The group project was a good assignment. I feel like we could have done more in-depth research for it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I especially liked the article I found about the history of language because it was in strong defense of the validity of Appalachian English. The author clearly had a lot of respect for those who speak the dialect, which I think may be somewhat uncommon, as I would imagine most of society would brand those who speak it as "stupid hillbillies" or something equally offensive. I especially liked the quote that I included in my part of the presentation: "Almost all the so called 'bad English' used by natives of Appalachia was once employed by the highest ranking nobles of realms of England and Scotland." I doubt that nobles in England and Scotland sounded much like Larry the Cable Guy, but I believe this quote to be valid nonetheless. It is important to understand the roots of a dialect in order to respect it. If I hadn't done this project, I would have probably gone on thinking anyone who spoke in the Appalachian dialect was of similar intelligence (or portrayed intelligence) of Larry the Cable Guy and I can't say that would be a positive assumption at all.
I felt that our group worked well together. We got along well and working together turned out to be surprisingly easy. I wouldn't say our presentation was exceptional, but I feel like we all learned something and hopefully the class learned something as well. If we would have had more time to research and could have met a few times before the presentation, I feel that we could have done a really good job. Great assignment, but we definitely could have been given more time to research and present.
Yes, but under the circumstances, and in connection with the rest of what we've been up to, I was pleased with what you came up with.
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