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G301, Fall 1999. Homework Assignments, Second Half of
Semester
Important General Note: Many
of these homework assignments require you to consult a dictionary. Make sure that your homework assignment
provides the name of the dictionary or dictionaries you use for any particular
assignment. If you use a dictionary
that is not named in the homework assignment, provide complete citation information for it—including publisher,
year, and edition. Assignments that
fail to cite sources will not receive full credit, regardless of the quality of
the rest of the assignment.
American English and the
19th Century: Due October 19
Use the Dictionary of American Regional English
(available in the Department of English Common Room Library, northeast corner
of Cavanaugh Hall, or the IUPUI University Library Reference Room, PE2843 .D52
1985), or A Dictionary of Americanisms on historical principles, edited
by Mitford M. Mathews (available in the University Library Reference Room,
PE2835 .D5 1956), and check the meanings and origins of 10 of the following
terms: blue laws, bushwhacker, carpetbagger, charley horse, cinch, civil
rights, clambake, conniption, cybernetics, dicer, dude, ghost writer, hex,
hoodlum, law-abiding, parlay, ranch, semester, sideburns, stoop (meaning
porch, not to bend over).
You don’t need to write out a long definition of each word (I assume we
all know what semester means, for instance), but note the etymology and
anything else interesting about the word and its usage. How does your dictionary research connect
with the reading you are doing on American English?
Prepare a one page proposal for your final project,
which includes a concise statement of your interests, a description of how you
plan to go about your project, and at least 3 published sources that seem
appropriate. If you can’t have this
finished by October 19, you can hand it in October 26, but you should have an
interim report ready on October 19 that explains what you’re doing and why the
proposal isn’t done yet. I’m here to
help you define your interests.
Colonial and Post-Colonial English Due October 26
Learn about British and American English features by
using British/American language dictionary, by Norman Moss (in the reference
room, PE2835 .M6 1984). Look up 10 of
the following terms: billion, bouncer, can (of soup) (potato) chips, cone (ice
cream) dishpan, elevator, eraser, gasoline, installment plan, labor union,
long-distance call, (to) mail, molasses, orchestra seat, (cream) pitcher,
rubbing alcohol, rummage sale, run (in stockings), sedan, station wagon,
streetcar, traffic circle, truck, turtleneck, undershirt. While you’re in the library, take a peek at
a British publication (the library subscribes to the following British papers: The Economist, Euromoney, Manchester Guardian
Weekly, New Statesman, The Times (of London, not New York!), all available
in the Current Periodicals Room; if you want to try online research, try
http://emedia1.mediainfo.com/emedia/, although it seems a little hard to locate
only British publications there. Find
three examples of grammatical differences between British and US English—note
the examples, the precise source (practice your citations, using MLA format),
and your analysis of what makes the difference.
Browse
two of the The Concise ScotsDictionary (available in the reference room
PE2106 .C66 1985) and The Gage Canadian Dictionary (also in
reference, PE1625 .D5 1983), or the Dictionary of
Jamaican English (reference, PE3313.Z5 C3). Note how the dictionary is
structured and produced. How do they
compare to other dictionaries (the OED, your college dictionary, etc.) that you
know about? What lexical differences
can you learn about using this dictionary?
Report on some of the lexical differences that you observe, using at
least 10 examples.
Grammatical Variation: Black English and other
dialects Due Nov. 2
Grammatical Variation: Keep a log for 2 weeks, and note sentences that you read or hear
that use constructions you wouldn’t consider grammatical, or that use a
different grammar from what you normally produce. Keep notes on the situation you encounter the usage, demographic
information about the speaker/writer (to the extent that you can tell), and
anything else that seems pertinent.
Analyze your results, and draw some general conclusions about
grammatical variation you hear in your daily routine.
Grammatical
Variation, Homework due November 9
Geneva Smitherman’s “Get Down Exercises on Black
English Sounds and Structure,” from Appendix B of her Talkin and Testifyin. Use McWhorter, chapter 7, for the
grammatical rules you may need to answer this quiz.
Dictionary
reviewing. Choose 3 different dictionaries (make sure
you cover at least two different sizes of dictionary), and compare their
structure. What sections are included
(besides the obvious, the alphabetical word listing)? What attitudes about grammatical or lexical variation are
included in the dictionary? Some
dictionaries have geographical or biographical sections; others have essays
included in them; most have prefaces.
If there are essays or prefaces, note what content is covered in
them. Write a short description of the
differences and similarities you note.
What assumptions about language are at work?
Language
History in the Schools; Homework Due November 11
Choose
TWO of the following three assignments:
Nigger and
ain’t. These
are perhaps the two English words that attract the most controversy, for
different reasons. “The N-word” is the
most sensitive racial insult in contemporary American English, and its inclusion
in dictionaries is currently the topic of public debate. Ain’t
is perhaps the most commonly used and most heavily stigmatized grammatical
feature in English dialects. Look these
two words up in 5 different dictionaries.
Record any differences in definitions, and usage notes that accompany
the definitions. Write a short reaction
to the differences and similarities you notice--what attitudes about language
are reflected in these dictionary entries?
Controversial
words. Look up 7 controversial words
in 2-3 different dictionaries.
Controversial words are any word you wouldn’t use in front of your
grandmother, words whose very utterance can serve to insult or inflame
(although many of these words carry different shades of meaning, some positive,
among different groups). Controversial
words are used to insult people based on real or perceived identification with
a particular group, race, or class; often their use will provoke heated
reactions from readers or listeners.
Distribute the words among these categories; feel free to choose other
terms than those listed; they’re merely illustrative:
swear words (fuck, shit, damn, darn, Sam Hill,
etc.)
derogatory terms for people
(dyke, wop, dago, spic, fag, wetback,
etc.)
politically sensitive words
(Zionist, liberal, feminist, feminazi
freedom fighter, etc.)
Inside Words. You’ve probably heard someone say that something-or-other “isn’t
a word because it’s not in the dictionary” at some point in your life. Are there words that you are familiar with
because you use them in a social, cultural, or work setting that you suspect
might not be in the dictionary? Are
there words that may well appear in the dictionary, but without the special
meaning a particular group might ascribe to them? (queer, dyke, and fag, for instance, are terms that have
both negative and positive connotations, depending on who’s using them in what
context; nigger is another term with
myriad meanings (and pronunciations) in different contexts). Take a handful of words you determine to be
of particular cultural interest, and explore them in a dictionary (specify
which one). Whose meanings are
codified? What assumptions are made
about language?
Reform
Efforts, due November 23
Comparative
Handbook analysis. Pick a “grammar
rule” that is invoked in discussions of writing (don’t start sentences with and
or but; don’t split infinitives; don’t use “hopefully” unless
you mean ‘full of hope,’ don’t end a
sentence with a preposition. Consult 3
different writing handbooks (like the one in use in English W131, The
Everyday Writer; there are plenty available in any library) and note how
this “rules” are presented in different places. Analyze the differences you see, and reflect on the challenges
those differences may pose for language users.
Inclusive
Language Reforms and PC-ism: Arguably one of the more successful language
reforms in the past century has been the development of inclusive language
guidelines that urge writers and speakers to use terminology that includes, for
example, both men and women in the term (using postal carrier rather than
postman, for instance), and refers to people by their professional titles and
qualifications rather than their marital status. At the same time, some people object that such reform guidelines
promote a “PC” attitude that stifles discussion. Be on the lookout for the use of inclusive terminology—find at
least 10 examples of such language being used (or not—a recent newspaper
article about the first woman to become head partner in a major law firm
reported that she chose to be known as the firm’s chairman, rather than chair
or chairwoman). Analyze the
language you find in use, and draw some conclusions about the effects of these
reform efforts.
Optional Homework Assignment: Help construct the final
exam by submitting 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 the exam,
and I’ll distribute a list of the best questions as a study guide for the
final. Questions due no later than December 1. They can be submitted in class or via e-mail.
Questions? E-mail me at sharrin@iupui.edu
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