Southern Gothic

1. Southern Gothic By: Parker, Peyton, Kate, and Caroline

2. Introduction The Southern Renaissance was the reinvigoration of American Southern literature that began in the 1920’s and 1930’s with the appearance of writers such as William Faulkner, Caroline Gordon, Elizabeth Maddox Roberts, Katherine Anne Porter and others. The movement of the 1930’s and 1940’s marked a deliberate break from the regions traditional literary tension. Blacks being oppressed and mistreated were shown in the townspeople: civil war, segregation, and oppression. Blacks weren’t the only ones with issues- women didn’t have many rights either, and were expected to maintain the household, be married early, and have the children. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-southern-gothic-movement-in-literature.htm

3. In addition to the women and blacks, homosexuals and the disabled were also oppressed which was shown through southern gothic literature and its characteristics. These ostracized people began to experience some liberation during the 1950s and 60s, but still faced forms of oppression and criticism. In this point in time, the majority were conservative Christians, who valued family and morals.

4. Accomplishments http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline.html 1920’s • -The League of Nations is established • -Women are given the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution grants universal women's suffrage 1930’s • -The New Deal social and economic programs are passed by the United States Congress • -The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed, ending prohibition. • American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the planet Pluto 1940’s • -The Normandy Invasion, D-Day, occurs with the result of an Allied battle victory • -Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the United States military, is signed into effect by President Harry S. Truman. • -NATO, the North American Treaty Organization, is formed by the United States, Canada, and ten Western European nations

5. 1950’s • -U.S first successfully detonates the hydrogen bomb • -The U.S Supreme Court rules the Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation is illegal • -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helps coordinate the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott • -President Eisenhower sends troops to desegregate public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas • 1960’s • -Martin Luther King Jr. organizes the March on Washington, “I have a Dream” speech • -Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination • -Neil Armstrong becomes the first man on the moon

6. Characteristics of SG Literature Southern Gothic literature is a unique sub-genre to the older gothic style of literature, and is unique because it is native only to the Southern region of the United States. This gothic literature focuses on the horrifying, macabre elements of the South and its culture, and uses these characteristics to explore social and cultural topics of the South. • Focus on disturbing/grotesque events to guide plot/theme and develop characters • -often linked to racism, death, poverty, violence, corruption -In “As I Lay Dying”-Vardaman drills holes in his mother’s face in her coffin http://www.bestedit.net/cplc/Mrs_Pearsons_Southern_Lit_Notes.pdf http://www.mccarter.org/crimesoftheheart/html/southerngothic.html

7. Outsider/delusional characters: set apart from the world; often have something wrong with them -“Mrs. Emily”: introverted, frightening, murders lover and sleeps beside corpse -often uses these characters to highlight the unpleasant nature of the South • Sense of place-small, old towns, rural settings, plantations • Brokenness-minds, bodies, or souls • Irony- guides the plot, often a darker side of irony • Significance of family

8. http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Porter-Katherine-Anne.htmlhttp://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Porter-Katherine-Anne.html http://www.biography.com/people/tennessee-williams-9532952 http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/ http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/oconnors-short-stories/flannery-oconnor-biography Key People • Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911-February 25,1983) -major Southern Gothic literature writer -famous for his plays, poetry, short stories, cinema, etc. -unhappy family background and drugs/alcohol highly influenced his writing -The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth • William Faulkner (September 25, 1897-July 6, 1962) -from Oxford, Mississippi -considered one of American literature’s best writers (and Southern literature) -worked with variety of written media -Received the Nobel Prize for literature and two Pulitzer prizes

9. Mary Flannery O’Connor (March 25, 1925-August 3, 1964) • -wrote two novels and 32 short stories • -known for use of regional setting, grotesque elements, and questions of ethics/morality • -Main famous writing- “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” • Katherine Anne Porter • -won the Pulitzer prize • -wrote critically-acclaimed short stories • -often wrote about dark themes like betrayal, human evil, violence, and death • KEY PEOPLE OF TIME PERIOD: • Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913-October 24, 2005) • -African-American civil rights activist • -helped fuel civil rights movement by not giving up seat on bus • -called “the mother of the freedom movement” http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/southern-gothic-literature-definition-characteristics-authors.html#lesson

10. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917-November 22, 1963) • -35th President of the USA • -Important in the US involvement in the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, the Space Race, etc. • -assassinated in November 1963 • Martin Luther King (January 15th, 1929-April 4, 1968) • -pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader for Civil Rights Movement • -practiced nonviolence- peaceful protests • -known for the “I Have A Dream” speech that contributed to African Americans gaining their rights

11. Publications To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee • Based in a sleepy Southern time • Crime and sin • Racial (segregation) • Killing a Mockingbird is a sin; Tom dying is a “sin” A Good Man is Hard to Find – Flannery O’Connor • Family is taking a road trip to Florida • The grandma doesn’t want to go and warns them of the criminal the “Misfit” trying to change their minds about taking the trip • The grandma has them take a detour to an old house she remembers and they wreck on the road there • The “Misfit” comes to their “rescue” and murders them • Irony is a literary element that is used highly The Sound of Fury – William Faulkner • Compsonfamily (former southern aristocrats) • Financial problems, loss of faith, loss of respect in their town • Set in Jefferson, Mississippi http://www.egs.edu/library/william-faulkner/biography/

12. A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner • -Short story published in 1930 • -Emily Grierson (main character)- exhibits insane behavior • -When her father dies she does not accept it for 3 days • -Poisons husband and still sleeps in the same bed (i.e. insane behavior) • -Black man as the servant (segregation) • The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman • -The narrator is out of touch with the outer world and is very imaginative • -Exhibits bizarre behavior • -She enjoys terrifying stories • -Her husband tries to “treat” her by forbidding her to imagine things so insane • -The narrator rebels by using the wallpaper to relieve her frustration • -The wallpaper is symbolic to how she is feeling

13. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Tennessee Williams • -Play produced in 1955 • -Southern family on the Delta of Mississippi (in crisis) • -Greed, death, sexual desire, and repression are all motifs in the literature • The Life You Save May Be Your Own – Flannery O’ Connor • -An older woman and daughter come in contact with Tom Shiftlet-an outcast because of his poverty and disability • -The woman thinks he would be good for her daughter because he is nice and they are both disabled • -Takes place on a rural farm (sense of place)

14. THE END