Help interpreting symbols of basic electric circuit

[string]

Is asking for the voltage of a point in a wire (before/after a resister) the same as asking for the voltage across that resister? I understand voltage is relative..

Here is the circuit:

I can't wrap my head around what V1 represents. Other questions in this assignment specifically ask for the voltage across some element of the circuit. I just don't know how to interpret the notation of V1 as it is drawn in this circuit as I've never encountered it before.

Any perspective on this would be appreciated.

 

[phinds]

Is asking for the voltage of a point in a wire (before/after a resister) the same as asking for the voltage across that resister? I understand voltage is relative..

Yes (at least I THINK that's what you are asking)

I can't wrap my head around what V1 represents. Other questions in this assignment specifically ask for the voltage across some element of the circuit. I just don't know how to interpret the notation of V1 as it is drawn in this circuit as I've never encountered it before.

It is standard to take the bottom horizontal wire in a circuit as ground, so V1 just means the voltage from the labeled node to ground, which is the voltage across R2 and R3

 

[CWatters]

It's a badly worded question.

Voltages are indeed relative so to answer the question you will need to make an assumption. A reasonable assumption would be to choose 0V, Ground or battery -ve as the reference as Phinds suggests. Your answer should state that

"V1 is ?V w.r.t the battery -ve terminal"

In this case it's straightforward but in future watch out for exam questions that have the battery with the -ve terminal at the top.