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Read the source given… (Class 10 Social Science 2025, Q34)

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Social ScienceCBSE Class 10 · Board exam 2025, set 32/4/1 · 4 marks · Case-based

CBSE Class 10 Social Science 2025: question 34

Set in the CBSE Class 10 board exam of 2025, paper 32/4/1, section E, question 34, for 4 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q34 · 4 marks · Case-basedCompetency-basedPrint Culture and the Modern World

Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:

New Forms of Publication

By the end of the nineteenth century, a new visual culture was taking shape. With the setting up of an increasing number of printing presses, visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation. Poor wood engravers who made woodblocks set up shop near the letterpresses, and were employed by print shops. Cheap prints and calendars, easily available in the bazaar, could be bought even by the poor to decorate the walls of their homes or places of work. These prints began shaping popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics, and society and culture.

By the 1870s, caricatures and cartoons were being published in journals and newspapers, commenting on social and political issues. Some caricatures ridiculed the educated Indians’ fascination with Western tastes and clothes, while others expressed the fear of social change. There were imperial caricatures lampooning nationalists, as well as nationalist cartoons criticising imperial rule.

  1. 34.1

    How did the development of printing technology impact visual culture?

    1 mark
  2. 34.2

    How did Raja Ravi Varma contribute to the mass circulation of art in India?

    1 mark
  3. 34.3

    How did visual culture shape the memory of the 19th century social landscape? Explain.

    2 marks

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2025 board paper, set 32/4/1.

Hints

Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.

Hint 1

Link the number of printing presses to how easily images could be copied.

Hint 2

Think about where cheap prints and calendars were sold and who could afford them.

Hint 3

What did caricatures and cartoons comment on, and who was ridiculed?

Step-by-step solution

Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.

  1. (i) With more printing presses being set up, visual images could be easily reproduced in multiple copies. This created a new visual culture of cheap prints, calendars and pictures for mass circulation.

    1 mark

  2. (ii) Raja Ravi Varma produced images for mass circulation, and his press produced many mythological paintings. Cheap prints and calendars sold in the bazaar could be bought even by the poor to decorate their homes and workplaces, so art reached the masses.

    1 mark

  3. (iii) Caricatures and cartoons in journals and newspapers commented on social and political issues. Some ridiculed educated Indians' fascination with Western tastes and clothes, while others showed the fear of social change.

    1 mark

  4. Nationalist cartoons criticised imperial rule, while imperial caricatures lampooned nationalists. In this way visual culture recorded and shaped how people remembered the social and political landscape.

    1 mark

Answer: (i) Printing presses allowed images to be reproduced in multiple copies. (ii) Ravi Varma's cheap prints and calendars reached even the poor. (iii) Cartoons and caricatures commented on social and political issues and shaped memory of the period.

Where the marks are

  • 34.1: Presses allowed mass reproduction of images (1 mark)
  • 34.2: Ravi Varma's cheap prints and mythological paintings reached the masses (1 mark)
  • 34.3: Cartoons commented on social and political issues, ridiculing Western tastes or fear of change (1 mark)
  • 34.3: Nationalist and imperial cartoons shaped memory (1 mark)

Revise the chapter

Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from Print Culture and the Modern World, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paper2025 board paper, set 32/4/1: every question, by section.

The question is transcribed from the official paper; figures are described in words. The solution, hints and chapter tag are ours. Spotted an error? Write tosupport@questionbuddy.in.