10. RANDY ALLEN HARRIS, University of Waterloo
raha@watarts.uwaterloo.ca
English, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada
English 103B: Varieties of English
Winter 1993; Tuesday & Thursday, 4:00-5:30 PM; ML 349
Randy Harris Hagey Hall 247, x5362 Home phone (Moffat): (416)
854-1172 E-mail: raha@watarts Hours: Thursday and Friday,
10:00-11:30; or whenever you can catch me.
Course epitome: We will look at some of the various styles, textures,
and dialects of English. Language is a mental phenomenon (you keep it
between your ears) and a social phenomenon (you use it by passing it
on to other ears and eyes). We will attend almost entirely to the social
dimensions of language, which serve two complementary purposes:
cohesion and power. People use language to bring them close to others, and to
distance themselves from others by exercising or resisting power.
Through most of the course, we will examine how English is used for bonding
and dominating, but we will also look briefly at another language, Laadan,
and at poetry.
Required Texts:
Bailey, Images of English
Lakoff and Turner, Morethan cool reason
Requirements:
Midterm (11 February) 30%
Paper (due 1 April) 30%
Final 40%
Rules of the game: No late assignments will be accepted, no
extensions will be granted, and no incompletes will be awarded, without very
strong reasons. Please have all readings done before class.
Week Topics Readings: Bailey, Lakoff & Turner
1 Overview: Language as power
2 A cultural history of English 1, 2, 3
3 4, 5, 6
4 7, 8, 9, 10
5 English dialects
6 Midterm
Study Break (1-10?) (1-4?)
7 English registers
8 Gender and language
9 Laadan
10 Conceptual metaphors in poetry 1, 2
11 3, 4
12 Review and discussion
Back to the Language and Gender page.
John Lawler