Category: southern literature

+

“Everything Burns”: Facades and Identity in S.A. Cosby’s “King of Ashes”

Last year, I read three of S.A. Cosby’s novels (I still need to read Blacktop Wasteland), and I was instantly hooked. When I heard about his latest book, King of Ashes, I knew I had to pick up a copy and read it right away. Like My Darkest Prayer, Razorblade Tears, and All the Sinners Bleed, King of Ashes didn’t disappoint. As I read, I kept recalling why Cosby’s works engages … Read More “Everything Burns”: Facades and Identity in S.A. Cosby’s “King of Ashes”

+

The Death of the Lost Cause in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Late Encounter With the Enemy”

Last post, I looked at the ways that Flannery O’Connor confronts the Lost Cause Narrative in “A Late Encounter With the Enemy.” Today, I want to expand upon that discussion some by looking, specifically, at the end of the story when we see Sally and George at her college graduation. In this scene, which takes up the latter quarter of the story, George sits … Read More The Death of the Lost Cause in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Late Encounter With the Enemy”

+

The Lost Cause in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Late Encounter with the Enemy”

When I started thinking about my American literary survey course this semester, I knew I wanted to have a story by Flannery O’Connor, partly because I teach in Georgia but also because I wanted to students to see her and other Southern writers in conversation with one another. I thought about doing “A Good Man is Hard to Find” or “Revelation,”but I chose a different story. … Read More The Lost Cause in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Late Encounter with the Enemy”

Nothing Happens in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”

As I was organizing my American literature survey course this semester, I knew that I wanted to center it on short stories. I did this because I wanted to provide students with a broad swath of literature and literary movements from 1865 to the present. With this in mind, I knew, as well, that I wanted to include Ernest Gaines’ “The Sky is Gray,” because, like … Read More Nothing Happens in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”

+

American Literature (1865-present) Course

It has been a few years since I have taught an American literature survey course, either from the colonial period to 1865 or from 1865 to the present. When I teach survey courses likes this, ones that span multiple decades and centuries, I usually use an anthology. This semester, though, I wanted to try something different. Instead of using an anthology, which would limit … Read More American Literature (1865-present) Course