Contributor: Melissa Kowalski. Lesson ID: 12862
Jeet? Nahmeen? You may not understand those words unless you're from certain parts of the United States. Dialects aren't foreign words but can be hard to understand. Give it a try!
Believe it or not, they are American English words!
Watch the video below to see how people across America use different words to describe the same thing!
Yeh means you, knet means knit, allus means always, and sech means such. These words are all used in the dialogue of The Red Badge of Courage.
In the novel's dialogue, Stephen Crane uses a literary technique called dialect. Dialect is a form of writing that captures the language specific to a particular region.
As you read What is Dialect? Definition, Examples of English Dialects to learn more about dialect and its use in literature, answer the following questions in your notebook or journal.
Check your thinking against the answers below.
After checking your answers, watch the following video on a study done on dialects in America. For each question the researchers ask, pause the video to write down the word or term you would use for the described item.
Now that you've explored contemporary American dialects, it's time to go back to the nineteenth century and delve into the dialect of The Red Badge of Courage.
Read Chapters Four through Eight in The Red Badge of Courage either online or a hard copy if you have access to one.
As you read, write down at least eight examples of the dialect used by the characters.
For an extra challenge, try to read the dialogue portions of these chapters aloud to see if you can hear the dialect the characters use.
When you've finished your reading, move to the Got It? section to delve more deeply into dialogue.