English 2270: INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE Spring Semester 2013 Stillman Hall 0245, Tu/Th 11:10-12:30

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1 1 English 2270: INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE Spring Semester 2013 Stillman Hall 0245, Tu/Th 11:10-12:30 Instructor: Ray Cashman Phone: me to schedule an appointment outside of class COURSE OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this class is to explore central issues in the study of folklore by introducing you to a range of traditional verbal art, custom, and material culture from a number of different regions and ethnic groups. Central issues include the dynamics of tradition, creativity and artistic expression, personal and group identity, and making everyday experience meaningful. No prior knowledge of folklore is assumed or required. Most important are your curiosity about people like you and different from you, your ability to keep up with the reading and written assignments, and your willingness to share your ideas with colleagues in class discussions. This course is required for the undergraduate folklore minor and major (for more information, go to This course also serves as a GEC Arts and Humanities Cultures and Ideas Course. In GEC classes of this category students evaluate significant writing and works of art (including oral literature and verbal arts). Such studies develop capacities for aesthetic and historical response and judgment; interpretation and evaluation; critical listening, reading, seeing, thinking and writing; and experiencing the arts and reflecting on that experience. Expected learning outcomes include: 1) Students develop abilities to be informed observers of, or active participants in, the visual, spatial, performing, spoken, or literary arts, 2) students develop an understanding of the foundations of human beliefs, the nature of reality, and the norms that guide human behavior, and 3) students examine and interpret how the human condition and human values are explored through works of art and expressive culture. REQUIRED TEXTS: Oring, Elliott. Folk Groups and Folklore Genres: An Introduction (Logan: Utah State Brunvand, Jan. The Vanishing Hitchhiker (New York: Norton, 1981) Glassie, Henry. All Silver and No Brass: An Irish Christmas Mumming (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1975) Several articles and chapters available via Carmen

2 2 ASSIGNMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS: In-class assignments: Throughout the semester, we will have unannounced in-class quizzes on your readings. These assignments are intended to encourage you to keep up with readings, think about readings, take notes on readings, and review your notes before class. The weight of these quizzes varies (some are more challenging and count more than others). Make up quizzes are not offered (so don t skip class). I will drop your lowest quiz grade (you re welcome). Collection Project, Midterm, and Final Exam: Larger graded assignments include a fieldwork collection and analysis project, a midterm exam, and a final exam altogether 80% of your final grade. For the collection project, you will go out into the world, record and transcribe folk narratives, and offer written analyses of them. The midterm exam will include multiple choice, short-answer, and essay questions concerning information up to that point in the semester. The final will be a take-home essay exam. Promptness, attendance, and their effects on your grade: Lateness is disruptive, and it is inconsiderate to your fellow classmates and to me. Please come on time. Another reason to come on time is that you will take quizzes at the beginning of class. In order for you to have enough time to complete quizzes, you must be in class on time. Again, make-up quizzes are not offered. I expect you at every class session, barring significant illness or other unavoidable emergency. I will take attendance every day. After two absences your participation grade and, by extension, your final grade will suffer. In keeping with departmental policy, five absences constitute grounds for failure in the course. If you miss a class, I will not hunt you down to fuss at you. It is your responsibility to contact fellow students and/or me for help catching up. Finally, in addition to counting against your Final Grade, absences and lateness will diminish your understanding of the issues raised by in-class multi-media materials and the trajectory of the course as a whole. Much of our time together will be spent watching slides and videos and listening to audio that I have taken a great deal of care to make, gather, and organize for presentation. I cannot repeat these multi-media performances, and usually other people s notes fail to convey the full experience. Final grades will be figured as follows: 10% Participation (includes both attendance and contribution to in-class discussions) 10% Quizzes 20% Fieldwork collection and analysis project 30% Midterm exam 30% Final exam

3 3 Due dates: Late work is a sure sign of indolence, shiftlessness, and moral turpitude, says Richard Bauman. Contact me ASAP if you have compelling, verifiable reasons to need an extension. Otherwise, grades on late work will plummet one third of a letter (e.g., C- to D+) for each day it is late. Plagiarism: Don t do it. Plagiarism is the representation of another's work or ideas as one's own. It includes the unacknowledged word for word use and/or paraphrasing of another person's work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person's ideas. All cases of suspected plagiarism, in accordance with university rules, will be reported to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. For a longer discussion of plagiarism, go to: UNIVERSITY RESOURCES AND SERVICES: Center for the Study of the Teaching of Writing (CSTW) The Writing Center staff can help you with general writing strategies as well as specific assignments. Visit or call or for an appointment. See for guides to many aspects of writing, from the general composition process to specifics of grammar and documentation. The Office for Disability Services, Located in 150 Pomerane Hall, ODS offers services for students with documented disabilities. Contact ODS at if you wish to schedule an appointment or consult with staff there.

4 4 CLASS SCHEDULE (subject to revisions) Introduction to the course and fundamental terms and ideas in the study of folklore 1. January 8 No readings due Film: The Ballad of Frankie Silver (or possibly another day if we run out of time) 2. January 10 Carmen: Schoemaker, George. Introduction: Basic Concepts of Folkloristics Oring pp. 1-22, Chp. 1 On the Concepts of Folklore Film: Gandy Dancers 3. January 15 Oring pp , Chp. 2 Ethnic Groups and Ethnic Folklore Film: Chulas Fronteras Overview of Major Narrative Genres (Myth, Folktale, Legend) 4. January 17 Oring pp , Chp. 6 Folk Narratives Film: Emergence, The Navajo Creation Myth 5. January 22 Oring pp , Chp. 6 Folk Narratives (continued) Film: Swapping Stories Historical Legends: Local and Personal; Historical Accuracy vs. Subjective Truth 6. January 24 Carmen: Basso, Keith. Stalking with Stories Carmen: Alver, Brynjulf. Historical Legends and Historical Truth (at least start) 7. January 29 Carmen: Alver, Brynjulf. Historical Legends and Historical Truth (finish) Carmen: O Brien, Tim. How to Tell a True War Story

5 5 Supernatural Legend and Folk Belief 8. January 31 Carmen: Irish legends of the Good People (a.k.a. fairies): The Legend of Knockgrafton, The Three Sneezes, The Woman Dropped from the Air, How the Shoemaker Saved His Wife, Calamity Meat: The Fairy Carcass, Lanty s New House, and Jack and the Cluricaune Carmen: Arensberg, Conrad. The Good People 9. February 5 Carmen: Hufford, David. Beings Without Bodies Urban Legends; Modern Beliefs, Values, and Anxieties 10. February 7 Brunvand book in its entirety, from Preface through the Afterword. (This may seem like a lot of reading, but trust me you will find that it is face-paced and entertaining.) 11. February 12 No new readings, but be sure to have finished Brunvand Film: Mostly True Tales MIDTERM EXAM 12. February 14 Midterm exam during class time Local Character Anecdotes, Tall Tales, and Jokes; The Fieldwork Project 13. February 19 Carmen: Mullen, Patrick. Local Character Anecdotes and Tall Tales Carmen: Peck, Catherine. Local Character Anecdotes Down East Carmen: Smith, Moira. Jokes 14. February 21 Carmen: Clements, William. The Ethnic Joke as Mirror of Culture Carmen: Oring, Elliott. The Joke as Gloss

6 6 The Folktale 15. February 26 Carmen: Ó Conaill, Seán. The Twelve Brothers Carmen: Fallasi, Alessandro. Cinderella in Tuscany 16. February 28 Carmen: Gutierrez, C. Paige. The Jack Tale: A Definition of a Folk Tale Sub-Genre Carmen: Chase, Richard. Old Fire Dragaman Film: Appalachian Journey Folk Song and Ballad 17. March 5 Oring pp , Chp. 7 Ballads and Folksongs (Toelken) Carmen: McDowell, John. Corrido Film: Write Me a Corrido 18. March 7 No new readings. Meet at the Center for Folklore Studies Archives in the Ohio Stadium between gates 18 and 20 Spring Break No classes March 12 and 14 Collection and Analysis Projects 19. March 19 Cancelled. Use this time to complete your collection and analysis projects 20. March 21 Lightening presentations of collected folklore COLLECTION PROJECTS ARE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS

7 7 Folk Custom I: Folk Medicine, Rites of Passage, Calendar Customs 21. March 26 Carmen: O Connor, Bonnie and David Hufford. Understanding Folk Medicine Carmen: Toelken, Barre. The Hózhó Factor: The Logic of Navajo Healing Film: Spirit Doctors 22. March 28 Carmen: Ancelet, Barry. Mardi Gras Film: Dance for a Chicken Folk Custom II: The Performance of Community, Tradition, and Identity 23. April 2 Start Carmen: Cashman, Ray. Christmas Mumming Today in Northern Ireland Glassie book, pp. xi-49, Preface through Four Conversations (Ellen Cutler, Hugh Nolan, Peter and Joseph Flanagan, Michael Boyle) and pp , Geography, Performance, Meaning, Function, Fare Thee Well for a While 24. April 4 Finish Carmen: Cashman, Ray. Christmas Mumming Today in Northern Ireland Glassie book, pp. xi-49, Preface through Four Conversations (Ellen Cutler, Hugh Nolan, Peter and Joseph Flanagan, Michael Boyle) and pp , Geography, Performance, Meaning, Function, Fare Thee Well for a While Folk Art and Material Culture 25. April 9 Oring pp , Chp. 9 Folk Objects (Bronner) 26. April 11 Carmen: Glassie, Henry. The Potter s Art

8 8 Folklore and Worldview; Recap and Review 27. April 16 Carmen: Dundes, Alan. Thinking Ahead: A Folkloristic Reflection of the Future Orientation in American Worldview Carmen: Toelken, Barre. Folklore and Cultural Worldview Film: Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World 28. April 18 Film: Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World (continued) The FINAL EXAM will be due in our Carmen dropbox by noon on Thursday April 25

9 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE Schoemaker, George. Introduction: Basic Concepts of Folkloristics from The Emergence of Folkore in Everyday Life (Bloomington: Trickster Press, 1989), pp Basso, Keith. Stalking with Stories from Wisdom Sits in Places (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996), pp Alver, Brynjulf. Historical Legends and Historical Truth from Nordic Folklore (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), pp O Brien, Tim. How to Tell a True War Story from The Things They Carried (New York: Broadway, 1990), pp T. Crofton Croker, ed. The Legend of Knockgrafton from Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (London: William Tegg, 1835), pp Seán Ó heochaidh, ed. The Three Sneezes, The Woman Dropped from the Air, How the Shoemaker Saved His Wife, and Calamity Meat: The Fairy Carcass from Fairy Legends from Donegal (Dublin: Dundalgan Press, 1970), pp , 79. Glassie, Henry, ed. Lanty s New House, Jack and the Cluricaune from Irish Folktales (New York: Penguin Books, 1985), pp , Arensberg, Conrad. The Good People from The Irish Countryman (Chicago: Waveland Press, 1988), pp Hufford, David. Beings Without Bodies: An Experience-Centered Theory of the Belief in Spirits from Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the Supernatural, ed. Barbara Walker (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1995), pp Mullen, Patrick. Local Character Anecdotes and Tall Tales from I Heard the Old Fishermen Say (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1988), pp Peck, Catherine. Local Character Anecdotes Down East from North Carolina Folklore Journal 1992 (39/2) pp Smith, Moira. Jokes from The Emergence of Folklore in Everyday Life (Bloomington: Trickster Press, 1989), pp Clements, William. The Ethnic Joke as Mirror of Culture from New York Folklore 1986 (12/3-4), pp Oring, Elliott. The Joke as Gloss from Engaging Humor (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003) pp

10 10 Fallasi, Alessandro. Cinderella in Tuscany from Cinderella: A Casebook (New York: Wildman Books, 1983), p Ó Duilearga, Séamus, ed. The Twelve Brothers from Seán Ó Conaill s Book (Naas Ireland: Leinster Leader Ltd.,1981), pp Gutierrez, C. Paige. The Jack Tale: A Definition of a Folk Tale Sub-Genre from North Carolina Folklore Journal 1978 (26/2), pp Chase, Richard, ed. Old Fire Dragaman from The Jack Tales, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971) pp McDowell, John. Corrido from Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature, ed. Mary Ellen Brown and Bruce Rosenburg (Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO, 1999), pp O Connor, Bonnie and David Hufford. Understanding Folk Medicine from Healing Logics ed. Erika Brady (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2001), pp Toelken, Barre. The Hózhó Factor: The Logic of Navajo Healing from Healing Logics ed. Erika Brady (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2001), pp Cashman, Ray. Christmas Mumming Today in Northern Ireland from Midwestern Folklore /1:27-47 Ancelet, Barry, Mardi Gras from Cajun Country (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1991), pp Glassie, Henry. Selections from Chapter 4 The Potter s Art of Material Culture (pp , , and pp ). (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999). Dundes, Alan. Thinking Ahead: A Folkloristic Reflection of the Future Orientation in American Worldview from Interpreting Folklore (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980), pp Toelken, Barre. Folklore and Cultural Worldview from The Dynamics of Folklore (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1996), pp

Readings: The following book has been ordered and are available at the PSU Bookstore.

Readings: The following book has been ordered and are available at the PSU Bookstore. ANTH 330u: Anthropology of Folklore Spring 2006 Professor: Margaret Everett Office: 141q Cramer Hall, Anthropology Department Office Hours: T 10-12, and by appointment Phone: 725-3319 E-mail: everettm@pdx.edu