Meetings

MEETINGS Thursday, October 20 5:30-7:00 p.m. Rocky Mountain American Dialect Society(Sultan) Presiding: Bates Hoffer, Trinity University Secretary: John Sharp, University of Texas at El Paso Paper: fames Evans, Pan American University, "Language Used in Roles of Young Female Characters, Old Timers, Mexicans, and Indians in Dime Novels of the Southwest." Dime novelists of the later 1800's often catered to an Eastern audience by writing sensational and improbable stories of adventure in the West. Frequently the author added to the adventure and melodrama by including young female characters who became involved in Indian raids, with Mexican outlaws, and so on. The language used for various Western types was absurd, but it catered to the stereotype expected by the Eastern audience. Panel Topic: "Is Dialectology a Part of Sociolinguistics ?" In recent years much of the dialectologist's research area has been appropriated into the field of social linguistics. Is dialectology viable in the face of new trends? Is sociolinguistics another scholarly fad which will fade? What is the future of dialect study ? Panelists: Thomas Clark, University of Nevada at Las Vegas Robert Houseman, University of Montana Tracy Terrell, University of California at Irvine Gary Underwood, University of Texas at Austin Invited Commentators: All present at the meeting in addition to Mary Key, University of California at Irvine Don Nilsen, Arizona State University ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW111 Association for Mormon Letters(Rubaiyat) Presiding: Stephen P. Sondrup, Brigham Young University Neal E. Lambert, Brigham Young University, "The Representation of Reality in Mormon Diaries." Assuming that questions of technique and questions of meaning are inseparable, this study deals with the structure , syntax, and vocabulary of a number of nineteenth-century Mormon journals and diaries. In their attempt (largely unconscious) to impose upon the varieties of their own experience some kind of order, the writers of these journals and diaries not only reveal their attitudes toward their experience, they establish a relationship to that experience, protecting themselves, for instance, from certain painful events by covering the incidents over with a blanket of genteel prose derived from accepted popular descriptions; or, on the other hand, confronting experience directly with a particularly apt selection of sharp-edged detail; or perhaps reducing all events to a monotonous series that is memorable only for a few startling juxtapositions. In every case we see a people committed to a God-centered universe, shaping and ordering the particular events of their own lives, searching to find their own place, however insignificant, in the divine scheme. After Professor Lambert's remarks, organizational matters pertaining to the future of the Association will be discussed. Everyone is cordially invited to attend. Seminar in Frank Waters(Ibis) Presiding: Charles L. Adams, University of Nevada at Las Vegas Topic: There will be a discussion of Waters' fiction and non-fiction. Papers will not be read at the seminar but will be duplicated prior to the session for subsequent discussion. Parties interested in having the packets mailed to them in advance should contact Charles L. Adams, Dept. of English, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154. 112CONVENTION ISSUE Letras Femeninas(Genie) Presiding: Hope Hamilton-Faria, University of Colorado Topic: "Contemporary Criticism of Latin American Poetry by Women." Panelists and Respondent will discuss the main critical approaches which are finding increasing acceptance in Spanish and Portuguese literature classes. English/Western Women's Interdisciplinary Studies (Caravan) Presiding: Ann M. Slanina, Missouri Southern State College Thursday, October 20 8:00 p.m. Poetry Reading(Mediterránea) Presiding: Jan Epton Seale, Pan American University Secretary: Les Standiford, University of Texas at El Paso Poets: Bill Tremblay, Colorado State University Shelly Angel, North Texas State University Billie Jean James, University of Nevadaat Las Vegas Al Zolynas, Weber State College Cordelia Candelaria, Idaho State University Charles David Wright, Boise State University Friday, October 21 9:00-10:30 a.m. Careers in English(Mediterránea) Moderator: Robert M. Esch, University of Texas at El Paso ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW113 Panelists: Levi S. Peterson, Weber State College Candidal Seshachari, Weber State College Elizabeth Turpin, Houston Baptist College Thomas Warren, University of South Dakota at Springfield Following the theme of this panel established last year at Santa Fe— alternate...