English 270: Introduction to Folklore

Winter 2004,MWF 1-2:20 Asst. Prof. Katherine Borland

Telephone: 366-9268 Email: borland.19@osu.edu

Office: A151 Office hours: MW 2:30-4:00

Course description: This course introduces students to the theory and materials of folklore study in the modern world. We will explore concepts of individual and group, tradition and authenticity, belief and legend, text and performance. Students will have the opportunity to do some folklore collecting on their own, and are encouraged to bring to class examples of folklore that they encounter in their daily lives. The course will provide all of us the opportunity to learn more about the local culture of Licking County, and through films, slides and readings, of other communities.

Goals:

· Students will learn to identify and classify folklore materials.

· Students will learn to value the rich artistry of everyday life.

· Student will learn through dialog (class discussion)

· Students will learn to interpret cultural materials.

· Students will learn to post their work to the web

· Students will learn ethical methods of collecting cultural materials from others.

Required Texts:

Coming of Age in New Jersey: College and American Culture Michael Moffat

Soulstepping: African American Step Shows Elizabeth C. Fine

Aliens, Ghosts and Cults: Legends We Live Bill Ellis

Reading Packet, accessed through the course webpage or handouts in class

Required Films:

[All films will be available for students to review]

American Tongues Gathering Up Again

Dance for a Chicken The Abenaki of Vermont: A Living Culture

On My Own: The Traditions of Daisy Turner Urinalysis

Course Requirements: Reading assignments must be completed before the class day listed in the syllabus. Students should take notes on readings and come to class prepared for discussion.

oral web report 25 pts Final project (8-10 pp) 300 pts

mini ethnography (3pp) 75 pts mini collecting project (5pp) 200 pts Exams 400 pts

Attendance will be recorded for every class. Three points will be subtracted from the final grade for each unexcused absence.

No make-up exams except for proven personal illness

All work must be completed to receive a passing grade in the course. Please keep all returned work in a folder for your protection. Always make a backup copy of major assignments for your protection.

Please Note: Accommodations will be made for anyone with proven need provided that you see me immediately to discuss your individual situation.

Plagiarism, or using the ideas or words of others without appropriate citation, is an academic crime. Cases of suspected plagiarism will be taken to the Committee on Academic Misconduct, who will decide on the penalty, which may range from failure of the course to suspension from the University. 

Reading and Assignments Schedule

[may be subject to revision]

Week 1 Dispelling Misconceptions

1/5 Introduction to course and course requirements.

The Learning Contract

Discussion: What is Folklore?

Assignment: Dundes, “Who are the Folk?” (handout)

1/7 Discussion: Who are the Folk?

Individual as Group member

Video—American Tongues

practice taking notes

Assignment: Kirshenblatt-Gimblett “The Future of Folklore:

The Urban Frontier” (WebCT)

Collect an example of folk speech (rubric//example)

1/9 Video—American Tongues continued

Discussion: Folk Speech examples

City-Country perspectives

Surveying Newark—research methods

Assignment: Read: “Ethics and the Student Fieldworker” Guntis

Smitchens and Robert Walls (handout)

“The Field Study of Folklore in Context” Richard Bauman (handout)

Week 2 Ethnography

1/12 WebCT Introduction

Class Website

Surveying Newark—Research Methods

Assignment: Post Collected folk speech

Find Folklore Center Site and release forms

Find AFS, Smithsonian, Fieldworking Sites

Prepare a short report of what your found

to present orally in class. Post your folklore website to

the WebCT

1/14 Oral Reports on webfinds

[possible listening or viewing example]

Assignment: Read Moffat, Chapters One and Two

1/16 Discussion: Coming of Age in New Jersey

Assignment: Moffat, Chapters Three and Four

Mini-ethnography assignment (3 pages)

—how do people celebrate MLKing day?

Week 3 Ethnography Continued

1/19 Martin Luther King holiday—Participant Observation

Write up your experiences for Friday 1/23

1/21 Discussion: Your field experience

Moffat’s ethnography

Assignment: Moffat, Chapters Five and Six

1/23 Discussion: Moffat

Assignment: Chapter Seven

Week 4 College Performance Traditions

1/26 Discussion: Coming of Age

Video: Urinalysis

Assignment: Soulstepping: African American Step Shows, 1-75

1/28 Step Shows: From Ethnography to Performance

Assignment: Soulstepping, 76-153

1/30 Step Shows: Continuity, Change, Controversy

Assignment: Study for Exam

Week 5: Children’s Folklore

2/2 Exam One

Assignment: Read Children’s Folklore: A Source Book, 19-73

2/4 Children’s folklore: concepts and Challenges

The Miller School Exchange—collecting project explained

Assignment: Children’s Folklore, 75-139

2/6 Methods

Hands-on practice with video camera

Assignment: Children’s Folklore, 225-249; 293-308

Week 6: Oral Narrative from Vermont

2/9 Class Discussion: Genres of Children’s folklore

Class presentation: The Mad River Valley

Stories

Assignment: Collecting teams at work

2/11 Exploring Cultural Identity: Family Oral History

Audio/Video: Daisy Turner

Assignment: Collecting teams at work

2/13 Cultural Invisibility: The Abenaki of Vermont

Reports on Collecting experience

Class exercise in transcription

Assignment: Write up your mini-collecting project

Week 7: Festival in Louisiana

2/16 Class Activity: Introduction to Cajun Country

Video: Dance for a Chicken

Assignment: Read “I read the rules Backward” Caroline Ware

2/18 Discussion: The Dynamics of Folklore

Video: Dance for a Chicken

Assignment: Read “Every man a King” de Caro (handout)

2/20 Mini-Collecting Project due

Class discussion: Mardi-Gras in the City

Blackface

The Individual Collecting Project Discussed

Assignment: Read Aliens, Ghosts and Cults, Intro. and Chapter One

Week 8: Legend and Belief

2/23 Discussion: What is a Legend?

Listening example

Assignment: Read Ellis Chapters 2 and 3

2/25 Discussion: “Traditionality” and “Contemporaneity”

Brainstorm on Legend tellers, trippers and legendary places

in our environment

Assignment: Read Ellis Chapters 4 and 5

2/27 Discussion: The When and Why of Legend-telling

Assignment: Read Chapter 6

Week 9 Legends of Pennsylvania and Ohio

3/1 Discussion: What are legends about?

Assignment: Read Ellis Chapters 11, 12 and conclusion

3/3 Discussion: Legend and Life

Assignment: Read “Tradition: Genuine or Spurious” Handler

and Linnekin

3/5 Discussion: Tradition and Heritage

A short introduction to New Mexico

Begin video: Gathering Up Again

Assignment: Read “The Portal Case”

Week 10 Public Culture: The Salad Bowl Community?

3/8 Continue Video: Gathering Up Again

Discussion Salad Bowl Communities

3/10 Final Words and Review for Second Reading Exam

3/12 You are what you eat: Pot Luck and final discussion collecting projects

Finals week:

Final Exam: Wednesday March 17^th—2 to 4 PM

deadline for final paper to be announced