Literature Homework

1. After reading the definitions of what geographical region makes up the South in the United States in the essay by John and Dale Reed, how does your own definition of the South compare with the Reeds’?

John and Dale gave three definitions of the south. Some of the states they mentioned in a few of the definitions were Maryland, Missouri, West Virginia and even the DC area. I’ve been to each of these areas and can assure you that they don’t view themselves as southerners. I usually associate geography and stereotypes to what I view as southern. Stereotypes such as accents, scenery, behavior, ideology symbols etc..

2. In W. J. Cash’s essay about the “Old and New South,” he begins by defining the myth of the Old South, then the myth of the New South, before debunking both of those legends. Then he attempts to resolve the paradox of the Old and New South by asserting that they have always coexisted. How does Cash define the Old South? How does he define the New South?

He defined the Old South as a region where there was elaborate homes, buildings and aristocratic social order due to wealth from agriculture. Although rule and dominance by white but it also included the poor whites. It was the usual stereotypical ideal one has of the south. The New South he defined as industrialized and commercialized a bit removed from the agriculture dominated Old and he also stated that ideology has transformed as well.

3. After reading Irving Howe’s excerpt from The Southern Myth, do you think his argument is still valid 60 years after he wrote this? Do you think it was ever valid?

Although I see progress, there is much about what Howe said that is still valid today. Many white southerners and blacks hold on to the past as best they can and express it symbolically (confederate flag), politically and socially. Right here in Cleveland segregation is still very strong and being fought at the state level in the areas of the school...