Shakespeare in The Bush Article & Do You Speak American Articles Questions

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There are two ethnography articles this week.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE BUSH

1. Why did Bohannan tell the Tiv the story of Hamlet? What did she think she would accomplish or prove by doing so?

2. Why did the Tiv think it was good for Claudius to marry his dead brother’s widow, Gertrude?

3. Why were the elders convinced that Laertes must have killed his sister with witchcraft?

Do You Speak American?

4. Where do you side on the language debate? Are you more of a “prescriptivist” or a “descriptivist”? Should language constantly be policed, or should it be allowed to be flexible and change? Should there be a universal or global language?

5. According to Labov, who is more likely to change language or adopt a prestige form in a society, and WHY?