Jessica

Genre Translation Prewrite

 Posted by on Tue, 3/19 at 4:02pm  Uncategorized  No Responses »
Mar 192019
 

Genre Translation Proposal

Flower Child

I have noticed that in recent years parents are getting extremely creative with baby names and while some of them are cute and beautiful some of the names are a bit odd. I once read that a couple parents named their child “facebook” after the social media account. While I am not judging their parenting techniques it got me thinking about all the unique baby names and how you can name children after elements of nature. My project would cover a list of unique nature inspired baby names that can be rendered gender neutral in today’s society and provide insight as to whether nature gender neutral names can hold on to heritage and still be trendy.

 

Holiday Mashup

It is no secret that the holiday season is everyone’s favorite time of year. The season is filled with traditions and memories and fun activities. I myself love Thanksgiving. I love the food firstly, but I also love the warm feeling you get. That over excited and happy feeling. I want to compare the elements of the holiday (specifically) Christmas, because it is so international and do a cultural critique of how other celebrate the holiday. Whether food, religious traditions, secular traditions, movies and or tv shows watched, etc.  It is my hope that through my analysis I can come up with values that are shared by many cultures at the holiday time of year.

 

Girl in a Country Song

Country boys are supposed to be gentlemen and respect women. They are not like other guys. However, this is confusing when most country songs portray girls as sex objects and are related to trucks, and other boy toys. If Country men are suppose to be more chivalrous than why do songs about women seem so demeaning. I want to do a project that takes popular country song lyrics and explore a feminist critique of them.

Dale Proposal

 Posted by on Thu, 2/28 at 3:57pm  Uncategorized  No Responses »
Feb 282019
 

Bless Your Heart

How and What Good Ole Southern Sayings Communicate

Communication is vital to society. Depending on where you come from people have a way of saying things to explain a concept or an idea. In the Southern part of the United States friends and family communicate through sayings. Short phrases that are designed to say what you mean by illustrating an image. In some cases, the images are not even directly related to the subject that is being discussed and yet still people understand it’s meaning. The ways that the Southern people live and talk are a world of its own. It is rich in metaphor and simile, while using hyperbole to create a dictionary of its own through these sayings.

In order to examine and clarify what these sayings mean to southerners’ verses others not a part of this community, this project/paper will exhibit the idea that sayings convey values of country people. The specific values covered in this project/paper will be etiquette or manners, strong work ethic but a slow simple lifestyle, and identifying hypocrisy. Based on the values that are derived from these sample of sayings it can be concluded that the meanings are universal to southern native speakers and this specific niche of people use it to show love and respect. Used for generations and passed down through the ages with an undeniable cohesive understanding that outsiders are not accustomed to and misinterpret. The project/ paper will show the miscommunication in comparison with the saying’s true intention being said and give an insightful look of the tough love mentality that breeds Southern morals.

I have decided to do a project. As I am studying to be a teacher it is important for me to have the practice of speaking and preforming in front of an audience. the best way to do this is to have my peers sub in as my students as I attempt to teach something new. It is my hope that in my lesson I will not only cover the Southern Values but the stereotypes that are placed on words of wisdom in the eyes of the “other”.

Southern Sayings Points of Significance

 Posted by on Sun, 2/17 at 2:31pm  subject-POS  No Responses »
Feb 172019
 

Southern Sayings

Having manners = Southern sayings reflect the golden rule – treat others how you want to be treated/ be kind

  • Hold your horses – be patient
  • Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy – mind your own business
  • Mind your p’s and q’s – be respectful
  • Say yer prayers – literally
  • Mend fences – mend relationships when broken

 

Taking life slow and or easy yet still having strength and strong work ethic = the importance of working hard and being a strong person is important but so is embracing the idea of rest

  • Either fish or cut bait – work or make way for those who will
  • Strong as an ox – strength
  • She’s whiskey in a teacup – she’s pretty but is a strong woman
  • Slower than a Sunday afternoon – Sundays are a day of rest so no one does anything
  • Come sit a spell – come and sit for a while and rest

 

Calling people out on their shit = Southerners speak their mind and keep each other in check( but most of the time is comes for a place of love)

  • Those pants were so tight I could see her religion – skimpy dressing
  • Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s rainin’ – lying
  • The porch light is on but no one is home – stupidity
  • He/ she so ugly, they didn’t get hit with the ugly stick, they got whopped with the whole forest – ugly can be physical and personality in the south but this is very ugly
  • Give down the country – give someone a piece of your mind

 

Southern Sayings = tell you where Southerners values lie

 

Prompt: Evaluate what southern sayings communicate about the southern values.

Technical Definitions for Southern Sayings

 Posted by on Tue, 2/12 at 6:00pm  technical definition  No Responses »
Feb 122019
 

“Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy”

Qualifier: southern breakfast food

Term: Minding your own business

Classification: something you tell a nosy person

Differentiation: the saying is a play on words that combines a moral concept with food

Sentence: In the south people use breakfast food to create a saying that tells people to mind their own business because someone is being too nosy; the saying combines a moral concept taught in southern homes with the southern traditional foods of biscuits and gravy.

 

“She’s whiskey in a teacup”

Qualifier(s): Teacups are delicate and pretty like a lady / whiskey is strong alcohol the mostly country men drink to get drunk and act wild

Term: She’s wild and yet still a lady

Classification: Women of the south are strong willed and still uphold an image of pretty

Differentiation: most southern women are viewed as damsels in distress and need help with everything, but they can also be tough and strong

Sentence: When you picture a teacup you think that the content inside is tea but in the southern sayings that uses a teacup and whiskey we are talking about the strength of a woman, she is wild and yet still acts like a lady and upholds morals; women of the south are strong willed and can still hold an image of looking pretty despite being viewed as a damsel in distress and needing help with everything southern women can also be strong and tough.

 

“Ants in your pants”

Qualifier: Ants tickle on your skin

Term: can’t hold still

Classification: Animal comparison to convey a message

Differentiation: most people who fidget and can’t hold still simply say so but, in the south, there is a saying for it

Sentence: Just as ants can tickle the skin and make you uncomfortable so that you can’t hold still in the south a saying is used to make and animal comparison to convey a message; most people who fidget and can’t hold still simply say so but, in the south, there is a saying for it.

Heuristic 2 Southern Sayings

 Posted by on Sun, 2/3 at 4:11pm  underappreciated heuristic #2  No Responses »
Feb 032019
 

Identify and Describe Patterns in the Genre’s Features

  1. What content is typically included or excluded? How is the content treated? What sorts of examples are used? What counts as evidence (personal testimony, facts, etc.)?

The content typically included a phrase that compares an object to a situation or person. It can have animal references, food references or sexual references. The content is treated as a common way of talking to local people in the southern community. The evidence is the sayings used that are pasted down from generation to generation.

  1. What rhetorical appeals are used? What appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos appear?

The rhetorical appeal that is used in this genre is the Pathos and Ethos. The sayings that are used are an attempt to make you feel a certain way by placing an image in your head. It is also ethos because the sayings are attempting to convince you that their argument is logical and is the only answer that makes sense.

  1. How are texts in the genres structured? What are their parts, and how are they organized?

The Genre is not really structured expect for the way the sayings are categorized. They are mostly used as comparison phrases. The parts of the saying include a nouns and verbs and sometimes prepositional phrases.

  1. In what format are texts of this genre presented? What layout or appearance is common? How long/big is a typical text in this genre?

The format of the texts in the genre are commonly used as sayings in conversation but also can be signs that people hang in their homes. The layout or appearance of the genre is usually written in fancy unique handwriting. The genre is a huge category and there are literally hundreds of examples but the examples are usually short as that are phrases and or sayings.

  1. What types of “sentences” do texts in the genre typically use? How long are they? Are they simple or complex, passive or active? Are the sentences varied? Do they share a certain style?

The sentences are typically incomplete sentences because they are phrases used to describe something. However there are some sayings that are complete sentences and they are most likely simple sentences with an active voice. Some sayings are passive but most of the time they are showing an action. The common style that they share is the way they compare things.

  1. What diction is most common? What types of words (or symbols, images, etc.) are most frequent? Is a type of jargon used? Is slang used? How would you describe a typical writer’s tone?

The diction of the sayings is every day language and sometimes slang but it is used casually as colloquial language between the people of the southern community. As mentioned previously most of the sayings use symbols or images or animals, food, or sex. The writers or speakers tone is often playful or not serious but it depends on the context of the situation.

 

Analyze What These Patterns Reveal About the Situation and Scene

  1. What do these patterns reveal about the genre, its situation, and the people who use it?

This genre shows that the people who enjoy and practice this genre come from a specific part of the Country and use the sayings to better explain someone or something than they could if they were trying to explain it in length. Shortening an explanation just takes the reader or listener/audience to the point much faster and with a funny unique way.

  • How is the subject of the genre treated? What content is considered most important? What content (topics or details) is ignored?

The genre is treated with respect and as a part of every day life style that the south embraces. The content that is considered most important is sayings that are universal and can relate to almost any one. Some important topics are food, people, religion, behavior and family values.

  • What values, beliefs, goals, and assumptions are revealed through the genre’s patterns?

The values and beliefs of the genre are revealed in the way the sayings make comparisons and show expectations of family and southern community. The goal is to educate someone by explaining to them what a situation looks like.

  • What actions does the genre enable? What actions does the genre constrain??

The genre enables the people of the community to communicate more effectively and make comparisons. However, it restricts the amount people that can engage in the genre because the audience must have a background in the sayings and have learned it before being able to understand it.

Southern Colloquial Sayings and Words

 Posted by on Sat, 2/2 at 11:48pm  underappreciated heuristic #1  2 Responses »
Feb 022019
 

Being born and raised in the south comes with its own vocabulary and accent or as we southerners say when people visit “you’ll wake up with the south in your mouth”. There are just some things that can’t be said other than with how you heard it explained growing up. These country sayings are used to describe someone, something, or a situation that would take too long to explain or that paints an image in your head to show emotion better than people can sometimes. I find it is most often used around family, friends, neighbors, or other southerners at events like church, festivals, or within the home. It is more commonly spoken than written but some people love the sayings so much you can find them as signs to hang in the home or even in letters written to others, or lyrics in a country song.

People use these sayings to communicate thoughts, feelings, ideas, or sometimes offenses. It can either conceal what your feel or addresses what you wish want to say or it can make a situation “Crystal clear” or perfectly clear.

Animal References: Some of the more popular saying are related to animals and their behaviors or connotation. Some examples are:

  • Runnnin’ like a chicken with its head cut off – this is a saying the reveals how busy a person is.
  • Poor as a church mouse – this saying refers to someone having no money
  • That dog won’t hunt – this saying refers to someone who is a liar
  • Till the cows come home – means that it will take a long time
  • Ants in your pants – means you can’t sit still

*these examples were from my grandmother that taught me them

* https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Funny-Southern-Sayings-and-Southern-Expressions

Food References: There is nothing more that southern people love more than their food.  Some of the classics are fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, okra, all the home style foods you would find a cracker barrel restaurant. So, it is no surprise that Southern saying would incorporate food.

Examples:

  • Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy – a saying to tell others to mind their own business
  • She’s whiskey in a teacup – a saying that means a woman is a little on the wild side but still a lady
  • Well that just dills my pickle – means that you are surprised or super happy

* https://youtu.be/nGIUtLO_x8g

Sex and Women compared to objects: men of the south love their women. Most of the country songs are about love and life and how women and sex compare to some of their favorite objects like trucks, alcohol and other crazy silly things.

  • Take you for a ride on my big green tractor
  • I’d like to check you for tics
  • Over the shoulder boulder holder
  • City girls slip and slide country girls grip and ride
  • Tequila makes her clothes fall off
  • Body like a back road

* https://youtu.be/8oO8cahqr8I

* https://youtu.be/OctrGD4JW8U

* https://youtu.be/Nj2700em-JQ

* https://youtu.be/Mdh2p03cRfw

Southern slang words: Sometimes you don’t need a whole saying to try and explain what you mean and so the southern community uses some funny words to get their point across. Not only that but there are just some universal southern country words.

  • Ya’ll – yes this is an actual word it is the combination of “you” and “all” and is a pronoun substituted for the other pronoun they or you guys.
  • Catawampus – is an adjective that describes something that is askew or cockeyed
  • Fixin’ – is a verb or adjective that means you are going to do something
  • Piddlin’ – adjective or verb that means you are fiddling around or puttering

* https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Funny-Southern-Sayings-and-Southern-Expressions

*I also confirmed these with what my grandmother says

Many of these saying do not have an author or writer. We may never know who said or wrote them down. It is simply passed on from one generation to the next as a country tradition. I would say that depending on where in the north or the south you live and who is around you would determine what sayings you use and write. However, some of the sayings are from country musicians that have used them to write songs. These lyrics convey a message that the singer and/or songwriter finds important, amusing, or relatable to southern country folks. So, there are many authors, I guess. As for readers I would say that most of the time people that are from the south, listen to country music, or that have family or friends from the south would use these sayings.