Study Guide For English 3371

Mid-term -- Fall 2002

Dr. Sherwood

Distributed 10/17

Texts

  1. Bryson, Mother Tongue
  2. de Saussure, "The Nature of the Linguistic Sign"
  3. Voloshinov, "Multiaccentuality and the Sign"
  4. Spitzer, "The Individual Factor in Linguistic Innovations"
  5. Schulz, "The Semantic Derrogation of Women"
  6. Cameron, "Problems of 'Prescriptivism'"
  7. Whorf, "Science and Linguistics"
  8. Freud, "Slips of the Tongue"
  9. Lacan, "The Signification of the Phallus"
  10. Spender, "Language and Reality"
  11. Lakoff, "Talking Like a Lady"
  12. Cixous, "The Laugh of the Medusa"
  13. Irigary, "When Our Lips Speak"
  14. White, "Political Vocabulary of Homosexuality"
  15. Cameron, "Naming of Parts"
  16. Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera

Concepts

Emergence of language

Language Acquisition

Language Change (historical)

Pidgins and Creoles

Family-tree of languages

Variation (dialects)

Grammar (origins)

Standard English (prescriptivism/descriptivism)

Purity (legal/institutional agendas)

Structure

Agency

Idealism

Subjectivity

Gender

Cultural identity

Saussurean signifier/signified (structure)

Arbitrariness of the sign (structure)

Voloshinov and Accentuality (ideology)

Multi-accentuality and language change

Spitzer's agency (language change)

Innovation and Fixing factors (language change)

Schulz and Derrogation

Derrogation (gender/power in language)

Cameron and Pre/Descriptivism

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Relativism (Whorf)

Determinism (Whorf)

Freud (language & mind)

Lacan (language & mind)

Spender (Men's language)

Lakoff (female usage)

Cixous (ecriture feminine)

Phalocentrism

The Symbolic Order

Irigary/ Biological Essentialism

Anazldúa (subjectivity, culture, creole, gender, politics, agency, history)

Political ID and Vocab (White)

Lexical Classification (Schulz, Cameron)

 

Format

Several conceptual questions calling for a 150 word response that shows comprehension of the significant concept, familiarity with the reading, and an ability to argue a claim in an organized fashion. One longer question (essay length, 350-500 words) dealing with a major issue and calling for students to address the question in terms of several texts.

Sample Question

In "Language and Reality" Dale Spender makes claims about how certain grammar practices reflect deliberate, sexist "tampering" with usage in ways that benefit men. How would Spender likely react to the claims made by Cameron in "Problems of 'Prescriptivism'"? Can Cameron's article be used as support or does it weaken Spender's feminist efforts? Take a position and argue it, showing familiarity with both articles.