The Landscape Of The American South

• – Gilyard, Keith and Anissa Wardi. African American Literature.
  • – Chapter 3 Introduction, “The South as Literary Landscape”
  • – Douglass, Frederick. Chapter V in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
  • – Walker, Margaret. “Southern Song”
  • – Hurston, Zora Neale. Excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God

QUESTION: (about 150 words)
Explain the comment that the “American South materializes as a complicated landscape” in relation to African American literature. How does the South as an identity affect the writing? What contradictions appear in the writings by the African American writers who use this unique landscape for their words? Use direct evidence from this unit’s assigned reading selections to support your point of view.