Slavic and Celtic Folklore
Assignment #2 (due April 27)
In the first several weeks of class you have learned about the layers of religious and traditional beliefs that govern the way people think and behave. All of the readings, films and lectures so far have given clear indications of the syncretic nature of belief in the Slavic and Celtic regions. Your job, for this assignment, is to write a four-page paper about a particular theme that has arisen for you in regard to the class materials, including those presented in weeks three or four. Some examples might include:
- family
- water
- blood
- gender
- performance
- local
- class
- power
- liminality
- death
- identity
- authenticity
- women
- men
- children
- truth
- falsehood
- bodies
- cloth
- fairies/spirits
- collectors
- “the folk”
- Herder
- three
- nationalism
- animals
- the elderly
- trees
- time
- home
- shape-shifting
- symbolism
- native
- foreign
- politics
- epic
- architecture
- sexuality
- food
- song
- interpretation
You have many other possibilities to draw from! Discuss your theme first and why you believe that it is important. Then draw from various program materials to highlight the appearance of this theme. Once you have done so, write a conclusion that sums up your major points. After everything is complete, write the introduction (because now you know where you’re headed!). Print it out and let it sit overnight. The following day, go through and make sure your paragraphs flow well from one to the next. Check for incomplete sentences, typos, and grammatical problems; try reading it out loud. Make all the changes and give it one last read-through before you send it. Ask yourself this question: do I want Pat or Sean to spend all of her time frowning at my grammar and punctuation, or all of her time thinking and commenting on the content of my paper?
Use examples from the texts, lectures, and/or seminar discussions to support your ideas. You may also use materials not from the program; see the Resources page of the program website (blogs.evergreen.edu/slavicceltic) for ideas. If you quote from a text, use in-text citations (the author’s last name and date of publication followed by the page number, as in Dundes 1980:22). Include a bibliography at the end of the paper. You do not have to use a specific bibliographic format, but you MUST be consistent.
Please make sure that your paper is typed, double-spaced, in size 12 font, with your name in the upper right corner of the first page.
This paper is due on Friday, April 27, by 5 pm. Please e-mail it to your seminar leader (Pat’s e-mail address is krafcikp@evergreen.edu, and Sean’s e-mail address is williams@evergreen.edu).