : The Deoband Seminary founded in 1867, published thousands of fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in everyday lives, and explaining the meaning of Islamic doctrines.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (b) The reason does not justify the assertion.

Q8: Assertion : The production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy the ever-increasing demand for books. 
Reason : Chinese paper reached Europe via the silk route.
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true and reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If both assertion and reason are false.
Ans: (b) Copying was laborious, expensive and timeconsuming. Manuscripts were fragile, awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read easily. Therefore, their circulation remained limited. The reason does not explain or justify the assertion.

Very Short Answer Type Questions 

Q1: What were almanacs ?
Ans: The almanacs were the annual publications that reflected on astronomical data, movements of the sun and the moon, timings of full tides and eclipses and the significance of day-to-day life of people.

Q2: How had hand printing technology introduced in Japan? 
Ans: Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand printing technology in Japan around 768-770 AD.

Q3: How many copies of the Bible were printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Europe ?
Ans: About 180 copies of the Bible were printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Europe.

Q4: How was Biliotheque Bleue different from Penny Chapbooks ?
Ans: Biliotheque Bleue represented low priced small books printed in France with cheap blue cover. On the other hand, Penny Chapbooks were sold by petty peddlers called Chapmen in England.

Q5: Who invented printing press and when ?
Ans: Printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the year 1430.

Q6: Who wrote ‘My Childhood and My University’ ?
Ans: The twentieth century Russian revolutionary author Maxim Gorky wrote ‘My Childhood and My University’.

Q7: Who was Johannes Gutenberg ?
Ans: Johannes Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and he invented the first printing press in Germany, Europe.

Q8: Why was printing of textbooks sponsored by the Imperial State in China ? 
Ans: The printing of textbooks were sponsored by the Imperial State in China because China possessed a large bureaucratic system, which recruited their personnel through civil service examinations. That is why, textbooks were printed in large numbers to provide them study material.

Q9: What was woodblock printing ?
Ans: It is a variant of printing where paper is rubbed against the inked surface of woodblocks.

Q10: What led to the schism within the Catholic Church and the birth of the Protestant Reformation movement in Germany ?
Ans: Martin Luther’s Ninety Five Theses culminated in the division within the Catholic Church and the development of the Protestant Reformation Movement in Germany.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: Who brought the printing technology to British India and how ?
Ans: Printing technology was brought to British India by Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century.

• The first printing press in India was established by Portuguese Jesuits in Goa in 1556.
• It was brought to India to assist in missionary work, particularly to print Christian religious texts in local languages.
• The first book printed in India was "Doctrina Christa", a catechism in Portuguese and Konkani.

Later, the British East India Company and other European powers expanded the use of the printing press for administrative, commercial, and educational purposes. The growth of newspapers and books played a significant role in the spread of knowledge and nationalism in colonial India.

Q2: How had the Imperial State in China been the major producer of printed material for a long time? Explain with examples.
Ans: From AD 594 onwards, books in China were printed by rubbing paper invented there against the inked surface of woodblocks. The imperial state in China was, for a very long time, the major producer of printed material. China possessed a huge bureaucratic system which recruited its personnel through civil service examinations. Textbooks for this examination were printed in vast numbers under the sponsorship of the imperial state. From the sixteenth century, the number of examination candidates went up and that increased the volume of print. By the seventeenth century, as urban culture bloomed in China, the uses of print diversified. Reading increasingly became a leisure activity. Women, revolutionaries, poets and even merchants used print in everyday life.

Q3: Give reasons for the statement : ‘Woodblock print only came to Europe after 1295’.
Ans: In the aftermath of 1295, the Italian explorer Marco Polo returned from his long stay in China. The concept of woodblock printing became popular in Europe after his return.

Q4: Write the name of any two women writers of India in nineteenth century and highlights their contribution.
Ans: The two influential Indian women writers in the nineteenth century were Kailashbashini Debi and Rashsundari Debi.

• Kailashbashini Debi : She was a Bengali women who started writing books from 1860s, underscoring the vivid experiences of women. She reflected on women’s imprisonment at home and their glaring hardships in their lifetime. She showed that women were treated harshly by new people
• Rashsundari Debi : She was a young married women who learned to read and write from the secrecy of her Kitchen. After acquiring the art of writing, she delineated her life story in the form of autobiography called Amar Jiban (My life) in Bengali language.

Q5: Write briefly on the Vernacular Press Act. (NCERT)
Ans: Vernacular Press Act:

• Proposed by the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton (1876- 80), the Vernacular Press Act was passed on 1878. It was modelled on the Irish Press laws. Due to the prevalence of this Act, the government wielded control over the vernacular press. The Government possessed the right to censor reports and editorials of the vernacular press.
• If report was found to be seditious, The newspaper was warned. However, if the newspaper shunned the warning and continued the activity, then the press would be confiscated.

Q6: How did print culture affect women in the nineteenth century?

Ans: Print culture affect women in the nineteenth century are as follows:

• Women held an important position in the history of India as prominent readers and writers.
• The Penny magazines were particularly meant for women. These were manuals that educate women on proper decorum and house keeping facilities.
• When novels began to be written in the nineteenth century, women were seen as important readers.
• Many prominent novelists like Jane Austan, the Bronte Sisters and George Eliot started to be define a new type of women; as a person with strong will, manifesting the strength of personality and thinking capacities

Q7: Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas and introduced a new world of debate discussion.’’ Analyse the statement in the context of religion in Europe.
Ans: Print created the possibility of wide circulation of ideas, and introduced a new world of debate and discussion.

• Even those who disagreed with established authorities could now print and circulate their ideas. Through the printed message, they could persuade people to think differently, and move them to action.
• Many were apprehensive of the effects that the easier access to the printed word and wider circulation of books, could have on people’s minds.
• It was feared that if there was no control over what was printed and read, then rebellious and irreligious thoughts might spread.

Q8: Write short notes to show what you know about the Gutenberg Press.
Ans: The Gutenberg Press was a developed from of the olive press. The lead moulds were used for casting the metal types of the letters. By 1448, Johannes Gutenberg perfected the printing system. The Bible was the first book printed by Johannes Gutenberg. Within three years, Gutenberg produce 180 copies of the Holy Bible. At the same time, the borders of the book were illuminated manually by the artists. Therefore everybody possessed unique piece of the Bible.

Q9: Why did British government curb the freedom of the Indian press after the revolt of 1857 ?

Ans: The British government curbed the freedom of the Indian press after the revolt of 1857 because the attitude to freedom of the press changed. Enraged Englishmen demanded a clamp down on the ‘native‘ press.
As vernacular newspapers became assertively nationalist, the colonial government began debating measures for string control.

Q10: Write a note on Erasmus’s idea of a printed book.
Ans: Erasmus was a Latin scholar and a Catholic reformer. He strongly objected to the printing of books. In his opinion, most printed books were slanderous, irreligious and provoking. With the subsequent expansion of printing, ideas of enlightened thinkers attracted the mass and they started to see the world thorough the lens of logic.
These printed books were spreading heretical ideas that opposed the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.
According to Erasmus, such printed books debased the value of handwritten manuscripts.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Why did the Roman Catholic Church begin keeping an Index of Prohibited Books from the mid-sixteenth century ? Explain by giving five reasons.
Ans: The Roman Catholic Church maintained an Index of Prohibited Books from the mid-sixteenth century for several reasons:

• Control over ideas: There was a concern that without regulation, rebellious and irrational thoughts could spread through printed materials.
• Political stability: Monarchs feared that uncontrolled printing could incite rebellions against state authorities.
• Religious integrity: Religious leaders worried that printed works could lead people to challenge their faith and traditional beliefs.
• Publishing authority: The Church sought to exercise control over publishers and booksellers to maintain its influence.
• Protecting literature: Writers and artists believed that without oversight, the value of important publications would be at risk.

Q2. Describe three shortcomings of manuscripts that were overcome by the printing press.
Ans: The three main shortcomings of manuscripts that were addressed by the printing press are:

• Time-consuming process: Expert scribes took a long time to copy manuscripts, making it an expensive and laborious task. In contrast, the printing press could produce multiple copies quickly.
• High costs: Handwritten manuscripts were costly and mainly accessible to the wealthy, serving as a status symbol. The printing press significantly reduced book prices, making them available to the general public.
• Cumbersome handling: Carrying handwritten manuscripts was difficult and risky, as they could easily be damaged. Printed books were easier to transport and handle.

Q3. Explain how print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India.
Ans: Print culture played a crucial role in fostering nationalism in India through several key developments:

• Vernacular publications: Many newspapers began to be published in local languages after 1870, making information accessible to a wider audience.
• Political commentary: Journals and newspapers featured cartoons and articles that challenged imperial rule and discussed social and political issues. Notable publications like Keshari and Maratha were particularly nationalistic, highlighting colonial misrule.
• Repressive policies: The British government's harsh measures led to protests. For instance, Balgangadhar Tilak was imprisoned in 1908 for reporting on these policies in Keshari, which sparked widespread resentment.
• Spreading ideas: Print culture enabled leaders to share their thoughts with people across the country, uniting them and promoting the growth of nationalism.

Q4. How were ideas and information written before the age of print in India? How did the printing technique begin in India?
Ans: Before the age of print, India had a rich tradition of handwritten manuscripts. These were created in languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian, as well as various local languages. Key features of this manuscript culture included:

• Manuscripts were typically written on palm leaves or handmade paper.
• Artists decorated pages with intricate floral patterns.
• Notable works, like the Gita Govinda by Jayadeva, showcased artistic formats.
• Calligraphy was highly valued, as seen in the works of the poet Hafiz.
• Manuscripts were preserved by sewing pages together or pressing them between wooden covers.

The introduction of the printing press in India began in the mid-16th century when Portuguese missionaries arrived in Goa. Key developments included:

• Jesuit priests printed tracts in Konkani and Tamil.
• By 1674, around 50 books had been printed in Konkani.
• The first Tamil book was printed in 1579 in Cochin, and the first Malayalam book appeared in 1713.
• By 1710, Dutch missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts.
• From the 1780s, James Augustus Hickey initiated English printing with the Bengal Gazette.

By the end of the 18th century, a variety of journals emerged, marking the rise of the Indian publishing industry.

Q5. Why did some people in eighteenth century Europe think that print culture would bring enlightenment and end despotism ?
Ans: In the 18th century, many believed that print culture would lead to enlightenment and end despotism. Here are the key reasons:

• Dissemination of new ideas: Print culture allowed the ideas of scientists and philosophers to reach a wider audience. Ancient and medieval texts were published, promoting the growth of enlightenment.
• Books as means of progress: By the late 18th century, books became vital for spreading new ideas. They encouraged people to think logically and rationally.
• Writings of scholars: The works of influential thinkers like Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine, and Voltaire were widely circulated, introducing concepts of science and reason to the public.
• Scientific discoveries: Authentic maps and scientific diagrams were printed, reaching a broader audience and inspiring scientifically minded readers.
• A new culture of dialogue and debate: The printing press fostered public discussions and strong opinions, creating an environment ripe for enlightenment and challenging despotism, especially after the French Revolution of 1789.