• Introduction to class                                                     

• Think about your early experiences with  reading and writing. Ask yourself how those experiences shaped your attitude toward the way you define "good" grammar. THEN, write and type a 1-page "literacy narrative" that explains/shows how your past experiences with reading and writing affect your current attitudes about grammar. (You might respond to this assignment in a  brief essay OR a first-person story OR a script from a scene from a play based on your life.) 
• In Thomas and Tchudi, read Chapter 6 "Traditions in Grammar" (167-202).

• In Thomas and Tchudi, read Chapter 2 "The Nature of Language"  (31-65).
  

• In-class analysis of  the chapter
• Defining language

• CLASS CANCELLED: Jury Duty
• However, please still read Thomas and Tchudi's "Varieties, Dialects, and Registers." 

• Defining  language variation
• Defining "register" and "domain"
• Mapping dialects

• Spend 15 minutes listening to people talk in a public setting. Note three patterns of speech that seem to you to be indications of regional or social backgrounds. Be sure to consider pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax. Type up your observations, being sure to include three specific examples of what you heard.
• Think about your own pronunciation/accent, vocabulary, and syntax and offer an example of one item in each category that might be considered a dialectical feature of your own use of language. Specify examples and explanations. Type. (One or two sentences on each example would be fine.)

• Contrasting regional and social dialects

• PRINT OUT AND BRING TO CLASS: NCTE's statement on Students' Right to Their Own Language (link to the 1972 draft was updated 9/9/09); The statement appears on the first page of a long and interesting article; we will be looking at the statement, not the article. 
• PRINT OUT and READ the CCC's Statement on Ebonics (link updated 9/9/09).  BRING YOUR PRINTOUT TO CLASS. (If you receive a password message, just hit cancel until it goes away.)

• In preparation for our discussion, read chapter seven of Frederick Douglass's autobiography.  Instead of following one of the standard options available to you in class, create a set of three open-ended critical thinking questions that would help 11th graders use Douglass's work to deepen their understanding of the relationship between language and power. Answer each  question in a paragraph or so.

• Looking at dialect as linguists
• Revisiting rhetorical grammar

Th17

• No new assignment today

• Revisiting Students' Right to Their Own Language (1971 vs. 1974 version)--held from last time
• The poet's question--started last time
• Wrap up dialect discussion--held from last time

Th24

• Major Exam I (150 points)

• In Thomas and Tchudi, read Chapter 5 "A Brief History of the English Language" through the section on Old English. Stop on page 156.

ThOct1

T6

• Continue reading Thomas and Tchudi Chapter 5 (156-162--the sections on Middle and Modern English)
  

"Muse of Fire"--PBS video with study questions

Today, the professor must attend the convocation featuring writer and SUU graduate Brandon Schrand with her 50 1010 students.

You may watch the video now during class and answer the study questions, which will be collected next time. Or you may attend the convocation and watch the video in the library media center tomorrow, again answering the study questions for Thursday

• No new assignment, except for answering the video study questions distributed in class last time. Please type those answers.
    

Discussion of video

Discussion about how new words come into English--click here for the Word Coinage slide

T13

• Finish discussion of video
• Discussion on World Englishes (held from last time).

• In-class work preparing for Exam TWO
• Note: Half the points from Exam II will consist of matching and short answers from Chapter 5 in Thomas and Tchudi, the two PBS videos we've watched, and the professor's lectures and slideshows.  The other half will consist of essay questions and answers created in-class by collaborative groups. The class will decide on whether the essay exam should be offered as an in-class or take-home test.
  

• Review of basic sentence patterns--Chapter 3 in current edition of Kolln  and Funk (note correction); Chapter 2 in previous edition.