What's Scheduled This Week:
(note: each week starts on Monday and ends Sunday)

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING TASKS:

• First, listen to my short weekly audio lecture. You can listen to the lecture in either Real Audio format or Windows Media format. Note that I have compressed all the course audio files (subsequently reducing the sound quality) to make the file size small enough to allow reasonable download time. If you do not have either of the above audio players, you can download the free Realone Audio player or download a free Windows Media player. 
• Next, explore the following links:(Note: you are expected to visit each link listed. Take a bit of time to explore every link, attempt to understand how the material fits into folklore, and notify me if a link is down for more than 24 hours).
  • Etymology --where did our words come from? Though perhaps just a bit off the folklore subject, knowing a bit about the history of the English language can help you better understand related folklore topics.
  • Where did your name come from? Looking at surname origin can be fun way to explore "Onomastics" (the study of naming).
  • Visit a site that discusses the Ebonics debate: Language vs. Dialect, etc.
  • Visit The American Dialect Society Home Page. If you want a laugh, look at their "Words of the Year" section.
  • Visit a site that lists the 162 living languages used in the USA (and the world's 6,912 living languages)
  • Intensifiers--Learn a little about synecdoche and hyperbole
  • Do you remember any of these mnemonic devices?
  • US Army Special Forces Jargon and Terminology
  • Not for the faint hearted! Visit a "maledicta" site with links to Insults, Curses, Slang, Swearwords, Blasphemies, Slurs, Obscenities...
  • Visit Jon Carroll's humorous site on Mondegreens--a mishearing of a popular phrase or song lyric that works it way into our speech. For example, during the last year I have heard at least two students say "It's a dogey dog world" instead of "It's a dog eat dog world." While I can almost make sense of that creation, I have been tempted to ask what is meant by "No holes barred" rather than "No holds barred."
  • Visit the Chronicle of Higher Education's short list of Information Technology Jargon
  • Look at  slang terms common on college campuses
  • Boontling You can still hear a bit of this in Boonville, CA
  • Have you looked over Course Project Examples yet?
• Third, look over the Homefun on Folk speech (This is not a graded assignment, nor will it be turned in, but completing it will be useful for quiz and final exam study. It also clearly indicates what parts of the chapter I believe are worth knowing).
• Start reading pp 92--112, and be sure to complete reading by end of the week.
• Next, send email to me at roesch@siskyous.edu about how you think the class is going. Are you starting to find your way around? Do you think you understand what is expected of you? Do you have any concerns?
• Next, take a short quiz over your first week's reading. Before you take the quiz, be sure you know the main components of dialect, the major categories of folklore, and who are the "folk" in folklore.
• Next, make your weekly posting to the Discussion Board.
• Last, if you have not already done so,  please visit the collection sheet example done by a previous student  and the homefun sheet example.