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| |“The Meanings of a Word” |

| |Writer’s Workshop |

Background and Task

• The 11th grade English curricula are represented by the following themes: “the individual and social justice” and “the American experience.” In an effort to incorporate these themes into a provocative and relevant research project, we will initially discuss the power of language and how it is used to oppress and/or to discriminate. This challenging assignment will require a level of maturity, sensitivity, and compassion of which you are all capable.

• You will then select a “dangerous word” to research and then wrote write an historical, socio-cultural, and personal analysis of the selected word. Ultimately, a dangerous word represents a “vulgar slur against an ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, or some other social category.”

• Your research of the selected word’s history, usage, connotations, and your position on its place in contemporary society will eventually take shape into a three-to-four page typed, double-spaced persuasive essay, complete with MLA formatted citations and works cited/consulted pages.

PART ONE: THE WORD: Due Friday, 8 March (end of class)

 Brainstorm words that are used to discriminate and/or oppress. Discuss opinions, anecdotes, and connections (direct and/or indirect) with these words;

 Choose your “dangerous word” and post a summary explaining your selection;

 Respond to at least two peer posts providing feedback and/or anecdotal connections to the selections;

PART TWO: RESEARCH* Due Wednesday, 13 March (end of class)

 Research must BEGIN with the Oxford English Dictionary () and the Online Etymology Dictionary () to gather the “authoritative” historical and/or etymological background of your selected word;

 Continue with slang dictionaries like The Urban Dictionary () to gather the “common” historical and/or etymological background of your selected word;

 Investigate historical uses of the word in library databases like the New York Times and ProQuest Newspapers and websites like , “a compilation of quotations, poetry, literature, Shakespeare’s works, and the King James translation of the Bible”; and

 Complete your search in academic journals like American Speech through the online database called Project MUSE (muse.jhu.edu).

PART THREE: ORGANIZE

 For your topic, you will need at least five (5) electronic sources, and you must create at least 3 note cards from EACH source. This is a total of AT LEAST fifteen (15) note cards. 

 A note is ONE fact. You must include the quoted information, AND you must paraphrase the information on your card. The only time that you will have an exact quotation is when you are quoting somebody’s speech, etc. REMEMBER: you are only putting one fact on each card.

 All of your sources and note cards will be cited/completed using the note and source card document. See a sample citation and note card below:

Model Citation:

"kike, noun." Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press, March 2011. Web. 1 May 2011.  .

Model Note Card:

|kike: etymology |

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|URL: | |

|Pages: |N/A |

|Tags: |none |

|Cues: |none |

|Quotation: |“Said to be an alteration of -ki(or -ky), a common ending of the personal names of Eastern European Jews who emigrated to the U.S. at the|

| |turn of the 20th century.” |

|Paraphrase: |The term “kike” likely originated in the early 1900’s and represented a common ending or suffix found in many Eastern European Jewish |

| |surnames.  |

|My Ideas: |This is a fascinating etymological description of the word. Amazing how the origins of offensive and dangerous words often represent |

| |something innocuous." |

|History: |Note card Created: May 1, 2011 |

• This project is adapted from the work of Karen A. Keely entitled, “Dangerous Words: Recognizing the Power of Language by Researching Derogatory Terms.” Keely’s work was originally published in the English Journal in 2011.

• Mr. Griffith, English teacher at RHS adapted this project.

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