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"Generally, the southern dialects of American English carry a lower prestige, at least among northerners who will assume that a person speaking a southern dialect is less intelligent and less educated than they are. Some educated southerners even feel this way and will "correct" their speech to meet northern standards. The New York City dialect carries the lowest prestige of all." Similar to what Jake said, dialects can be considered favorable or unfavorable. Southern accents and New York accents are both of low prestige, and deemed improper. Teachers discourage the use of phrases derived from these dialects in formal writing. A language may evolve to eradicate dialects or promote dialects. Either way, the individual language will inevitably vary because of past, present, and future influences of both the indigenous inhabitants of a given region, and the ongoing flow of migrating persons.

"Compared with the Eastern United States, the Western regions were settled too recently for very distinctive dialects to have time to develop or to be studied in detail. Many words originally came from Spanish, cowboy jargon, and even some from the languages of the Native Americans: adobe, beer bust, belly up, boneyard, bronco, buckaroo, bunkhouse, cahoots, corral, greenhorn, hightail, hoosegow, lasso, mustang, maverick, roundup, wingding." This quote identifies a key factor in deciphering the cause for variations in individual languages: time and indigenous peoples. After a language has diffused from an area, the new locations that are influenced begin to develop their own unique twist on the language. This doesn't happen overnight. Because the Midwest was settled recently in historical terms, the dialects are not distinct. Perhaps in the future, an accent may develop. In addition, when a homeland of an indigenous group of people is influenced by a new language, the two languages intermix. Because of the large populations of Native Americans living in the Midwest, the pioneers adopted terms they learned from the Indians. This will cause the language to vary from a region with few Native Americans. In effect, both time and indigenous peoples impact a language and inspire regional differences.

"Mutual understandability in theory determines what is a "dialect" and what is a "language," but in reality there are also social and political issues. The government of a country might declare that all the languages spoken in that country are actually dialects of one language in order to create the illusion of political unity, while the government of another country might declare that the dialect spoken by its people is actually a unique language from other countries that speak dialects of the same language in order to create a sense of national pride." This quote is meaningful to identify why individual languages vary among places because it talks about how the government plays into the development of languages. This is relevant to the U.S, because when Webster's dictionary was made, he changed the spellings of words to break free from being dependent of England and to create a sense of national pride. This is just one example of how languages change over time.

"The modern development of communications technology may possibly retard the evolution of dialects and languages. For the first time in history, a single dialect (sometimes called Network Standard) can be broadcast over an entire country, so few people actually still live in geographic isolation. However, the existence of racism, poverty, and class distinctions may cause some groups to remain socially isolated from the cultural mainstream, giving rise to social dialects like Black English (Ebonics), which is spoken by some urban African-Americans. " This quote plays on the idea that new communication methods are stopping the evolution of dialects. This would mean that less people are living in isolation and therefore it is harder for a dialect to stay strong. This also means that geographic locations that are in isolation have an easier time developing their own dialect and/or language.

"Three things are needed for a new dialect to develop: a group of people living in close proximity to each other; this group living in isolation (either geographically or socially) from other groups; and the passage of time. Given enough time, a dialect may evolve to the point that it becomes a different language from the one it started as." This quote describes the factors needed for dialect and even new language to develop and vary among places. It is saying that first of all, there needs to be a group of people for this new language to develop in, which is common sense. However, it also says that this group needs to be living in isolation. For example, when British colonists moved to America, they became isolated from Britain by the Atlantic ocean, this isolation caused them to be unable to hear people talk from their homeland, as they only communicated through letters and writing. This slowly began to morph their language as they fed off each other's new pronunciations. This slow process is also displayed in the quote, when it says there is a need for time, a new dialect must slowly form as people speaking the same language being to get a little bit sloppy with pronunciation, spelling, etc. As the quote states, "given enough time, a dialect may evolve into a language."

"For the first time in history, a single dialect (sometimes called Network Standard) can be broadcast over an entire country, so few people actually still live in geographic isolation. However, the existence of racism, poverty, and class distinctions may cause some groups to remain socially isolated from the cultural mainstream, giving rise to social dialects like Black English (Ebonics), which is spoken by some urban African-Americans." This quote also displays how languages can diffuse, and vary among places. Or how they cant. It talks about modern technology's effect of the spread of language, so that people are able to experience ebonics or dialects they have never come in contact with. This could cause less variation, as people want to become like those they see on TV or hear on the radio. However, it could also have the opposite effect; increasing variation. Racism, poverty, and social class seen as "undesirable" by the public, could effect language by isolating it, causing more dialects of these languages to spring up. Technology can have a huge effect of language variation.

http://religions.pewforum.org/maps, This is a map of the United States displaying the distribution of Evangelical Protestant Tradition. 2. I chose this map because Evangelical Protestant has one of the highest percentages for a denomination in the United States, meaning it is very popular. I thought it was very interesting how this tradition has a higher percentage in the Southeast regions of the United States, rather than the North or the West. This fits with many stereo-types about the South, which I also find interesting. 3. Analyze the map of Evangelical Protestant tradition in the United States and form a hypothesis explaining your results. Then explain whether or not this hypothesis applies to other dominant denominations in the United States and other places in the world, and why or why not. Is this specific to the United States? Maybe the students could even find research/surveys done on people's opinions of Southern people and how the data of their religion fits with these stereotypes.

Excellent explanation and project idea!

1. http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#, these charts show what people's affiliations are in terms of political party and important issues such as abortion and homosexuality. 2. I chose these charts because they really demonstrate the views people have based on their religion. Many religions have beliefs concerning different issues. Christians are normally don't support abortion because in the Bible it talks about a baby in the womb is already precious to God and thus it is a sin to kill the innocent baby. Christians are often times than not more conservative thus they are Republicans. Other religions are more liberal and thus they are affiliated with Democrats. 3. Pretend that you are trying to become the perfect president. What qualities and view points would you support or not support in order to please most of the population? (Yes it's not possible to please everyone, but how would you secure the majority of the population for voting you into office?) Think about issues such as abortion, homosexuality, size of the government and U.S. involvement in international affairs.

http://religions.pewforum.org/maps# a map of frequency of prayer accross the U.S 2. I chose this map because it displays how religious america is, as it shows high percentages of praying per day especially in the south, steriotypically the most religious area of the U.S. 3. Look at this map and explain what this map implys about this country and if that was what you expected

1. http://religions.pewforum.org/maps 2. I chose this map because it showed the frequency of attendance at religious services. I thought that was an interesting topic to examine because it shows how many people actually go to church, as opposed to people claiming they are a part of a certain religion, while not being active in the church. That is a powerful distinction. It showed that the Southern areas have higher attendance of religious services. 3. Look at the map about frequency of attendance at religious services and compare that to the different religions present in those areas. Is there a correlation between attendance and the type of religion practiced in a region?

Allyson- I thought your project idea was a fantastic idea. It was very creative and well thought out. Nice work.

1.http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons# 2. I found that age affects the population of certain religions to be fascinating. It was interesting to see the way age affiliated with religion. Younger people (18-29) tend to have equal numbers between all religions but when they become older (30-49) they tend to move towards Islam, Hinduism, and Catholic Christian. 3. Examine the data shown on the affiliation between religion and age and explain why each age differs in their religious practices.

Nicole- Your project idea is great and I like the explanation you gave on the views of the political parties when discussing religion.

Nathan- I like your task. It does a good job of using the map and another map to make connections and comparisons to figure of the why of where!

1. http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons# (Make sure to click on the tab labeled "Income distribution of Religious Traditions) 2. I had chosen this particular topic because I wanted to debunk many of the stereotypical associations we as a society put on numerous religions. For example, I wanted to find proof that linked Jews with large fortunes or discover some statistic that linked people of color with poverty. To my surprise, the above statements held some truth. Over 46% of the people that practice Judaism hold a job that makes them over 100,000 dollars a year and about 47% percent of those who attend historically black churches make less then 30,000 dollars a year. 3. Explain the connection between a particular group's religious beliefs and how much money they make within a year. Make sure to include details about their lifestyle(Simple or Hectic), the value they put on education, and types of jobs each group holds (White or Blue Collar and examples).

Nicole- I enjoyed your reasoning regarding the information you discovered detailing religious beliefs and their connection with political views. Also, I find your project very creative and rather challenging.

1) http://religions.pewforum.org/maps : This is a map of the United States showing the where the Mormon tradition is most prominent. 2) I decided to look at Mormons because it is a religion that is not very popular, and I am interested in learning more about it. By the website, it says that it is a sect of christianity, though many would think otherwise. Also, my friends have been watching 'The Book of Mormon' on Broadway. The percentage of Mormon's in the US is around 2%. Most of the country remains relatively lacking in this religion...until you reach West. Salt Lake City, Utah is considered the hearth of the mormon faith in the US. Here the population is 51-100% Mormon. Around Utah, especially Westward, Mormonism becomes more popular, most likely spreading through relocation diffusion. 3) Explain the success of Mormonism in the West versus the East. What are some of the reasons that would make the East less open to the Mormon tradition. Explain why Mormonism has a stronghold in Utah

Clay-I liked your project idea! Good job!

1) http://religions.pewforum.org/maps This map portrays the importance of religion in one's life across the United States. 2) I chose this map because I found it interesting how religious importance varies across an area. The most dramatic difference in religious importance is between Mississippi and neighboring states, such as Florida and Georgia, for Mississippi views religion being involved in daily life as vitally important, believed by 81% of the residents. Viewing the United States as a whole, 56% see their religion as crucial in everyday life, while 26% see religion as somewhat important, 16% view religion as not very important, and 1% as refusing to practice a religion. This describes how various religions in diverse regions cause differing views on the importance of religion. 3) Explain the correlation between the predominate Protestant areas of Central and Southeast United States with the differentiating views of the importance of religion in one's life. Also, when told that Utah is inhabited by numerous Latter-day Saint members, but surrounding states, such as Nevada, are mostly Catholic, explain the relation of Utah encompassing a different value of the importance of religion from other Western states.

Jared- I like how your task relates analyzing religious beliefs to income and style of living, such as a person's job or their value on education. I find this intriguing, but also challenging.

1)http://religions.pewforum.org/maps 2) This is a map of frequency of prayer. I think that it is interesting that, even though most Americans believe in a God, the percent of those who pray (a way of practicing religion) goes down. Also the percent of those who pray vary on the area, for example in the South the percentage ranges from around 71-80% but in the New England area it ranges from around 41-50%. This has a lot to do with the way parents raise their children and how influenced from the outside world the children are. The reason the number in the south may be so high is because of isolation allowing traditional customs to continue on without influence from those who practice different religions. Barriers that restrict language in the past unit can also work to restrict religion. 3)Compare other areas of the United States and try to access why they practice their religion more so than other areas. Use geological features and factors that might hinder diffusion or allow it to occur at a faster rate.

Jared- I liked your assessment and I thought it was clever that you chose something relatable to most Americans. Also I liked your task idea and how it will get people to think about religion and it relating to other aspects of life.

1) http://religions.pewforum.org/maps 2)This is the map of the percentage of Mormons in Utah. I find this interesting for the fact that I do not know very much about the Mormon faith. I also chose Utah because I know that is the area that is suppose to have the highest amount of Mormons since their main temple is in Salt Lake city. Also my interest comes from the fact that many people consider Mormons a cult. In fact that does not to be true at all. Mormons have a significant amount of followers. This consists of 58% of the people in Utah and 2% of the entire United States. It is for this reason that I chose to look at the Mormons in Utah for the sole reason that it interests me to learn more about what I don't know about. 3) If I were to give an assignment to the class involving this data I would ask that the class look at the percentage of Mormons in Utah and then look at other states and look at their percentage of Mormons. Then I would have them record the highest and lowest three percents and form a thesis on why these areas have the amount of Mormons present as they do.

To Jared- I can see why you'd want to look at certain stereotypes involving certain faiths for it is an interesting topic that is a matter of debate and tension among religious groups. As for your project I think it would be very interesting to see how the characteristics of faiths could affect their financial standings. In other words I like it.

Nick- I think that the correspondence between age and religion is very interesting as well. Great project idea!

1. http://religions.pewforum.org/maps# This is a map showing the amount of people that practice Hinudism in America. 2. I wanted to check out this specific part of the website because I was curious about the statistics of Hinduism in the US, if any. I wasn't surprised to find out that only 0.5% of the American population practices this religion because it's considered an ethnic religion and is therefore tied to one location, which is primarily India. This also means that it doesn't diffuse to other areas very often. 3. Examine the map that breaks down the different religions that are practiced in the US and explain why they do or don't make sense from a geographic standpoint as well as a cultural standpoint.

Ally- Your project idea is so thorough and carefully thought out. Well done!

1. http://religions.pewforum.org/maps 2. This particular map drew my attention, because many believe in God, but not everyone carries out the duties of their religion. It was surprising to see that just 58% of people pray at least once a day. Knowing that Christianity is an extremely dominant religion in the US, the percentage should be higher. Prayer is an important part of any religion, and certainly Christianity. This stat shows America is not very devout. 3. Compare America's average amount of prayer with that of countries on multiple continents to study how closely certain religions are followed and practiced in different places in the world.

Nathan- Your project was clever and it would be very interesting to view the results

1) http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons# 2) This particular set of percentages really helped me to understand how religions are really spread throughout the US. I think that it is amazing how many people actually are Christians in the US. I feel like the percentage should be higher, compared with the video of the spreading religions we watched in class. There are many people who just don't worship a God, and I feel like that is a large part of our country's identification now. 3) Look at how the different denominations and branches of Christianity compare to the rest of the religions in the US, such as Islam, and Buddhism, and show how they relate to each other in many different ways.

Isabella - I really liked your project idea and I thought that it was very well thought through. I also liked how you connected everything together with your paragraph.

Nathan: Cool project Idea!! I love it! That would be a really interesting overlaying of maps. You could get a map of average times people spend per week on religions services or things to do with their denomination, and then overlay it with the churches of that region. That would be totally interesting. Good job!!

Isabella~ I think it's interesting how faiths differ- both internally and when compared to other religions. A denomination like Catholicism seems to be so strict and almost confining, and adherence to the rules is of the highest importance, while other Christian denominations are more open to individual views and interpretation. In comparison to the Muslim faith, where one even has to change the way they dress in some circumstances, it feels like Christianity isn't strict at all! These factors concerning strictness of religions can be connected with how often followers pray and attend services.

Hayley- Analyzing the reasons for the distribution of Mormons in the U.S. would be really interesting, especially why people in the west would be more willing to accept Mormon beliefs than in the east. In relation to that topic, you could also research whether there are Mormons outside the U.S., how many, and why and how the religion diffused there.

Nicole your project idea is fantastic! I love how you described it and the whole idea in general. I believe that the project would be difficult enough for an AP class but you described it perfectly.

http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons# 2) This is a chart of the income distribution between the different religions. I choose this chart because I think it is interesting to see the distribution of wealth between different religions. 3) The students would have to compare the differences in wealth between universalized and ethnic religions. Then the could research a religion with an abundance or wealth and one with poor wealth and find out what job(s) the majority hold.

1. http://religions.pewforum.org/portraits The map shows that 52% of people attending evangelical churches are conservative which helps me see the relationships between evangelical churches and political views. 2. I chose this map because I practice Lutheran which can be closely tied to evangelical churches and sometimes are combined. It is interesting to learn what political views can be related with the Evangelical church 3. Using this website students could take a map of the US and the areas where different religions are found. Then compare this to a map of political views for those religions. The students will determine any patterns between religions and their political views and where they are located in the US.

Olivia it is interesting to see what religions have more wealth and possibly where they are located. Also for your project it would be cool to compare the US Christianity and say Africa's Christianity and find the wealth for both. Obviously the US would have more wealth but it would be interesting to see if Chirstianity in the US has the highest wealth compared to other religions in the US and if the same things works for Christianity in Africa.

http://religions.pewforum.org/portraits 1) With a visual representation with a pie graph, this shows how specifically how Muslims live in the United States, for example, the different regions such as the Northwest, Midwest, South and West. Though the numbers of Muslims in the United States are small they still practice what they believe and the numbers are growing, with the biggest group being in the ages of 30-49. 2) I choose this religion primarily because it is a growing religion in the United States and it is interesting to see the demographics of the people who practice Islam. I choose this section also because I could compare the Islam to other religions such as Christianity, and what surprised me was how many Muslims there are in the Northeast. 3) Why is the religion of Islam growing in the United States? Use examples from the Demographic Transition Model and the Migration Transition Model to explain your answer. Explain where this religion is found outside of the United States and how it spread from its hearth to where it is today. Is political and social unrest common in regions with this religion? Explain why/ why not this may be the case.

http://religions.pewforum.org/maps and select, "Mormon Tradition" under the section of "Religious Groups". This map is the percentage of the U.S. adult population that is affiliated with the Mormon tradition. 2.) I chose this map because I was interested where the most concentrated area of Mormons in the U.S. was. I do not really know that much about the Mormon faith and was wondering if there was a large population located near us. I found this not to be the case because the state with the largest Mormon concentration is Utah. All the other states where the population of Mormons was larger than 4% were all found in the east of the U.S also. 3.) My project would be for students to first learn about the Mormon tradition compared to other dominant religions in the U.S. The students would then take the things they learned about Mormons and study this map of their distribution. The students would then be required to apply their knowledge of Mormons and explain why the largest percentage of the population affiliated with this tradition is located in the West compared to other regions in the U.S.

Jared- Your project is very interesting and is a great idea! I really like how you want students to connect a group's religious beliefs to their lifestyle and how they value education, and the jobs they have. Great choice!

Kelly- it is interesting that you chose Hinduism as religion to study and prove that it is not a common practiced religion in the United States. I enjoyed your project idea because it is a different point of view trying to find whether or not a religion makes sense in a certain region or not based on the distribution that occurred in the past.

http://religions.pewforum.org/maps - This is a map that shows the percent of each states population that believes in God. 2.) I chose this because I was interested in seeing where the most concentrated percentages of people that believe in God occur. The map showed that the south east region of the U.S except for Florida had the highest percent of people that strongly believed in God. It also showed that the west coast had the lowest percent. This is interesting because the south east is considered the bible belt and this area has a reputation for being predominantly Christian. 3.) For my project I would have students look at the different percentages of religious beliefs and practices in each state and compare it to the religion distribution in the states. Then the student would have to explain why or why not the percentages of religious beliefs and practices make sense or not compared to the main religions belief.

Cameron- I think it was good that you connected this website back to the demographic transition model and the migration transition model. This is the kind of thinking the Mr. Reidy would be proud of.

Nicole, I love your idea! Not only are you learning about a majority of faiths in America, but you get to attack certain issues head on! This certainly beats just writing a paragraph!