Back to G301 homepage
There are a total of 25 homeworks assigned (2 each week, plus the 2 mandatory assignments below). I will calculate your grade based on your highest 20 grades. You may choose not to do 5 homeworks without penalty; if you do more than 20 homeworks, I’ll only count the 20 highest grades. Because you have some choice of which homework assignments to complete, I will not accept late homework unless you have cleared it with me in advance.
Grading of homework assignments. I will use an A-F scale on your homework assignments. Generally speaking, A indicates excellent work; B good work; C OK work; D poor work; F work that completely misses the boat. I consider a grade of C to be minimal passing competence: if you have at least a C, you have demonstrated that you understand the fundamental information in each assignment. The difference between A, B, and C generally turns on the quality and quantity of analysis of specific details in relation to the question.
Two mandatory homework assignments:
Perceptions of dialects. Due Sept. 14. This assignment has three parts: a) On the attached map, indicate major dialect boundaries on it as you perceive them--no need to go running to reference works here! Label each dialect area, and if any particular descriptive phrase comes to mind when you think of that area, put it down. You can label the regions any way you like; you can make the regions large or small.
b) attitudes about English in the US: Using the attached list, rate the 50 states and 4 cities listed on a scale of 1-10 (1 is low; 10 is high) according to how correctly English is spoken in each state (or city), and according to how pleasant English is in each state (or city).
c) Look over
your answers to parts a and b, and write a 1-2 page analysis of what you
learned about your perceptions of American English. What biases are at work in your answers? Can you generalize about what you find most
correct and pleasant? What accounts for
your rankings, particularly at either end of the scales? What people or experiences have affected
your judgement about American English?
Class summary, or
Reading Summary, and study guide. Each of you will be responsible for one
summary of a class period or a week’s assigned reading and three sample study
questions that grow out of the class period.
After your assigned class, you’ll make a one-page summary of class
available. My preference is that you
e-mail the summary to me (sharrin@iupui.edu);
if that is not possible, save it as a rich text file (.rtf) and give it to me
on disk. I’ll link your file to the
course website so we can all use it for study and review purposes. This
assignment encourages good note-taking, will help you keep track of
what’s gone on during class, and give people who are reviewing their own notes
an added resource. Summaries and study questions are due no later than the following class
period.
Optional Extra Homework Assignments: You can help construct both the midterm and final exams. For each exam, you are eligible to submit a set of 10 questions. Of the 10, no more than 3 can be factual in nature (the sort of question that could easily be answered with the aid of your text’s index). Be creative with format. I’ll use some of your questions on each exam. Midterm Exam questions are due no later than Sunday, September 26. Final Exam questions are due no later than December 1. They can be3 submitted in class or via e-mail.
Chapter 1: Course Introduction and Controversies about English—what it is, and who speaks it Due September 7
History of Your English: Think about how you learned English, in both its spoken and written forms. How have you learned what counts as good English? Who has been the biggest influence on your English? What methods of English language teaching/learning have been most effective for you? And what methods have you encountered most often? What texts, if any, have influenced your English? How has your English language changed over time? In thinking about the history of your English, divide your language’s lifetime into phases. What are the markers of significant evolution? Have the features of your language, or the uses of your language, changed significantly across phases? (3 pgs., typed)
The Current State of English: Think about your own reactions to the English language you see and hear. What is your sense of the problems facing English, if any? Or ways in which English should be celebrated and enjoyed? Discuss this issue with two or three other people, aiming for some variety in the people you choose. What issues, if any, do they think are important? How do the issues about language that concern you and your acquaintances fit with the issues in chapter 1? Overlap? Contradict? Differ entirely? You may find that the sense of problems varies in specificity; some people, for instance, may be concerned about particular instances of language use (hopefully, for instance), while others may be concerned about more diffuse issues (the way people talk in New York, for instance, or the spread of other languages in the USA). And some people may not be disturbed by the state of English at all! (3 pgs., typed)
Ch. 2: The Development of Written English. Due September 14. Choose 2 of the following:
Old Alphabets: Activity 2.2 : see page 56 in Graddol, Leith, and Swann
Handwriting: Activity 2.3: see page 67 in Graddol, Leith, and Swann.
How Handwriting is Learned: Activity 2.4: see page 71. Make sure to interview 2-3 other people, aiming for geographic and age variation. (Make sure to pay attention to the first paragraph of this exercise as well as the second.)
Ch. 3: Old
English. Due
September 28
Old English Analysis: Take the text in Activity 3.3 in Graddol, Leith, and Swann, and do a brief language analysis. In what ways does the vocabulary, spelling, and grammar of the text differ from contemporary English? What is familiar in the text? (Note that the editors have added modern punctuation and capitalization—those are not features of the original text.) What is most unfamiliar? Looking back over the range of differences and similarities you have identified, consider the 19th-century philologist Walter Skeat’s claim that Old English is the ‘same’ language as modern English. Can you see that in this excerpt? Or does it look more like a foreign language?
Focus on sounds and verbs: Activities 3.4 and 3.5 (counts as one homework assignment). See pgs. 114 and 115 in Graddol, Leith, and Swann.
Middle English Analysis: Take the Middle English text that appears in Activity 3.7 in Graddol, Leith, and Swann (pg. 128), and do a brief language analysis. In what ways does the vocabulary, spelling, and grammar of the text differ from contemporary English? In what ways does it differ from Old English? What is familiar in the text? What is most unfamiliar? Does Middle English as reflected in this text seem to be the ‘same’ language as modern English, or does it look more like a foreign language?
Middle English Analysis, Two: Briefly compare the text on pg. 128 with the passage from the Ancrene Wisse (pg. 125). What differences do you note between the two Middle English texts?
Chapter 4: Modernity and Nationalism. Due October 5.
Standardization. Read the excerpt from Puttenham which appears in Activity 4.2. Who uses the best language, as far as Puttenham is concerned? And who, specifically, doesn’t? Put the views represented in this passage into historical context. What language attitudes lead up to the development of Puttenham’s views? Do people today hold such attitudes?