MGT 205

Business Communication

TU BBS · Second Year · Four-year BBS curriculum

Requirement
required
Full marks
100
Past papers
5 papers

Chapter-wise questions

56 reviewed questions across 13 units

Open a chapter to study questions grouped by unit and syllabus topic, with verified model solutions.

Unit 1: The Communication Process

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  1. Asked on 2080 Exam[5 marks]

    Rewrite the following sentences choosing the best alternative.

    a. Information flows from executives to low-level employees in .......... communication.

    i. upward flow

    ii. downward flow

    iii. horizontal flow

    iv. diagonal flow

    b. The engagement of employees in their jobs, their commitment to the organization is called...........

    i. employee management

    ii. interpersonal communication

    iii. event management

    iv. corporate communication

    c. .......... is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or collective interests.

    i. Bargaining ii. Conflict ii. Negotiation iv. Business appraisal

    d. ........are the official written records of a meeting.

    i. Minutes ii. Agendas iii. Memos iv. Roll calls

    e. A............is usually a formal interaction or discussion among a group of people for specific purpose.

    i. sitting ii. setting iii. gathering iv. meeting

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    Completed Statements with Correct Alternatives

    a. Information flows from executives to low-level employees in downward flow communication. (Correct: ii. downward flow)

    b. The engagement of employees in their jobs, their commitment to the organization is called employee engagement / corporate communication (or employee management). (Correct: i. employee management / engagement)

    c. Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or collective interests. (Correct: iii. Negotiation)

    d. Minutes are the official written records of a meeting. (Correct: i. Minutes)

    e. A meeting is usually a formal interaction or discussion among a group of people for specific purpose. (Correct: iv. meeting)

  2. Asked on 2078 Exam[15 marks]
    1. R. Scholes N. R. Comley and G.L. Ulmer in their essay 'Light My Lucky" describe an advertisement for Lucky Strike Light cigarettes and point out how important it is for the consumers to learn how to make a critical scrutiny of ads and text made for promotional purposes. Think of some other cigarette ad or any other ad and write a comment on it as in the essay.

    **OR **

    E.B. White, in “Once More to the Lake”, reminisces about his boyhood summer holidays spent in Maine. Explain how the lake serves as the setting for both the author’s past and present. Do you think the memories remain the same or they change over the years? Give some concrete examples from your personal experience.

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    Option 1: Semiotic Critique of Advertising (Modeled on “Light My Lucky”)

    1. Introduction & Theoretical Framework:

    In “Light My Lucky,” Robert Scholes, Nancy R. Comley, and Gregory L. Ulmer demonstrate that modern commercial advertisements are sophisticated cultural texts operating through semiotics—the study of signs, signifiers, and signified cultural mythologies. Advertisers rarely sell the physical reality of a product; instead, they sell an idealized lifestyle, status symbol, or psychological identity. Learning to decode these visual and verbal rhetoric devices is essential for consumer media literacy.

    2. Critical Analysis of a Selected Advertisement: “Surya 24-Carat / Classic Cigarettes” (or Marlboro Country)

    A. Visual Signifiers (The Denotative Level):
    • Image Composition: The advertisement features an impeccably dressed, handsome, mature man in a tailored blazer standing against an opulent golden skyline or sitting in a luxurious mahogany boardroom.
    • Color Palette: Dominated by rich golds, deep royal blues, and subtle burgundy, projecting exclusivity, high social status, and financial success.
    • Visual Gaze: The protagonist gazes confidently into the distance or directly at the viewer with an aura of unshakable control, self-assurance, and masculine elegance. The cigarette is held effortlessly, emitting a delicate, stylized ribbon of smoke.
    B. Implied Cultural Mythologies (The Connotative Level):
    • Equating Smoking with Sophistication & Power: The ad deliberately links tobacco consumption with executive authority, refinement, and aristocratic distinction.
    • The Illusion of Freedom and Control: It taps into the urban professional’s desire for autonomy and relief from stress. Smoking is framed not as an addictive chemical dependency, but as a celebratory reward of the elite achiever.
    C. The Hidden Reality (What the Ad Silences):
    • Biological and Medical Reality: The ad completely conceals the toxic consequences of tobacco: lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, emphysema, yellowed teeth, premature aging, and severe physical addiction.
    • Manipulative Contrast: The statutory health warning (“Smoking causes cancer”) is tucked into tiny, low-contrast typography at the bottom margin, directly contradicted by the vibrant, glamorous visual narrative.

    3. Conclusion & Consumer Empowerment:

    Just as Scholes, Comley, and Ulmer argue, advertisements construct seductive visual fictions that manipulate consumers’ subconscious desires and insecurities. By developing critical media literacy, consumers can unmask the commercial motives of corporate advertisers, separating authentic personal needs from manufactured consumerist illusions.

    Option 2 (Alternative): E.B. White’s “Once More to the Lake”

    1. The Lake as Past and Present:

    In E.B. White’s reflective essay “Once More to the Lake,” the remote freshwater lake in Maine serves as a dual temporal setting where the author’s childhood past and adult present merge into a profound dual vision:

    • When White returns to the lake with his young son, he experiences a haunting sensation of timelessness. The sights, smells, and sounds—the purr of the outboard motor, the dragonflies hovering over the water, the path through the pine woods, the damp moss—are almost identical to those he experienced in 1904 with his own father.
    • White constantly slips between identities: he feels like his father watching a boy, and simultaneously feels like the boy looking up at his father. The lake creates the comforting illusion that time has stopped and generations do not age.

    2. The Inevitability of Change and the Chill of Mortality:

    • However, White’s illusion of permanence is shattered by small modern intrusions (e.g., the harsh, jarring sound of modern outboard motors replacing the gentle one-cylinder engines of the past).
    • The essay culminates in an unforgettable epiphany during a summer thunderstorm. As his son buckles on a damp swimming suit, White watches him and suddenly feels:

      “A chill of death.”

    • He realizes that time is linear, not circular. If his son has taken his place as the young boy, White has inexorably moved into his father’s place—the generation next in line for death.

    3. The Nature of Memory:

    Memories do not remain static photographs; they are living psychological constructs reshaped by aging, loss, and mature insight. Revisiting the sacred spaces of childhood exposes both our longing for immortality and the poignant beauty of human transience.