Eng 315, Essay #2

Eng 315, Essay #2

ENG 315

Sprunger

ESSAY #2: ONOMASTICS

Project #2 challenges you to write about your name as a phonological, semantic, cultural, and personal phenomenon. This paper should be an essay that develops some comprehensive thesis about your response to your name. Be sure to document the sources you incorporate into the essay. Refer to the MLA style guide.

Consider your name in full: surname, given names, and nicknames:

Surname: What can you discover about its origins and the way it might have changed over the years? Your surname, for instance, may denote a patronymic, a place name, or an occupation; it might be a variation of an older or more common form. Given names: Your given names (first, middle, and/or confirmation) may suggest virtues or character traits, an occupation, or even a Biblical, historical, or mythological figure. In addition, the name may have special significant to your parents and/or extended family. Nickname: What nickname, if any, do you go by? In what groups is your nickname used? Are those nicknames ones chosen by you or given to you by others? What sort of phonological change does your nickname involve? Do you introduce yourself by nickname?

Although your rhetorical goal is to unify them, it may help to think of your study encompassing three spheres:

• What your name means to the etymologist

• What your name means to your family

• What your name means to you

Some questions that might help you start thinking are these:

What have you grown up knowing or believing about your name? Has the spelling of your surname ever changed? How can you account for such a spelling change? Is there a family story behind your given names? Did your parents have alternate names they decided not to use for you? Do your given names reflect any naming patterns within your family? If your first name is unconventional, does it appear to be patterned after a conventional one, and can you account for the variation? Do you go by a nickname, and if so, why? What is it you like or dislike about your name? Would you ever change your name (take a spouse’s name or hyphenate your surname with a spouse’s)? Would you give a child your same name? Don’t organize your paper around these questions, but use them to generate ideas that can lead to a richer thesis.

Getting Started:

Read the interesting material on names in CEEL. Think about your name in phonological and morphological terms. Next, check your surname in these two sources: Hanks and Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames, and Smith, New Dictionary of American Family Names. Look at Mencken's The American Language, volume 1, for his entertaining chapter “Proper Names in America” (474-554) and supplement 2 for a follow-up essay with the same name (396-642). Mencken discusses kinds of names in general and many names in particular. Use his copious indices to see if your name is one of his examples. Continue to browse through the other volumes in reference and on reserve. Again, most have good indices which can save you much time and effort.

For your given name and nicknames, begin with Withycombe, Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, and Dunkling, Facts on File Dictionary of First Names. If you’re of Scandinavian origin, you might consult Hva skal barnet hete?, but unfortunately for me, it’s in Norwegian. A word of caution: some people have commercial plaques, bookmarks, and/or other merchandise that enumerate qualities associated with names. While interesting, they are not very scholarly and should NOT be substituted for your library and on-line research.

Make Connections!

Demonstrate your mastery of course material by applying our phonological and morphological concepts to your names. If your name uses a variant spelling of another name, can you describe the change in technical terms and perhaps account for the change as a particular kind of phonological change? What morphological principles produced your names? Can morphology help explain any historical changes in the form of your name?

Persevere:

Each person’s name search will necessarily differ, but each essay should show that you have looked through the material available in our library in the reference section or on reserve. To be eligible for full credit, use the resources from the library and not just on-line. In addition to the scholarly sources, draw also on personal knowledge and family folklore. Essay length will vary from name to name, but I find it hard to imagine students who cannot write at least four pages about their names.

Take advantage of my office hours:

I remain available as a sounding board for your ideas and ready to answer questions, suggest resources, listen.