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Cassidy, Frederic Gomes, 1907-2000 (Fa 1375), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1375. Revised questionnaire manual used by field collectors for the Dictionary of American Regional English. The manual was useful for students preparing questionnaires while studying folklore at Western Kentucky University.

Ua37/44 Faculty Personal Papers Gordon Wilson, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Personal papers of Gordon Wilson.

Colvin, Dianne (Fa 1257), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1257. Student paper titled “A Dialect Study of the Palestine Community [Taylor County, Kentucky]” in which Dianne Colvin attempts to locate a discernible language pattern among residents living and working in the area. Addressing vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, Colvin analyzes a set of surveys, which focused on both diction and syntax. Included in the paper are informant biographies, a map of the region, and individual survey responses.

Zora Neale Hurston: The Voice Of The Goddess, Mella Davis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Zara Neale Purston has re-emerged as an author of promise due to the re-appraisal of her works led by Alice Walker and Robert Hemenway. In both literary and folklore academic circles, Hurston's work has been reclaimed by African-American female scholars and writers, but still a significant study has yet to be done about her ethnographic contributions to folklore and her farsightedness in fieldwork methodology. This thesis seeks to validate her work as a folklorist, thereby dismissing the charges of popularization and amateurishness by re-examining her work. Mules and Men and Jonah's Gourd Vine are Hurston's two most influential folklore texts …

The Blankety-Blank Of Bear Creek Camp: A Rhetorical Analysis Of A Folk Drama, Gregory Hansen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A rhetorical theory of folklore was used to interpret how summer camp staffers use a folk drama as a means of identification and as a type of artistic expression. The performance was analyzed for ethnographic information using Kenneth Burke's theory of dramatism and for artistic techniques using Burke's theory of the psychology of audience. The dramatistic pentad contextualized the performance, and this information was analyzed for motives through the delineation of dramatistic ratios. The skit's syntagmatic structure was outlined using Burke's description of five aspects of form. The analysis demonstrates that meaning is emergent through both the content and form …

A Study Of The Biblical Narrative Of Saul, Including Investigation Of The Folktale & Proverb As Genres Of Folk Narrative, Ervin Mason Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A biblical passage from the Old Testament book of I Samuel is studied from the perspective of narrative, folktale, and proverb. The narrative account of Saul's becoming the first king of Israel, as depicted in I Sam. 9:1-10:16, is examined and found to be an example of traditional folk narrative. Using the work of Stith Thompson and Axel Olrik, the Saul narrative yields evidence indicating it is composed of traditional motifs and arranged in a manner reflecting traditional interpretation. Within the larger Hebrew narrative of the I Sam. 9:1-10:16 passage there is lodged a folktale. The folktale is found interspersed …

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Archives Records

Papers representative of the variety of scholarly research conducted at WKU.

• Adams, Kathy. The Appalachian Language
• Barnett, Philip. A Study of Deviant Behavior of XYY Individuals in Regard to Environment and Genotype
• Bell, Brooks. Loving, Loyal Linda Loman: An Interpretive Note
• Danhauer, Janice. Motivating Workers Through Job Design
• Davis, Barbara. The Transformation of a Man into a Man of Understanding in Murinbata Society
• Davis, Diane. The Argot of the Homosexual
• Jewell, Teresa. The Life Story of the Hero of World War I - Sergeant Alvin C. York
• Lanham, Wayne. Das Knarrenschiff and a Ship of Fools: A Study in Influence …

A Folkloric Perspective On Traditional Auctioneering, Daniel Steed Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To date, the auction as a type of folklore performance has not been adequately researched. In order to place auctions in perspective as folklore, chapter one of this thesis reviews the history of auctions in the United States. Chapter one further presents the idea of the auctioneer as a folk occupational specialist. The second chapter is concerned with the skills of an active Kentucky auctioneer, who offers, during a series of interviews, insights concerning his performance skills. The third, and final, chapter attempts to construct a theoretical base for researching auctions as folklore performance. The criteria by which any given …

What Are They Saying? A Study Of The Jargon Of Hilltopping, David Lyne

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Taped interviews, fox hunting magazines, and a questionnaire were primary sources for collecting approximately 290 of the specialized terms employed by pedestrian fox hunters known as "hilltoppers." Once the terms were collected, they were co,pared with the terms related to formal fox hunting. The comparison revealed that hilltopper jargon and formal fox hunting jargon contain many identical terms, yet the former body of terms is significantly larger and more varied. In order to determine whether or not the jargon of hilltopping qualifies as an aspect of folk speech, methods of dissemination, patterns of innovation, speaker response to social and technological …

Baltimore Of Mount Pleasant: A Case Study Of The Tradition Of The Chanted Sermon In Virginia, E. Henry Willett Iii

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Analysis of theme, style and structure of the chanted sermons of a Virginia preacher shows that the chanted sermon is a powerful ritualistic expression in certain communities. As practiced among Afro-American groups the chanted sermon is a ritual expression which serves to resolve conflicts, affirm values, and meet certain socio-psychological needs.

Courtly Love Elements In The Child Ballads: A Study In Origins, Fannie Lewis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The traditional ballad, the genre of the above poetry, has been a subject of much controversy and speculation, especially regarding its origin. The problem of origin is not likely to be solved unless much more evidence is found. Among the many theories are communal authorship, and individual poet; humble and oral origin, and sophisticated and literary origin. Studies of linguistics, of ballad refrain, and of carole continue the attempt to discover ballad genesis. However, a very different approach perhaps can be used to determine the origin of some ballads, particularly the romantic ballads; that approach is to use the courtly …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

No abstract provided.

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 1500-1600:

• 1935-1965 – 165
• A Folk Drugstore – 49
• A Shrinking World – 27
• A Tater on the Spout – 175
• A Valuable Acquisition – 9
• Adjusting to Our Times – 79
• Ashamed to Play – 23
• Autumns of Long Ago – 191
• Barefoot Boy – 179
• Becoming a Passing Institution – 31
• Calling Animals – 193
• Calling the Animals – 21
• Cash on the Barrel Head – 139
• Cats & Saurians – 55
• Chores – 105
• Contradictory Signs – 135
• Country-School Alumni – 181
• D-Day Plus One – 47
• Don’t – 195
• Explaining a …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 1401-1498:

• A Bigger World – 7
• A Great Leveler – 103
• Accepting the Universe – 121
• Acquired Characteristics – 67
• Another Barrier Removed – 135
• Beating the Other Fellow – 83
• Bees & Such – 123
• Being Queer – 21
• Between the Rivers – 149
• Cake & Pickle – 65
• Cashing in on Our Folkways – 155
• Continuity – 105
• Country Origins – 119
• Cussing & Near-Cussing – 15
• Doing Some Digging – 151
• Don’t Look Now, But . . . – 11
• Elocution Again – 147
• Entertaining Oneself or Being Entertained – 19
• Evaluating …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 1300-1400:

• A Century Later – 113
• A Community, Then & Now – 175
• A Fruitless Search – 167
• A Little Red Wagon – 193
• After the Sunday Dinner – 159
• Anachronisms – 125
• Another Anniversary – 147
• Asleep at the Show – 11
• Back Yonder – 197
• Bee Honey – 35
• Being Apologetic – 13
• Birds & Folks – 5
• By the Company He Keeps – 107
• Calomel & Quinine – 137
• Changing Conceptions of Age – 43
• Changing Good Manners – 83
• Chapters of History – 93
• Chips Again – 121
• Clodhoppers – 53 …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore, nos. 1201-1299:

• A Good Provider – 31
• A Healthier World - 27
• A Living Passing Institution – 129
• A Motel at Fidelity – 103
• A Museum Piece – 51
• A Whole New World – 87
• As Others See Us – 137
• Attending a Sale – 39
• Bells, Bells, Bells – 3
• Blood Kin – 107
• Boys’ Side – Girls’ Side – 71
• Bringing in the Sheaves – 119
• Calling Animals – 91
• Clothes & the Man – 117
• Cloud-Walking Country – 79
• Country & City – 9
• Dashing Through the Snow – 191
• Different Levels of …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 1050-1105; 1109-1200:

• A Fur Piece – 233
• A Quart of Kerosene – 131
• A Quarter a Day – 215
• A Sense of History – 65
• A Touch of Sadness – 175
• Ain’t Youse Got No Lakes? – 129
• All Wool & a Yard Wide – 277
• An Unsung Hero – 275
• And Battles Long Ago – 279
• And the Smell Comes Pouring Out – 281
• And There is a Little Queer – 141
• And This is Uncle George – 255
• Apples, Then & Now – 55
• As It Was In the Beginning - 289
• Banter …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 900-989, 999-1049:

• A Cheerful Liar – 252
• A Mother in Israel – 219
• A Neighborhood Sheik – 215
• A Thin Veneer – 244
• Amen – 109
• Appropriate Food – 99
• Asafetida Bags & Sulfa Drugs – 250
• Awards Day – 278
• Bad Connections – 276
• Ballad Situations – 113
• Becoming a Back Number – 27
• Bells, Bells, Bells – 83
• Blab Schools – 169
• Bottomless Pits – 201
• Burning Off the Woods – 151
• But Not Homer – 47
• By the Highway – 159
• By the Side of the Road – 25
• Calf Rope – …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 750-799, 803-804, 807-831, 833-857, 859-899:

• A Changing World – 167
• A Cycle of Folk Culture – 215
• A Few Lines – 257
• Across the Creek – 241
• Adults & Children – 3
• All Mixed Up – 65
• And Thee Is a Little Queer – 69
• Anecdotal Wisdom – 15
• Another Barrier Removed – 83
• Beauty & Prejudice – 163
• Beauty & Religion – 139
• Being Typical – 23
• Better But Sadder – 51
• Blue Monday – 111
• Boogers – 177
• Brave Men, Living & Dead – 77
• Candy Kisses – 37
• Canopus – 149
• Changing …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 676-749:

• A Changing Christmas – 79
• A Dry Moon – 42
• A Folk Triumph – 4
• A Folklore Map of Kentucky – 46
• A Glossary of Passing Words – 135
• A Healthful Sign – 10
• Advancing or Retreating? – 36
• Analogy, Good & Bad – 28
• Ancestry & Common Sense – 105
• Another Dopester Wrong – 66
• Are You Superstitious? – 44
• Back on the Old Party Line – 145
• Blind, Deaf & Dumb – 141
• Bossy & Dobbin – 91
• Bucket Jelly – 16
• By Any Other Name – 147
• By Eye or By …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 566-669:

• A Few Generations – 57
• Agreeable Fans – 7
• All Tied Up with Memories – 95
• An Ivory Tower – 15
• As In the Days of Methuselah – 188
• Bowser & the Wildcat – 126
• By Their Fruits – 154
• Chicken Coops & Horse Troughs – 196
• Chicken Hawks & Tom Paine – 47
• Childish Fears – 27
• Chimneys – 140
• Communal Culture – 51
• Contiguous Areas – 138
• Country Hicks – 112
• Cradles – 108
• Culture in Hymns – 59
• Cycles of Teaching – 162
• Didn’t It Rain? – 164
• Digging in the …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 428-503:

• A Cycle of Fences – 100
• Afraid of Science – 90
• Art Through the Side Door – 116
• As Big as All Out-of-Doors – 134
• Asking the Way – 108
• Backing Up the Preacher – 96
• Barriers – 72
• Baying the Moon – 46
• Blackberries – 86
• Borrowing Books – 118
• Bound Each to Each – 126
• Branch Water – 94
• Brandon’s Mill – 12
• Come to Dinner – 128
• Condescension – 68
• Cutting a Splurge – 88
• Elocution – 18
• Eyes That See Not – 50
• Fidelity – Where Is It? – 34 …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 200-300:

• A House by the Side of the Road – 192
• A Piece of the Way – 132
• A Tent Photographer – 7
• A Tent Show at Fidelity – 20
• A Village Oracle – 60
• Bark Whips – 128
• Better Than His Bond – 84
• Buggy Fixin’s – 130
• Burdock, Jimson Weeds & Cockleburs – 74
• Burning Down the House I Was Brung Up In – 158
• Buttons – 34
• Chestnuts – 162
• Children’s Post Offices – 126
• Children’s Superstitions – 124
• Company – 142
• Confederate Reunions – 52
• Consule Planco – 70
• Corn – …

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 101-199:

• A Chapter on Boots & Shoes – 15
• A Country Parson – 102
• A Cycle of Houses – 106
• A Singer of Ballads – 127
• A Village Wag – 96
• Afraid of the Dark – 86
• Almost a Pioneer – 133
• Boils, Carbuncles & Risings – 153
• Books & Playtime – 26
• Carpentry of Other Years – 120
• Changing Styles of Houses – 125
• Christmas Like It Used to Be – 40
• Church-Door Johnny – 191
• City Folks at Fidelity – 187
• Cutting Down Clothes – 98
• Cutting Sprouts – 195
• Dolls Old & …

Elizabethan Left-Overs In Allen County, Alfred Dalton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study of the Elizabethan influences remaining in the spoken language of the people of Allen County, Kentucky, is an outgrowth of discussion in the English classes of Dr. Gordon Wilson, Western Kentucky State Teachers College, concerning the folklore of the present-day rural people of Kentucky. I have endeavored to give a true picture of the picturesque language of the farming people as they go about their every-day business of making a living, with particular emphasis upon those words and usages that are no longer considered in good use.

Ua37/44 Tidbits Of Kentucky Folklore, Gordon Wilson

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore nos. 1-100:

• A Second Introduction – 86
• Breakdowns – 12
• Fiddles & Violins – 20
• Fidelity & the County Seat – 214
• Folk By-Words – 71
• Folk Heroes – 160
• Folk Industries – 77
• Folk Names for Birds – 162
• Folk Prejudices – 24
• Folk Psychology – 10
• Folk Similes – 73
• Folk Types – Jim Crow – 154
• Folk Types – The Cornfield Philosopher – 158
• Folk Types – The Cowboy – 182
• Folk Types – The Desperado – 210
• Folk Types – The Hillbilly – 176
• Folk Types – The Negro Uncle – 152 …