FIELDNOTES Issue #10 11 March 2014 Bill Bolduc and his crew -­‐-­‐ Zach and Connor -­‐-­‐ left Swansea last Friday. What a whirlwind of results the team generated in its video work! My time with the homeboys ultimately felt like time spent with three colleagues, not one colleague plus two students. The two COM majors sucked the marrow from the bones of the trip -­‐-­‐ which I hope all UNCW students may do if they work or study overseas as undergraduates. In their work routines and their conversations with Swansea University personnel (Bev Evans, Suzanne Oakley) facilitating their visit, Connor and Zach remained accessible, professional, and intellectually and interculturally mature. Each night when the trio arrived back at their apartment, usually after dark, Connor immediately went to the computer workstation he had set up, and began logging the video clips shot that the day. Zach would then catalog and arrange them for the editing phase. Hoping I might learn something about motivating and guiding students, I took advantage of several opportunities to watch Bill interact with Zach and Connor. It is not often that one teacher has the chance to observe another in action across several days. With Zach and Connor, Bill very effectively balanced the professional roles of mentor, supervisor and teacher, with the roles of friend and companion. The night before the UNCW visitors returned to the U.S.A., the American Studies Program held a Pub Quiz at The Pub on the Pond, an establishment abutting Swansea University. The event’s contestants were one team of American Studies (A.M.S.S.) faculty members and about half-­‐a-­‐dozen teams of A.M.S.S. students. In tandem with Sarah Pike, a U.S. American woman studying for her Ph.D. in A.M.S.S., I wrote quiz questions and, during the quiz itself, served as “quizmaster.” Sarah had attended the Fall 2013 pub quiz and so,in the writing stage, could assess whether a question was too easy or too difficult for the event. I have attached the questions and answers, so that you can see how well you would have done on quiz night. In the previous issue of these fieldnotes, I gave you a different quiz -­‐-­‐ I guess I must be in a quizzical frame of mind…! -­‐-­‐ and challenged you to identify the meanings of the following terms: beanie; trainers; semi-­‐skimmed milk; soft cheese; taxi rank; “Are you all right?”; cheese butty; muffins; “Cheers.”; cotton buds; swede; and garden peas. Caroline Merrill (a former “star” COM major now working as a marketing specialist) and Frank Dance (my friend, mentor and professor in my doctoral program in the 1990s) both emailed me their answers last week and did quite well. And now … here are the answers: A beanie in the U.K. is a watch cap in the U.S.A. Trainers are running shoes. Semi-­‐skimmed milk would be called low-­‐fat milk in the U.S.A. Whole milk here tastes richer to me than I’m accustomed to in the ‘States, and semi-­‐skimmed milk is pretty close in taste to whole milk I might buy in Wilmington. Soft cheese is what we would call cream cheese. Kraft’s Philadelphia cream cheese is sold here, but the package has been altered for British consumers, to read “Philadelphia soft cheese.” Instead of asking, “May I help you?” a shop assistant here says, “Are you all right?” In the U.S.A. we would normally say that to check into someone’s physical condition after suffering some kind of trauma (e.g., you see someone trip and fall, and you would ask, “Are you all right?”). A cheese butty -­‐-­‐ it’s G-­‐rated -­‐-­‐ is simply a cheese sandwich. A muffin here is what in the U.S.A. we would call an English muffin. “Cheers” is a sort of general-­‐purpose interjection that may mean “Thanks,” “I appreciate it” or “Here is ___,” (i.e., when you give something to another person, you would possibly say, “Cheers” as you handed it over). Cotton buds are cotton swabs -­‐-­‐ Q-­‐Tips. For weeks, I couldn’t figure out what swede was, except that it was edible. It turns out that in U.S. American English, a swede is a rutabaga. And, finally, garden peas means cooked peas served in their round, green whole state … as distinguished from mushy peas, i.e., peas that have been mashed up as one may mash garbanzo beans to make hummus, or cooked potatoes to make mashed potatoes. I have discovered over here that if you say, “I’ll have peas,” the server will ask, “Mushy or garden?” Much as -­‐-­‐ regrettably, to us traditional drinkers -­‐-­‐ if in a U.S.A. watering hole you declare, “I’ll have a martini,” you will be asked, “Vodka? or gin?” On Sunday, the biggest game (for the Welsh) in the Six Nations Rugby tournament took place: the national team representing Wales against the national team of England. Wales coexists with England -­‐-­‐ agitation to become a sovereign nation is limited, in contrast to Scotland, for example, which will vote on the matter later this year -­‐-­‐ but not without some historically-­‐rooted bitterness. In the Six Nations games, if England loses to Italy, France, Ireland or Scotland, the Welsh celebrate that as much as they do a win by Wales over any of the latter four teams. Wales spanked England the last couple of years; and Welsh fans yearned for a third victory. A couple of days before the match, a cab driver named Dai swore how much he wanted a third win against the English. “In the U.S., we call that a threepeat,” I said. “You win a big game… then you win again the next year, for a repeat … then again the year after that, for a threepeat.” “Oh, I like that,” Dai chuckled, “Yes, we’ll be having a thrrrreepeat ... I hope.” Wales lost. I watched about ⅔ of the match in a pub in Kidwelly, a neat, pleasant, town roughly 30 min. west of Swansea. I wanted to see Kidwelly Castle, plus hike in the Kidwelly countryside. At just after three in the afternoon, I found myself on a Kidwelly back street. The Mason Arms, a pub, had a chalkboard out front that read “Wales & England showing here 3 PM.” As much as I wanted to continue luxuriating in the bright sun, blue sky and Sunday silence , I decided to catch some of the match. Simon, owner of the pub, welcomed me as I bellied up to the bar. A medium-­‐size pub, with a wood fire burning low. About two dozen patrons. I requested a pint of Double Dragon, a Welsh beer. “I’m all out,” Simon apologized, “but either of these will do, I’m sure” pointing to the shields decorating a couple of spigot handles next to the Double Dragon’s. He handed me my pint, the foam cascading over the side of the glass and onto an absorbent mat. “Take a mouthful,” he said, “and I’ll fill it back up. Better you enjoy it, not the mat.” I complied and he topped me up, saying, “If you fancy a smoke, we have a beer garden out back. Or you can watch the game.” I found a seat at a small table with a direct view of the TV, a 60-­‐inch flat-­‐screen. The other spectators included two or three couples in their twenties, another two or three in middle age, a family spanning three generations and one or two other singletons like me. England scored first and at no time lost its lead. I was amused by how staid the patrons were. Most of them clapped politely when Wales scored and only occasionally did I hear anyone issue cries of either joy or dismay. In a U.S.A. sports bar, a game this big -­‐-­‐ like a division or conference championship -­‐-­‐ would bring out the we-­‐wuz-­‐robbed kibitzers, the you-­‐suck gloaters and random comments making unapologetic reference to earthy features of the Human Comedy. I commented as much to Simon when I returned to the bar to order a half-­‐pint. “We’re Englishmen and Welshmen all mixed in here,” he explained. “In the big cities, like Cardiff and Swansea, it’ll be more par-­‐ta-­‐zan. But we’re all friends here, plus there’s family members present.” What for me took the sting out of a losing game was the complimentary pork stew distributed to all hands at the interval (i.e., half-­‐time). Tender, pleasantly flavored chunks of young pork swam in a thick stock alongside potatoes, carrots and green beans. Turned out that the stew, eaten at four o’clock, was my dinner: It filled me so thoroughly that I wasn’t hungry until breakfast the next morning. QUESTIONS FOR THE AMERICAN STUDIES PUB QUIZ
Scheduled for Thursday, 6 March 2014
!!! Answers appear in blue, starting on page six !!!
I.
States of the Union
1.
Here are well-­‐‑known nicknames of some of the states -- nicknames designated
by the governments of those states as official ones -- of the U.S.A. Which
state does each nickname below refer to:
-“The Golden State”
-“Bluegrass State”
-“Hoosier State”
2.
In which state of the U.S.A. would you find…
-…the oldest state university in the United States?
-…the tallest building in the United States?
II.
U.S. American Politics and Political Culture
3.
The U.S.A. has a two-­‐‑party political system, the two parties being Democrats
and Republicans. One particular animal is an emblem for one of the parties;
another animal is the emblem for the other party. What are those animals,
and which animal is associated with which party?
4.
What are the three requirements to be eligible to vote in the United States?
5.
Who was the first president born as a citizen of the United States? In which
state was he born, and in what year?
6.
Who was the heaviest (in body mass) President of the U.S.? And: Within 10
pounds -- or 20kg, or 2 stone -- how much did he weigh?
III.
U.S. American Military History and Military Culture
7.
Here are the famous nicknames of four well-­‐‑known U.S. military
organizations, current and historical. Match each nickname with the
organization to which it refers:
-“Green Berets”
-“Screaming Eagles”
-“Tropic Lightning”
-“The Mighty Eighth”
8.
Here are the names of four famous military professionals who became
generals in either the U.S. Army or the U.S. Marine Corps. Arrange them in
chronological order, starting with the one whose fame as a general came
earliest in U.S. history and ending with the one whose fame as a general came
most recently:
-John J. Pershing
-George Armstrong Custer
-Holland M. “Howling Mad” Smith
-Nathanael Greene
9.
Here are the names of four famous battles in which U.S. naval forces played a
prominent role. Arrange the battles in chronological order, starting with the
battle that occurred earliest in U.S. history and ending with the one that
occurred most recently:
–Battle of Manila Bay
–Battle of the Chesapeake
–Battle of the Atlantic
–Battle of Mobile Bay
10.
In the June 1944 large-scale assault on the beaches of Normandy during
World War II, what were the code names for the two beaches assigned to U.S.
American forces (as opposed to the British and Canadian forces)?
IV.
The Civil War (a.k.a. The War Between the States)
11.
A number of Civil War battles were given one name (usually derived from the
nearest body of water) by the Union forces and a different name (usually
derived from the nearest town or city) by the Confederate forces. Below are
the names of four battles famous for, among other things, being known by two
well-known names. What is the alternative name for each of the following
battles?
-Battle of Sharpsburg
-Battle of Bull Run
-Battle of Shiloh
-Battle of Stones Creek
12.
Name each Civil War celebrity sketched below:
A.
B.
C.
D.
He had a drinking problem; he often wore a shabby uniform normally
issued to low-ranking soldiers, not officers; yet during the war, he was
one of highest-profile and most successful generals in his army, and
later became President of U.S.A.
He is often considered the ultimate example of, for his era, a courtly,
well-bred gentleman; at the outset of the war, he struggled to decide
which side, Union or Confederacy, he should fight on; when as a young
man he attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he did not
earn a single demerit during the four years he spent there.
He loved lemons and, so it is said, was seldom without one within
reach; he acquired a distinctive nickname when he kept his troops in
position even though neighboring units were faltering; in about the
middle of war, he died of pneumonia following the amputation of his
left arm several days earlier.
She wrote a novel in the 1850s that spoke out strongly against slavery;
the book became an international best seller; President Lincoln met her
after North-South hostilities had begun, and said to her, “So you are the
little lady who wrote the book that started this terrible war.”
V.
Hollywood and The Movies
13.
In which movie did this line of dialogue first appear: "Leave the gun. Take the
cannoli."
14.
In which movie did this line of dialogue first appear: “Of all the gin joints, in
all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”
15.
In which movie did this line of dialogue first appear: “Go ahead, make my
day.” (Be careful … this may be tricky! … and accordingly, it’s worth 2 pt., not
just 1.)
16.
He won 20 “Oscars” during his career in Hollywood -- the most anyone has
ever won. Who is he?
17.
He runs a hotel and loves his mother … and you don’t want him around when
you take a shower. Who is this movie character and what movie does he
appear in?
18.
Name all seven dwarfs who appeared in the 1937 animated film, Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs.
VI.
U.S. American Sports History
19.
Name 3 U.S. cities that have hosted the Olympics (either the Winter or the
Summer Games) – and a particular host city may be named only once … you
must propose three different U.S.A. cities that hosted the Games.
20.
This U.S. American track-and-field athlete specialized in the sprints and the
long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin,
Germany, where he won four gold medals. Who is he?
21.
This U.S. American contracted infantile paralysis at four years old -- and not
only recovered from it, but became an elite athlete, and in the 1960 Summer
Olympics in Rome, Italy, won three gold medals in track-and-field. Who is it?
22.
In Major League Baseball, name the player who achieved the all-time highest
batting average … and within a range of ±.006, what was his batting average?
23.
The first two annual championship games pitting the American Football
League (AFL) against the National Football League (NFL) took place in 1967
and 1968. In 1969, when the AFL-NFL merger was soon to be in place, and
the leagues renamed AFC and NFC, that game was for the first time officially
designated the “Super Bowl.” But let’s go back to that first championship
match in 1967:
-What were the two teams who played in that game?
-Which team won?
-What was the final score?
VII.
U.S. American Cultural Potpourri
24.
Which U.S. American poet recited a poem at the presidential inauguration of
John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1961?
25.
What was the name of the charter boat that was shipwrecked in the 1960s’
U.S. American network television show Gilligan's Island?
26.
Which U.S. American primetime television show’s finale had the largest
viewing audience of all time for a TV series finale when that final episode was
first broadcast (as opposed to watched in reruns, streamed via Netflix, etc.)?
In what year did that first broadcast occur, and within a range of ±5 million
viewers, what was its viewership that night?
27.
Name three songs that contain the word “America” in their titles … BUT: any
song with the one-word title “America” doesn’t count! (NOTE: The song in
West Side Story is titled “America,” not “I Like to Be in America”…sorry.)
28.
What is the name of the brand of cereal famous for placing the images of U.S.
American athletes, especially Olympians, on its boxes? In what year did this
cereal first place the image of an athlete on its box? And who was that athlete?
29.
What was the name of the U.S. American scientist, botanist, educator, and
inventor who was born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864, and
eventually discovered over 300 uses for peanuts, as well as hundreds of uses
for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes?
30.
Amiri Baraka, a well-known U.S.A African American man of letters (poet,
playwright, essayist, music critic), died recently. "Amiri Baraka" was a name
he adopted, however: Until the late 1960s and early 1970s, he wrote under the
name he had been given at birth. What was that name?
31.
What is the name of the U.S. American record company was founded by Berry
Gordy, Jr. in 1959 in Detroit, Michigan? And: name one act that had a
contract with that label (or one of its imprints or subsidiaries) in the 1960s.
32.
Who is the author of To Kill A Mockingbird? And: What are the names of the
brother and sister at the heart of the story?
33.
Who wrote the lyrics -- the melody used was that of a bawdy drinking song,
popular since the 1760s -- to what became the national anthem of the U.S.A.?
And, in what year it was officially adopted as the national anthem?
ANSWER KEY … 80 points possible
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
[3 pts. possible] Golden State = Calif.; Bluegrass State = Kentucky; Hoosier
State = Indiana
[2 pts. possible] Oldest state university = No. Carolina (UNC Chapel Hill);
tallest bldg. = Illinois (Sears Tower, Chicago)
[2 pts. possible] Democrats = donkey; Republicans = elephant
[3 pts. possible] Must be (a) 18 yr. old, (b) a citizen of the U.S.A. and
(c) registered to vote.
[3 pts. possible] Martin van Buren -- 8th president, born in Kinderhook, NY,
1782 (first seven POTUS’s had been born before the War of Independence
began)
[2 pts. possible] William Howard Taft; 335 pounds (≈ 152 kg or 24 stone)
[4 pts. possible] “Green Berets” = U.S. Army Special Forces; “Screaming
Eagles” = U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division; “Tropic Lightning” = U.S. Army
25th Infantry Div.; “The Mighty Eighth” = U.S. Air Force’s 8th Air Force
(nickname acquired during WWII, when it was part of the U.S. Army Air
Forces)
[4 pts. possible] Greene (U.S. Army, War of Independence); Custer (U.S.
Army, Civil War and the Indian Wars); Pershing (U.S. Army, the Punitive
Campaign and World War I); Smith (USMC, WWII)
[4 pts. possible] Chesapeake (War of Independence); Mobile Bay (Civil War);
Manila Bay (War with Spain, 1898); Atlantic (WWII)
[2 pts. possible] Omaha Beach; Utah Beach
[3 pts. possible] Sharpsburg = Antietam; Bull Run = Manassas; Shiloh =
Pittsburg Landing; Stones Creek = Murfreesboro
[4 pts. possible] A = U. S. Grant; B = R. E. Lee; C = T. “Stonewall” Jackson;
G = H. B. Stowe
[1 pt. possible] The Godfather (I)
[1 pt. possible] Casablanca
[2 pts. possible] Sudden Impact … not Dirty Harry (which is the typical
answer)!
[1 pt. possible] Walt Disney
[2 pt. possible] Norman Bates; Psycho
[7 pts. possible] Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy
[3 pts. possible] St. Louis, Summer, 1904; Los Angeles, Summer, 1932 & 1984;
Lake Placid, NY, Winter, 1932 & 1980; Squaw Valley, CA, Winter, 1960;
Atlanta, Summer, 1996; Salt Lake City, Winter, 2002
[1 pt. possible] Jesse Owens
[1 pt. possible] Wilma Rudolph
[2 pt. possible] Ty Cobb (played MLB 1905-1928, career batting average .366)
[3 pts. possible] Green Bay Packers (NFL) versus Kansas City Chiefs (AFL);
Green Bay won, with a final score of 35-10
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
[1 pt. possible] Robert Frost
[1 pt. possible] Minnow
[3 pts. possible] M*A*S*H … series finale was broadcast 28 February 1983,
with 125 million viewers (U.S.A. population was about 234 million at the time)
[3 pts. possible] Just a few possibilities: “God Bless America,” “Made in
America,” “White America” (by Eminem), “Living in America,” “America the
Beautiful,” “America, F*** Yeah (from the Team America film soundtrack),
“America, I Love You (and There’s a Hundred Million Others Like Me),” a
1915 sheet music hit….
[3 pts. possible] Wheaties; 1934; Lou Gehrig (the “Yankee Clipper”)
[1 pt. possible] George Washington Carver
[1 pt. possible] LeRoi Jones (born Everett LeRoi Jones, 1934, but he did not
use his given first name)
[2 pts. possible] Motown Records; one ‘60s act: too many possibilities to list,
but the roster includes: Diana Ross & The Supremes; The Four Tops; The
Temptations; Marvin Gaye; Smokey Robinson and The Miracles….
[3 pts. possible] Harper Lee; Scout (sister) and Jem (brother)
[2 pts. possible] Francis Scott Key; 1931
------------------------------------------------------------HOW DID YOU DO?
80 pts. = Perfect score! Who are you -- Newt Gingrich? James Tallant?
70 to 79 = Very good score! You may be an actual U.S. American citizen;
check your birth certificate to confirm.
60 to 69 = Not bad, but you may need a refresher course in American
Studies … check the courses offered by your nearest uni.
50 to 59 = They may let you in at a U.S.A. port of entry but you’ll need to
have a visa, and be able to show your return ticket.
40 to 49 = If you want to ever actually see that “Shining City on the Hill,”
my friend, you’ll have to marry a citizen of the U.S.A. -- which
can be arranged if you have about USD1,500, plus fees for an
immigration attorney, plus other funds for “spreading around.”
30 to 39 = In case you have been living in a cave for the past 235+ years,
there is this place called the United States of America….