This course is divided into two main parts. The first part provides general background, covering the history of English from its reconstructed prehistoric roots to the modern day with a focus on vocabulary (rather than on overall history, which would include the grammar). Against this backdrop, the second part of the course highlights various specific topics, including the retention and loss of features inherited from Proto-Indo-European, semantic change, different sources of new vocabulary, taboo language, and slang.
All readings are available online on the syllabus. Any handouts and other supplementary material will also be made available there in the course of the semester.
Feel free to discuss assignments with each other, but please submit individual work. It is too difficult to compare joint work to individual work. For instance, if a group of four students divides up the work of one assignment and then pools it in a common submission, do I give each student 25% of full credit? Or do I give each student full credit even though they're not putting the same amount of work that another student might be? |
Your grade will be based on the following components (which will be posted on Canvas and which you will submit there):
- Short assignments – 20%
- Each week, I will ask you to post comments or focused questions about the week's reading. On some weeks I may ask you instead to answer a quiz or "question of the week" related to the reading, or I will ask you to keep a "wordwatch" journal concerning that week's topic. Full credit for each of these short assignment is worth 2 points, up to a total of 20 points.
- In connection with the short assignments, you should always feel free to record observations from your daily life that are relevant to the topic of the class - not necessarily just related to the topic of the reading.
- Short assignments are due just before the Tuesday class of their week. See Canvas for details.
- Long assignments – 40%
- There will be about 10 further assignments, which I call "long" for convenience. Full credit for each of these is worth 5 points, up to a total of 40 points. Your score for this component will be based on your 8 best submissions. Long assignments do not necessarily require a longer response than short assignments; the main difference is that they ask you to synthesize the material in a deeper way than do the short assignments. This will be especially clear in Long
Assignment 01. - Long assignments are due by midnight of the Saturday ending their week. See Canvas for details.
- Final paper – 40%
- Finally, you'll write a paper (10-15 pages including references) on a topic of your choice, subject to my approval. In most cases, the language you will be concerned with will be English, but that does not need to be the case. The paper will be graded on content, clarity, and adherence to standard style guidelines (note bullet list below), including the proper referencing of online sources.
- When referencing online sources, follow Chapter 14 of the latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (accessible online through Van Pelt Library).
In particular, give the actual URLs, not the searches you used to get there.
- For print references, use the author-date system as described in Chapter 15 of the Chicago Manual of Style.
- For your reader's convenience, include relevant pages or page ranges where possible.
- Here's a list of past paper topics and further suggestions.
There is no extra credit or resubmission of assignments for regrading. Both are unfair to the other students, both in this year and across years.