Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Before print, reading was restricted to elites; common people lived in oral culture — hearing sacred texts, ballads, and folk tales narrated collectively.

Print reduced the cost of books and flooded the market, creating a new reading public. However, literacy rates remained very low, so the boundary was not cleanly removed. Publishers printed popular ballads and folk tales with illustrations, which were sung and recited at village gatherings and taverns. Thus, oral culture entered print, and printed material was orally transmitted. The hearing public and reading public became intermingled, blurring — but not erasing — the line between the two cultures.

Source: Chapter 5, Section 3.1 – A New Reading Public

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• The key argument CBSE expects: print did not cleanly remove the oral-written divide — it blurred it.
• Three points examiners look for: (1) earlier situation — elite reading vs. oral culture; (2) how print spread (cheap books, ballads, illustrations); (3) the blurring — oral transmission of printed content, intermingling of both publics.
• Quote or paraphrase the textbook phrase "oral culture thus entered print" — it scores well.
• Avoid over-explaining; 3 marks = ~3 clear points.