
1. Paraphrase the following quotation of Barthes: "Does the narration of past events, which, in our culture from the time of the Greeks onwards, has generally been subject to the sanction of historical 'science,' bound to the unbending standard of the 'real' and justified by the principles of 'rational' exposition--does this form of narration really differ, in some specific trait, in some indubitably distinctive feature, from imaginary narration, as we find it in the epic, the novel, the drama?"
~ Does historical writing differ from literary writing?
@ Does historical writing differ from literary writing?
a. Does historical writing influence the writings of artists such as storytellers?
b. Does history have any trait that would allow it to be narrated like a novel?
c. What type of historiography allows for objective understanding?
*d. Does historical writing differ from literary writing?

2. Shifters 
~ Shifters are words whose meanings cannot be understood without reference to surrounding words. The term is borrowed from the linguist Roman Jakobson, and Barthes presents two varieties, shifters of listening and shifters of organization.
@ Shifters are words whose meanings cannot be understood without reference to surrounding words. The term is borrowed from the linguist Roman Jakobson, and Barthes presents two varieties, shifters of listening and shifters of organization.
*a. are words whose meanings cannot be understood without reference to surrounding words.
b. assure a transition between the utterance (receiving information) and the act of uttering (presenting information).
c. come in three varieties: listening, structuring, and objective.
d.  mark the difference between the signifier and the signified.

3. "Historical discourse does not follow the real, it can do no more than signify the real, constantly repeating that it happened, without this assertion amounting to anything but the signified 'other side' of the whole process of historical narration." This quotation illustrates Barthes's claim that
~ This quotation illustrates Barthes's claim that the so-called "real" in history is the interpretation of the asserted fact, not what actually happened.
@ This quotation illustrates Barthes's claim that the so-called "real" in history is the interpretation of the asserted fact, not what actually happened.
a. organizational shifters make objective understanding of history impossible.
*b. the so-called "real" in history is the interpretation of the asserted fact, not what actually happened.
c. historical truth can only be found by examining all available primary sources.
d. historical discourse provides no real benefits to humanity.

4. Existents and occurrents 
~ Existents and occurrents are categories of words and ideas used by historians to give a thematic unity to a complex reality. According to Barthes, existents are beings or entities that a historian must organize through a thematic framework. Occurrents describe what the existents do.
@ Existents and occurrents are categories of words and ideas used by historians to give a thematic unity to a complex reality. According to Barthes, existents are beings or entities that a historian must organize through a thematic framework. Occurrents describe what the existents do.
*a. are categories of words and ideas used by historians to give a thematic unity to a complex reality. 
b. are examples of shifters of listening.
c. have helped historians gain objective truth from history.
d. are not culturally determined.

5. Why does Barthes claim that a historian can never truly nullify their presence in a narrative?
~ Historians choose what information they present and omit, and structure their work in a way that embeds interpretive choices into the text. Objectivity is merely a persona to Barthes.
@ Historians choose what information they present and omit, and structure their work in a way that embeds interpretive choices into the text. Objectivity is merely a persona to Barthes.
a. Historians have to present an argument in their work.
b. Historians always use pronouns such as "I" in their prefaces and sometimes throughout the text.
*c. Historians choose what information they present and omit, and structure their work in a way that embeds interpretive choices into the text.
d. Historians lack the group consensus found within the scientific community.

6. Which of the following quotations is in relation to shifters of listening?
~ "...collecting testimony from elsewhere and telling it in its own discourse."
@ "...collecting testimony from elsewhere and telling it in its own discourse."
a. "At one point (this break-down is of course only metaphorical) the referent is detached from the discourse, becomes external to it, its founding and governing principle."
b. "The...shifter poses a problem which is worthy of attention, though it can only be lightly indicated here: this is the problem arising from the coexistence, or to be more exact, the friction between two times--the time of uttering and the time of the matter of utterance."
*c. "...collecting testimony from elsewhere and telling it in its own discourse."
d. "Then there is a much more commonly found element, the Preface, which is an act of uttering characterized such, whether prospectively in so far as it announces the discourse to come, or retrospectively in that it embodies a judgement on the discourse."

7. Evident throughout the text is Barthes's acceptance of semiology, indicating that he is philosophically indebted to
~ Evident throughout the text is Barthes's acceptance of semiology, indicating that he is philosophically indebted to structuralism. Semiology is the theory of signs.
@ Evident throughout the text is Barthes's acceptance of semiology, indicating that he is philosophically indebted to structuralism. Semiology is the theory of signs.
a. post-modernism.
b. the annales-school.
c. modernism.
*d. structuralism.

8. According to Barthes, how is historical writing similar to fictional writing?
~ Writers of history use the same literary devices as fictional writers, including methods of structuring the text and use of metaphor.
@ Writers of history use the same literary devices as fictional writers, including methods of structuring the text and use of metaphor.
*a. Writers of history use the same literary devices as fictional writers, including methods of structuring the text and use of metaphor.
b. Historical writing is, like fiction, ultimately for entertainment.
c. Historical writing, like fictional writing, is entirely fictional, because all "facts" are really interpretations.
d. Barthes actually argues that historical writing is unlike fictional writing, because unlike authors of fiction, historical writers are conscious of trying to tell the truth.

9. Which of the following is an example of an organizational shifter?
~ An introductory quotation is an example of an organizational shifter. The quotation serves to frame the text in terms of its own meaning, bringing the time of the quotation's writing into dialogue with the time of the text's writing.
@ An introductory quotation is an example of an organizational shifter. The quotation serves to frame the text in terms of its own meaning, bringing the time of the quotation's writing into dialogue with the time of the text's writing.
a. The word "chronology"
b. The phrase "I heard"
*c. An introductory quotation
d. A metaphor

10. According to Barthes, occurrents
~ According to Barthes, occurrents describe what the existents do. Existents are beings or entities that a historian must organize through a thematic framework.
@ According to Barthes, occurrents describe what the existents do. Existents are beings or entities that a historian must organize through a thematic framework.
a. are beings, entities, or institutions (for example "war").
*b. describe what the existents do.
c. when combined with a signified produce a sign.
d. are the underlying framework of language.