COURSE SYLLABUS: English 492C: Language and Culture
The Art & Science of Storytelling
Instructor:
Office Hours:
Course Description
The course focuses on the theory and practice of oral folklore narrative as exemplified by
selected vernacular traditions in the U.S. and from around the world. We begin with the
relevant basics of ethnography: using Native American myth as a case study, we ask how these
stories have been collected, recorded, translated and interpreted, and what effects this process
has had on the stories’ function, content and context. The we ask about the roles storytelling
plays in identity formation, values definition, and self- and community expression, by asking
students to place themselves within the context of communal storytelling traditions such as
those recorded and elaborated by Zora Neale Hurston among pre-Civil Rights African Americans
in Florida and Joseph Sobol among rural working-class whites in Appalachia. Finally, each
student will research and present the history and surviving practice of oral folktale telling in a
world culture of their own choosing.
Student Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
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Systematically analyze traditional and indigenous vernacular communities by observing,
theorizing, and modeling the practice of oral folktale collection (CO6).
Demonstrate an understanding of diversity and equity, and the barriers to articulating
and achieving same, by explaining and evaluating how diverse experiences and social
problems are coded into oral folktale narratives (CO10).
Integrate and synthesize Effective Composition & Communication (CO1), Critical
Analysis & Use of Information (CO3), by analyzing the historical and contemporary
practice of oral folktale telling in a world community of their choosing through
production of a research project and accompanying poster presentation (CO13).
Adapt and orally present selected folktales for a modern audience, while
communicating understanding of, and respect for, the origins and significance of the
stories to their communities of origin.
English 4xx: Storytelling Syllabus 2
Core Objectives
1. This course satisfies CORE OBJECTIVE 10 – Diversity & Equity, which stipulates that
students will demonstrate an understanding of diversity through courses that focus on
topics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, physical ability, language,
and/or social class with an emphasis on the analysis of equity. Students will apply and
evaluate approaches or modes of inquiry used to analyze diversity and equity and the
social barriers to these goals.
2. This course satisfies CORE OBJECTIVE 13 – Integration & Synthesis, which stipulates
that students be able to synthesize and transfer learning to new complex applications.
3. This course integrates CORE OBJECTIVE 1 - Effective Composition and Communication
and CORE OBJECTIVE 3 - Critical Analysis and Use of Information.
Required Texts
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The Jack Tales. Richard Chase. Sandpiper, 2003 [1943].
Mules and Men. Zora Neale Hurston. Harper Perennial, 1990 [1935].
The Way to Rainy Mountain. N. Scott Momaday. University of New Mexico Press, 1969.
African American Folktales: Stories from Black Traditions in the New World. Roger D. Abrahams,
ed. Pantheon Books, 1985.
Favorite Folktales from Around the World. Jane Yolen, ed. Pantheon, 1986.
Folk and Fairy Tales. Martin Hallett & Barbara Karasek, eds. Concise ed. Broadview Press, 2011.
numerous assigned essays & mostly short excerpts from critical works, field manuals, and
anthologies; storytelling instructional resources; audio and video recordings [on WebCampus]
Course Policies
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Attendance. Missing more than three class meetings (= 10% of the semester schedule) lowers
your participation grade unless you can document an official University-related excuse. Please
arrive on time. If you must be absent, arrive late, or leave early, notify me in advance when
possible. If you habitually arrive late or leave early I must subtract some attendance points.
WebCampus. This is a web-assisted course, so dependable online access is necessary to obtain
the course syllabus and assignments. Please visit the course website at least twice per week to
check for assignments, announcements, and possible late-breaking syllabus revisions. Also, I will
communicate with you by email, so please check yours regularly!
Participation. I expect you to keep up with the daily assignments and assigned reading notes,
to come to class prepared with questions and comments, and to participate in discussions both
voluntarily and when called upon. No one gets to hide out or sit quietly in this class. We are all
on stage; although, as I will repeatedly remind you, “It’s not about you – it’s about the story!”
English 4xx: Storytelling Syllabus 3
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Deadlines. Assignment submissions must meet the specified deadline and requirements or
they will lose points. You may send essays as an attached Word file to my university email
account at [email protected], but you are responsible for its safe arrival to my inbox. If you do
not receive an emailed acknowledgement of receipt within 24 hours, please assume I did not
receive your email. If during Unit #2 you are scheduled to tell a story and discover you are ill or
otherwise unable to meet your commitment, please notify me as far in advance as possible so
alternate arrangements may be made. I check my email often.
Professionalism. I will strive to treat you as a professional: communicating clearly, meeting
deadlines, striving for quality, and maintaining civility at all times. Please reciprocate. Your
classmates are equally worthy of your respect, attention, and best work possible. Based on past
experiences, I expect this class to develop into a closely-knit “vernacular community.” Join us!
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Assignment Specifications
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Story log. An 8 ½” x 11” bound and ruled notebook with your name and “English 492B” on the
inside front cover. (Please, no three-ring binders or loose sheets.) Please date and title each
entry with the number of the reading assignment. Bring your log to class every day. I will
randomly check them in class, and collect them for grading at midterm and final.
Storytelling. You will demonstrate your understanding of ways storytelling functions to
represent the diversity of human experience by telling at least one 10- to 15-minute story to the
class (CO10), chosen from the anthology of world folktales, framing the story with a brief
introduction to the culture of origin. These will be scheduled in Week 4, for Weeks 6 -10.
Essays. Three essays of between 5-7 pages (1300-1800 words) are assigned in the syllabus. One
will argue a problem in Native American folktale collection and interpretation (CO6), the second
will be a nine-part memoir of your own, structured as an imitation of Scott Momaday’s The Way
to Rainy Mountain (CO10), and the third a research paper focusing on a particular world
storytelling tradition, accompanied by a 24x36” poster for final presentation (CO13). Essay
proposals are due on the assigned dates: see the Assignment Schedule. Essays must be
proofread for mechanical correctness and must conform to the usages of Standard English and a
consistent “middle style” free of both pompous formality and carelessly informal diction. Other
specifications will be outlined on the assignment prompts.
Quizzes. Scheduled at approximately four-week intervals, a combination of short-answer and
short-essay questions covering major concepts in the assigned readings. These take the place of
longer midterm and final examinations. One or more may be administered online.
GRADING. Three essays 10+20+30%, one performance 10%, poster 5%, reading notes
(5% @midterm & @final), quizzes 10% (2.5% each), attendance/participation 15%.
English 4xx: Storytelling Syllabus 4
This course uses plus/minus grades and the university’s grading system, which is listed below:
A
4.0
C-
1.7
A-
3.7
D+
1.3
B+
3.3
D
1.0
B-
2.7
D-
.07
C+
2.3
F
0.0
C
2.0
I
Incomplete
Other Details
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Keeping in Touch. I will use email and WebCampus announcements to communicate with you,
so please check your mail and the website regularly. Consider joining our Facebook group! If you
need to reach me on short notice, email me ([email protected]). You are responsible for all
announcements and information posted on WebCampus.
Disabilities. The University guarantees equal access to those students with documented physical
and learning disabilities. Please see your discussion leader as soon as possible so we may make
appropriate arrangements. Consult the Disability Resource Center (784-6000, TSS 100) at
http://www.unr.edu/drc/about-drc for more information.
Audio and Video Recording. Video recording without permission of class or unauthorized audio
recording of class is prohibited by law and by Board of Regents policy. This class may be video
or audio recorded only with the written permission of the instructor. In order to accommodate
students with disabilities, some students may be given permission to record class lectures and
discussions. Therefore, students should understand that their comments during class may be
recorded, though such recordings will not be published or otherwise distributed. However,
unauthorized recording constitutes illegal surveillance and is prohibited by federal law.
Plagiarism. Although I doubt that such a heinous offense will occur in this particular class, any
written use of the words or original ideas of others without documentation, if detected, will
result in failure of the assignment with additional penalties; or, if extensive, in failure of the
course. See Student Conduct Policies in the UNR General Catalog for further information.
English 4xx: Storytelling Syllabus 5
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS
DAY
Wed
WEEK 2
Mon
Wed
WEEK 3
Mon
Wed
WEEK 4
Mon
Wed
Wed
LECTURE &
DISCUSSION
UNIT #1
READINGS
WRITING & PRESENTATION
(by this date)
ASSIGNMENTS
ETHNOLOGICAL THEORY & METHODOLOGY (CO6)
The Opening Frame
Review course syllabus
Specifications for Jan. 26 assignment
Story, folktale, myth,
& legend? Roles of
these practices in
vernacular
communities
1. Oring, from Folk Groups
and Folklore Genres
2. Bruchac, from “The
Continuing Circle: Native
American Storytelling
Past and Present”
3. Silko, “I Always Called
Her Aunt Susie”
4. Ong, from Orality &
Literacy
5. From Klapproth,
Narrative as Social
Practice
6. Favorite Folktales 48-49;
68-72; 105-07; 121-23
READING NOTES (in a course notebook
or online blog) ID every week by
number & date; one paragraph for each
reading)
Oral & written
language. The politics
of collecting, informing, transcribing, and
recording.
Comparing Native
American & JudeoChristian-Islamic
creation myths
Case Study #1: Kiowa
Myth & History
Case Study #1 cont.
Archetypes &
Classification Systems
7. King, “You’ll Never
Believe What
Happened” from The
Truth About Stories
8. Curtin, from Creation
Myths of America
9. Folktales 20-27; 233-34
10. N. Scott Momaday, The
Way to Rainy Mountain
11. Thompson, Motif Index
12. From Campbell, Hero
with a Thousand Faces
Case Study #2: An
Ethnographic Debate:
Coyote Tales.
Universal or
Particular?
13. Folktales 134-36; 331-33
14. Silko, “Coyote and the
Stro’ro’ka Dancers”
15. Hinton, “Coyote Talk”
16. Radin, from The Trickster
Case Study #2 cont.
17. Erdoes & Ortiz, “Coyote
Laughs & Cries” from
READING NOTES
READING NOTES
IN-CLASS READING NOTES REVIEW
READING NOTES
READING NOTES
ESSAY #1 proposal due
First Quiz
READING NOTES
Schedule Presentation For Unit #2
English 4xx: Storytelling Syllabus 6
American Indian Myths
& Legends
18. Ballenger, from Living
Sideways
19. Folktales 423-27; 472-74
UNIT #2
WEEK 6
Mon
Wed
WEEK 7
Mon
Wed
WEEK 8
Mon
Wed
WEEK 9
Mon
Wed
WEEK 10
Mon
Wed
ESSAY #1: the relationship of myth,
history, and politics in Native American
folklore studies (CO6)
DIVERSITY & EQUITY (CO10)
Storytelling Basics
Claiming Autonomies
Reclaiming Identities
The Appropriation of
Tradition
20. Storyteller’s Guide:
“How to Shape a Story
from Printed Text” and
“How to Rehearse &
Memorize a Story”
21. Sobol, “Innervision &
Innertext”
Three Levels of Time:
Myth, History, &
Present Tense
Framing, Repetition,
and Formulas
Ethical Issues: Whose
Story is It?
22. Harley, “Playing with the
Wall”
READING NOTES
Scheduled Storytelling 2
23. Halleck & Karasek, Folk
& Fairy Tales 21-45
24. Toelken, “The Icebergs
of Folktale: Misconception, Misuse, Abuse”
25. Folk & Fairy Tales 46-70
READING NOTES
Scheduled Storytelling 3
READING NOTES
Telling Fairy Tales:
Only for Children?
Folkloric Patterns for
Diverse Cultures
Vernacular
Communities
Combining folktale
with personal and
community narrative
Telling the Stories of
the Tribe: A Part of It,
or Apart from It?
“Stagolee” & the
African-American
Signifying Tradition
UNIT #3
26. Folk & Fairy Tales 71-137
27. Hurston, Mules & Men
xiii-57
28. African American
Folktales (AAF) 2-20, 4244
29. Mules & Men (M&M)
59-90
30. M&M 91-142
31. AAF 47-49, 72-78
32. M&M 143-179
33. AAF 101-105, 238-240
34. Nelson, “Rap Music &
the Stagolee
Mythoform”
READING NOTES
Scheduled Storytelling 1
Scheduled Storytelling 4
READING NOTES
Scheduled Storytelling 5
Scheduled Storytelling 6
ESSAY #2 proposal
READING NOTES
Scheduled Storytelling 7
READING NOTES
Scheduled Storytelling 8
READING NOTES
Second Quiz
Scheduled Storytelling 9
ESSAY #2: imitating Momaday, a 9--part
personal story interweaving myth,
history, and first-person narrative to
explain the mythological, historical, and
contemporary dimensions of diversity
and barriers to social equity (CO10).
FOLKTALE RESEARCH (CO13)
English 4xx: Storytelling Syllabus 7
WEEK 11
Mon
Wed
WEEK 12
Mon
Wed
WEEK 13
Mon
Case Study #3: The
Anglo-American Jack
Tale and Its
Transatlantic
Transmission
From Orality to
Nationalist Literature:
Jack Tale Scholarship
35. Chase, The Jack Tales
36. Lindahl, “Jacks: The
Name, the Tales, the
American Tradition”
Working Back to the
Source: Modern
Ethnography as
Contextualizing
Performance
The Culture Hero in
World Oral Traditions
39. Sobol, “Jack in the Raw:
An Interview with Ray
Hicks”
40. Hicks, “Hardy Hard-Ass”
41. Folktales TBA
READING NOTES
World Oral Traditions
and the Problem of
Recovery
42. Folktales TBA
43. Symonds, “Lost
Languages, Lost Stories”
READING NOTES
44. Folktales TBA
READING NOTES
45. From Ong, Orality &
LIteracy
READING NOTES
Wed
WEEK 14
Mon
Wed
WEEK 15
Mon
TBD
Transcribing
Performance in
Context: from Orality
to Textuality II
Summing Up, Part I
37. Chase, more Jack Tales
38. McCarthy, Jack in Two
Worlds
ESSAY #3 PROPOSAL
READING NOTES
READING NOTES
Third Quiz
Fourth Quiz
Summing Up, Part II:
The Closing Frame
Final Meeting
READING NOTES
ESSAY #3: Research Paper/Poster: One
World Oral Tradition (CO13)
TBD
Research Paper Poster
Presentations (CO13)