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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9401224 The rhetoric of Black English Vernacular: A study of the oral and written discourse practices of African American male college students Campbell, Kermit Ernest, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1993 Copyright ©1993 by Campbell, Kermit Ernest. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE RHETORIC OF BLACK ENGLISH VERNACULAR: A STUDY OF THE ORAL AND WRITTEN DISCOURSE PRACTICES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE COLLEGE STUDENTS DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kermit Ernest Campbell, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1993 Dissertation Committee: Approved by A. Lunsford S. Games B. Moss Adviser J Department of English Copyright by Kermit Ernest Campbell 1993 To My Parents ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express sincerest appreciation to Dr. Andrea Lunsford for her guidance and insight throughout the research. Many thanks go to the other members of my advisory committee, Drs. Beverly Moss and Sara Games, for their comments and suggestions. I gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Laura Brown and Robyn Lyons. To my friends and family, I offer sincere thanks for your continual support. To my brothers and sisters in Christ, I thank you for your fellowship and prayer. And, above all, I thank my five informants, their teachers, and their counselors for granting me a welcome entree into their communities, into their lives. iii VITA November 29, 1960 .......................Born - Freeport, Texas 1984 ................................................B.A., The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 1985-1986 ..................................... Foreign Teacher, South China Institute of Technology, Guangzhou, China 1988 ................................................M.A., Department of English The University of Houston, Houston, Texas 1988-Present................................. Teaching Associate, Department of English, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS "Toward a Concept of Black English Vernacular Rhetoric." Rhetoric in the Vortex o f Cultural Studies: Proceedings o f the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Rhetoric Society of America. Ed. Arthur Walzer. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing, 1993. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: English iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................................. iii VITA.............................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................... viii CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................... 1 Re-conceiving, Re-contexualizing BEV............... 3 As Viewed Through Screens ............................... 6 Invisibility, Racial Fragmentation, and The Rhetoric of BEV .................................................. 11 II. LANGUAGE, LITERACY, AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS: A REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .. 17 The Linguistic Differences Hypothesis ............. 21 The Cultural Differences Hypothesis ............... 26 The Language Resource H ypotheis ................. 32 Studies of African American R hetoric ............... 34 Vernacular Forms of Discourse ....................... 39 Vernacular Tropes ............................................ 49 Conclusion ........................................................ 51 III. "IF HE AIN'T BLACK, WHAT IS HE THEN?": A GRAD STUDENT DOING ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH . 54 BEV in the University........................................ 58 The F o lk ............................................................ 59 The First Time A round ...................................... 64 This Time A round ............................................ 72 Collecting the Lore of the F o lk ....................... 72 Making Sense of It A ll...................................... 79 IV. FROM INNER-CITY HOOD TO THE HALLS OF ACADEME: AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN TRANSITION........................................................ 86 From the Hood ............................................... 87 The Student A thletes ................................... 100 . To the "Hallowed" H alls ....................... 112 1 year, 7months, & 5 Days in the Life of ... 113 "We gotta see you?": T utoring ............. 131 Hangin'Out and Shootin'Hoops ................. 138 Quarter I I ...................................................... 140 V. VERNACULAR AND ACADEMIC DISCOURSE PRACTICES: MOTHER WIT MEETS ALMA MATER..................................................................... 142 "Into Slang" or "Slangin'"...................... 145 From the Laughing Barrel: Euphemism and M etaphor ........................................................ 147 "Dissin"1 and "Raggin' On": 1990s Style Signifying................................................ 154 Just Talkin': Old folks, Mamas, and They Southern W ays ......................................... 167 "A nigguh always got a story": Narrating from Experience...................................................... 175 VI. VERNACULAR DISCOURSE AND THE ACADEMIC WRITING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS . 192 Talkin' Black on White: Vernacular Voice in W riting..................................................... 196 Pullin' Jacks and Rockin' Coke: The Semantics of Invention ............................................. 206 Troping through Repetition and Rhyme . 214 Rappin1 in Writin1 ................................... 215 Narration: Imitating Community Voices ... 220 The Signifyin' Voice in P ro se................. 225 vi "Trope-a-Dope": Figuring the Signifying Monkey in P ro se............................................ 236 Signifying as Self-Affirmation....................... 242 VII. ORALITY AND LITERACY REVISITED: A CONCLUSION........................................................ 252 Reviewing Key Questions.................................... 257 Sketching a Model of BEV R hetoric ................. 265 Restructuring the Comp Class and More 270 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................... 273 APPENDIX A. Interview Transcription: Patrick 288 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE 1. A reproduction of Roger Abrahams's taxonomy of the relationships between the major ways of speaking on the street ................................................ 47 2. The configuration of Wanda Mitchell's English 052A class on September 30, 1991. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 115 3. The configuration of Wanda Mitchell's English 052A class on a typical day. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 115 4. Kathy Simmons's English 052A class configuration on November 15, 1991. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 119 5. Kathy Simmons's English 052A class configuration on November 4, 1991. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 119 6. The configuration of Lou Taylor's English 052A class on October 15, 1991. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 125 7. The configuration of Lou Taylor's English 052A class on a typical day. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 125 8. Kate Martin's English 052A class configuration on October 11, 1991. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, name .... 128 viii 9. Seating arrangement of students before Kate Martin's English 05 2A class began on November 19, 1991. Students are identified by race, gender, and, when appropriate, nam e ..................... 128 10. The configuration of athletic study tables on a typical evening. Informants and researcher are identified by name. Other athletes are identified by sports affiliation, monitors by title, and tutors by race and gender.................................................... 135 11. Schematic diagram of BEV rhetoric. At the crossroads between black vernacular and standard English discourses emerges the rhetoric of

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