Introduction to Folklore Studies

Salt Lake Community College

English 2710
Instructor: Liz Montague
Office: SCC N112
Phone: 801-957-3439
Email: liz.montague@slcc.edu
"Stories were one as important to survival as a spear or a hoe. They gave counsel. They
connected the living with the dead. Stories distributed the suffering so it could be borne."
-E.L. Doctorow
Texts: Living Folklore: An Introduction to the Study of People and Their Traditions
Marsha C. Sims and Martine Stephens
Course Overview:
The hear of folklore is the oral and customary translation of culture by individuals. This
course is an introduction to the importance of ordinary people and their most enduring
and pervasive forms of expression, creativity and problem solving as evidenced through
folklore. You will have an opportunity to learn to recognize folklore in your daily life and
understand that it is not "cute and quaint," as is often assumed, but rather a central feature
of shared humanity. Through out the semester we will engage both in the academic study
of folklore as well as the experience of folklore in our daily lives.
We will begin by exploring our own assumptions regarding the definitions and ideas of
what folklore means. By learning to understand the concepts, definitions, and approaches
to folklore, we will begin to identify folk-groups that "we" as "folks" belong to. We will
also begin to discover how centrally important folklore and folk groups are in creating
cultural identity, traditions and transmitting cultural identity and meanings.
Throughout the semester, we will look at different genres of folklore (legends, folktales,
jokes, urban legends, "fax lore," personal experience narratives) and analyze the
processes behind them. By learning to interpret the meanings constructed by both the
"performer" and the "audience," we will begin to understand the academic side of
folklore studies. We will become familiar with other aspects of folklore as we study folk
are and material culture.
Our aim is to sprout personal, what I call, "folklore antennae" as we increase awareness
of what an integral and enduring part of our daily lives folklore actually is. These
"antennae" will enable us to see our own common folk groups with increased
understanding and depth. We will experience folklore as much as we will intellectually
understand it.
By studying folklore as the expressive daily culture of various folk groups, we will come
to understand that such groups are identified by the bonds of language, ethnicity, religion,
occupation, age, gender or region. Folk groups can include Irish-Americans, Mormons,
fire fighters, children, athletes (snow-boarders, basketball fans, etc.) students, individuals
in the workplace.
Requirements:
Being in class, being prepared, being willing to participate are the first and foremost
prerequisites of success in this course. The most important aspect of this course is the
process of discovery we will experience together throughout the semester. If you are not
in class it is impossible to participate.
ALL reading assignments are to be completed before class. Reading in the text is meant
to enhance/deepen the learning we will be experiencing as a class. I trust you are scholars
serious about your own education, and therefore, will only give quizzes on the reading if
it becomes apparent the text is not being read individually. Occasionally, assigned
readings will be handed out in class to be read for the next class meeting. We will also
have numerous in-class exercises, which cannot be made up if missed.
Course Work:
We will be reading from the text, student handouts, online and individually contributing
folklore "artifacts" (written in archival format) as we find them in daily life throughout
the semester. There will also be several short papers written in response to films, field
trips, in-class exercises, etc.
We will also be collecting, and interpreting various forms of folklore and samples of folk
life which emerge from our own daily experiences throughout the semester. Since
individual student access to varying forms differs from semester to semester, each class
will take a unique focus.
As should be expected in all college courses, written assignments should follow the
conventions of Standard English: Typed, double spaced, grammatically appropriate,
collections in correct archival format.
**Please take the individual responsibility to visit a SLCC Writing Center if you need to
enhance your writing.
SLCC Folklore Archives:
The folklore we collect will be archived in the Salt Lake Community College Folklore
Archives. Therefore, it is very important for each collection to be of archival
(processional) quality and format. (We will cover this in class. You will receive a
handout with the proper formatting procedures and examples.)
Each collection artifact will also have a separate interpretation, which analyzes the
meanings of the lore we collect. Each interpretation will examine the cultural, social and
individual reasons WHY these stories stay in oral and or cultural circulation among
certain groups.
Final Semester Project:
By mid-term I will ask you to submit a proposal for a final semester project. This project
should culminate in a collection and paper which allows you to construct a fuller
understanding of some aspect of your own individual lore, history, culture, and its
meaning in relationship to more universal cultural issues. This project will be further
discussed in the beginning weeks of the semester.
**Semester projects will be presented in class during the final weeks of the course.
Prepare to experience an adventure in seeing and perceiving the world around you with
'new' eyes!!!
General Education Statement:
This course fulfills the Humanities requirement for the General Education Program at
Salt Lake Community College. It is designed not only to teach the information and skills
required by the discipline, but also to develop vital workplace skills and to teach
strategies and skills that can be used for life-long learning. General education courses
teach basic skills as well as broaden a student's knowledge of a wide range of subjects.
Education is much more than the acquisition of facts; it is being able to use information
in a meaningful way in order to enrich one's life.
While the subject of each course is important and useful, we become truly educated
through making connections of such varied information with the different methods of
organizing human experiences that are practiced by different disciplines. Therefore, this
course, when combined with other General Education course, will enable you to develop
broader perspective and deeper understandings of your community and the world, as well
as challenge previously help assumptions about the world and its inhabitants.
* Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring
accommodations or services under ADA, much contact Disability Resource Center
(DRC). The DRC determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of these
accommodations and services for the college. Please contact the DRC at the Student
Center, Suite 225, Redwood Campus, 4600 So. Redwood Rd. 84123. Phone: (801) 957-
4659, TTY: 957-4646, Fax: 957-4947
English 2710- Introduction to Folklore Studies
2710 Semester Point Breakdown
-100 Points-
Archival Collections: (Points)
Joke (5)
Joke Interpretation (5)
Urban Legend (5)
Urban Legend Interpretation (5)
Material Collection (5)
Material Collection Interpretation (5)
Written Responses to Videos (5 each)
Semester Project Proposal (5)
Active Class Participation (20)
Semester Project: (30)
10 points for presentation
20 points for written project
Semester Self-evaluation (5)
Written Response to Field Trip (5) (If applicable)
(All work will be assessed on appropriateness of subject to the study of Folklore, depth
and clarity of interpretation, use of conventions of Standard English, and adherence to the
format of archival collecting, where appropriate.)
Note: All assignments are to be turned in on time. A full grade will be deducted for each
day the assignment is late. No assignments (papers, projects, etc.) will be accepted after
one week.
If you miss your semester presentation date, half credit will be given for the written
product.