ENGL 392
The Archaeology of Language

 

NOTE: This is representative of the syllabi for this course. It is not necessarily the syllabus being used in any one semester.

 

Course Description: This course examines language as a cultural phenomenon from the multidisciplinary perspectives of linguistics, psychology, sociology, physiology, and philosophy. The design of language, its origins, and its integral role in the dynamics of human interaction will be explored.

 

Texts:

Peter Farb, WordPlay: What Happens When People Talk (Random House, 1973).

Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth (Random House, 1961)

Richard Lederer, Crazy English (Simon and Schuster, 1989)

I Steven Pinker, Words and Rules (Basic Books, 1999)

Selected short readings as assigned

 

Course Requirements:

Weekly reading logs

Consistent, enthusiastic, knowledgeable participation in class discussions

Midterm and final examinations

(take-home essay)

Exhibit/Display for Museum of Human Language

 

Course Schedule:

January 28:     Introduction: Language, thought, and meaning

February 4:     The idiosyncracies of the English language Crazy English

February 11:   Finish Crazy English; The Phantom Tollbooth

February 18:   WordPlay, Part I

February 25:   Word Play, Part II

March 4:         Word Play, Part III

March 11:       WordPlay, Part IV

March 18        WordPlay, Part V

SPRING BREAK

April 1:           Words and Rules, Chapters 1 and 2

April 8:           Words and Rules, Chapters 3 and 4

April 15:         Words and Rules, Chapters 5 and 6

April 22:         Words and Rules, Chapters 7 and 8

April 29          Words and Rules, Chapters 9 and 10

May 6:            Museum

May 13           Final examinations due

 

 

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