I grew up with books. Every night I was lulled to sleep by a bedtime story. They were usually read to me by my mother. It was very common to receive books for gifts whether it was a birthday or Christmas. For some reason I loved books on etymology. I also recall receiving one birthday a large brightly colored book on the secret world of the oceans invertebrates.
Once my family moved to New Jersey, I was just starting elementary school. It was a small affluent town. The high light of my day was to ride my bike to the local library. My mother helped me secure a library card. From that point on I was a member of the library's book club. I even remember one of the first times I skipped class in the first grade. I slipped out of class and spent the day in the schools library. Once the principle noticed that I had spent several class periods sitting in a chair reading, he went in search of my teacher to find out why. I got in trouble of course, but looking back... I'm sure sure she got an earful too!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Appalachian English
In 1991 I hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. It took six months. During my adventure I wandered through the heart of the Appalachian mountains. The people I met left a major impact on me. One aspect of my experience, which always made me chuckle was the back woods country dialect of Appalachian English. Without having a background in English Literature i was unable to appreciate the the linguistic structure of what I was listening to.
When I began to research various sources for this project certain vocabulary words began to surface which were quite familiar to me. For example a bald is a mountain that is void of trees. I had heard the term in my hike such as various balds in Tennessee or Brasstown Bald which is the highest point in Georgia. The term Hollow was another such term. Again my mind raced back to the homestead of an old hill billy that I stayed with for over a week. He called his property Rusty's Hardtime Hollow. of course the Hollow was actually pronounced Holler'.
As a student in the modern world I was very much aware of how language evolves and changes. Examples exist around us everyday. it never really occurred to me until this assignment how a language could become isolated and cut off from the rest of the population. This is what happened to the native speakers of Appalachian English. Some sources suggest that Appalachian English is a direct link to Elizabethan English, it was through their remote isolation that the pockets of this spoken language were able to flourish into the modern day.
When I began to research various sources for this project certain vocabulary words began to surface which were quite familiar to me. For example a bald is a mountain that is void of trees. I had heard the term in my hike such as various balds in Tennessee or Brasstown Bald which is the highest point in Georgia. The term Hollow was another such term. Again my mind raced back to the homestead of an old hill billy that I stayed with for over a week. He called his property Rusty's Hardtime Hollow. of course the Hollow was actually pronounced Holler'.
As a student in the modern world I was very much aware of how language evolves and changes. Examples exist around us everyday. it never really occurred to me until this assignment how a language could become isolated and cut off from the rest of the population. This is what happened to the native speakers of Appalachian English. Some sources suggest that Appalachian English is a direct link to Elizabethan English, it was through their remote isolation that the pockets of this spoken language were able to flourish into the modern day.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Lacking the dummy 'do' auxiliary
While reading the the the article on Bidialecticism in the classroom, the question which arose in my mind was concerning the written syntax when expressing "lacking the dummy 'do' auxiliary" or "the frequent absence of /s/ inflection for the positive plural." which is present in AAE. The examples given in the article piqued my curiosity concerning not only the grammatical constructs concerning these variations, but I was also drawn to wonder why these examples use the underscore as part of the lexical syntax. It seems this technique was part of the written exercise on the work sheet handed out the other day. I found my self asking a similar question. In class discussion this had slipped my mind. Seeing once again this variation in print form in this essay rekindled my curiosity. If anyone may know more concerning this use of the underscore I would be interested to receiving an explanation.
The examples used in the article were:
‘The hospital seem_ nice’,
typical syntax from black teenage characters in June Jordan’s (1971, p. 10) novel.
‘My momma _ name is Annie’
(Labov, 1982, p. 170)
The examples used in the article were:
‘The hospital seem_ nice’,
typical syntax from black teenage characters in June Jordan’s (1971, p. 10) novel.
‘My momma _ name is Annie’
(Labov, 1982, p. 170)
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
My Introduction
Hi,
My name is Doug Fejes and I live in Livingston, MT. I am currently enrolled at MSU in hopes of obtaining my teaching certification. I graduated from MSU in 2011 with Bachelor of Arts in English. I was a lit major.
I am uncertain if I will attend graduate school or simply attempt to find a job after my certification.
Friday I turn 40. I have been happily married for eight years, and also have a four year old daughter. My wife is from Germany and my daughter is lucky enough to have a dual citizenship. I have lived in Montana since 1993. I own two horses, a mare and a foal. The mare was a rescue horse. My wife and I train them in our spare time. I have a chocolate lab, a British tortoise shell cat. I also have four rabbits, a guinea pig, six chickens and a rooster. Don't forget the ever changing number of guppies.
I look forward to this semester and it is refreshing to be surrounded by a fresh group of students, since those in my class have all moved on and graduated. There is something about class blogs that help provide a certain personal extension to class room setting. This augmentation of our class should be allot of fun.
My name is Doug Fejes and I live in Livingston, MT. I am currently enrolled at MSU in hopes of obtaining my teaching certification. I graduated from MSU in 2011 with Bachelor of Arts in English. I was a lit major.
I am uncertain if I will attend graduate school or simply attempt to find a job after my certification.
Friday I turn 40. I have been happily married for eight years, and also have a four year old daughter. My wife is from Germany and my daughter is lucky enough to have a dual citizenship. I have lived in Montana since 1993. I own two horses, a mare and a foal. The mare was a rescue horse. My wife and I train them in our spare time. I have a chocolate lab, a British tortoise shell cat. I also have four rabbits, a guinea pig, six chickens and a rooster. Don't forget the ever changing number of guppies.
I look forward to this semester and it is refreshing to be surrounded by a fresh group of students, since those in my class have all moved on and graduated. There is something about class blogs that help provide a certain personal extension to class room setting. This augmentation of our class should be allot of fun.
My daughter Sophia and our foal Chile
Thursday, August 30, 2012
A Response To Twain
Similar to William Faulkner or Margaret Mitchell, Mark Twain has played with language and regional and racial as a tool within his short story A True Story, Repeated Word for Word as I heard it. Two distinct voices are created. The first voice is that of a benevolent southern landed gentry, "Misto C". This persona becomes the frame from which adds a kind of psychological and social balance to the primary voice of "Aunt Rachel". The juxtaposition of the educated voice verses the uneducated voice is clear. Twain turns all assumptions on its head when the voice of the lowly slave is filled with more experience, morality, and intellect than her servant master.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Expectations of an English Teacher
On Monday when this assignment was given, the question followed me through out the day and filled the empty spaces of my time. The persistent question floating to my for-thought, "What are the expectations of an English Teacher?". The response to this question haunted me. I reflected back to my earliest memories of my former grade school teachers and the answer to this question filled my soul with dread. I could only remember the unbending rigidity of grammar. All of the countless books I had enjoyed, and creative writing had somehow been overshadowed by the forced imposed structure of grammar. Was this authoritarian approach to language what is expected....?
Even though grammar certainly has a place within the English language, I have to admit that I believe that Noam Chomsky is correct in his assertions that grammar is something which arises organically from the very nature of language, rather than something which is forced and prescribed. This drastic shift reshapes the concepts of grammar and likewise changes the responsibilities and expectations of a modern English teacher. Instead of fostering fear and dread to unyielding structure of grammar, I believe English teachers should be cultivating a desire and love of language due to its ability to communicate ideas. Whether these ideas be the unfolding of a story within a written book or simply the student being able to convey their own personal thoughts and ideas.
Technology has shifted how modern culture currently interacts with language. From text messages to emails. Websites and e-books. The way we interact with language has changed. The prominence of newspapers and books has shifted. This semester I have had the opportunity to use an e-book in place of a traditional textbook. This rapid shift is happening and is upon us. The teachers of tomorrow must address this change and embrace it. This is where our responsibility lies. As we straddle this change, the expectations of teachers falls firmly on two sides of the same coin. We must fulfill the expectations of parents to educate their children. Yet, we must fulfill our responsibility to the student and give them the tools to succeed in an ever changing world. In order to do this, we must change our pedagogical approach and reassess the ways we expose the student to the unsubtle nature of language.
Even though grammar certainly has a place within the English language, I have to admit that I believe that Noam Chomsky is correct in his assertions that grammar is something which arises organically from the very nature of language, rather than something which is forced and prescribed. This drastic shift reshapes the concepts of grammar and likewise changes the responsibilities and expectations of a modern English teacher. Instead of fostering fear and dread to unyielding structure of grammar, I believe English teachers should be cultivating a desire and love of language due to its ability to communicate ideas. Whether these ideas be the unfolding of a story within a written book or simply the student being able to convey their own personal thoughts and ideas.
Technology has shifted how modern culture currently interacts with language. From text messages to emails. Websites and e-books. The way we interact with language has changed. The prominence of newspapers and books has shifted. This semester I have had the opportunity to use an e-book in place of a traditional textbook. This rapid shift is happening and is upon us. The teachers of tomorrow must address this change and embrace it. This is where our responsibility lies. As we straddle this change, the expectations of teachers falls firmly on two sides of the same coin. We must fulfill the expectations of parents to educate their children. Yet, we must fulfill our responsibility to the student and give them the tools to succeed in an ever changing world. In order to do this, we must change our pedagogical approach and reassess the ways we expose the student to the unsubtle nature of language.
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