How do the stories from this week reflect the changes in women's lives after the Civil War? What differences do you perceive in the writings for this week and in the work you've read so far? How would you account for those differences? What role does the Civil War play in these stories? What use do these writers make of the past, especially their shared past? What attitudes toward the past do you discern here? [Be specific--cite particular writers and works in your comments.]

What is Gran'mammy's relationship with the white children? with her own? How do these relationships complicate that of master and slave? What does the narrator value in Gran'mammy?  What evidence is there of Gran'mammy's autonomy, that is, do we see any evidence of her selfhood apart from her role as "mammy"?  What is the point of the pound cake story?  To whom is the moral directed? What is the effect of making Gran'mammy its source? What evidence of stereotyping do you find in these stories? To what extent does Bonner individualize her characters and perspectives on the situations she describes?

Murphree's story of the Tennessee mountains reminds us of the variety of southern experience. What southern traits do you find in her mountain people? To what extent do her characters modify the notion of southern-ness? What narrative purposes does the introductory scene on the porch serve? How would the story of the dance be different without it?  What are the links between the "summer sojourners" (Mr. Kenyon and Mrs. Darley) and the mountain people? between them and the reader? What is the effect of comments like: "Wilkins settlement is a microcosm" (58). What are the sources of non-violence in this story? What does that reveal about this culture? about gender roles?

Weaks and Perry cite Helen Taylor as remarking that the little convent girl is "a grotesque parody of the [southern] feminine ideal." Explain what you think she means by that. Do you agree? What do you think of the story's ending? What is the role of the River in this tale? How is the little convent girl characterized?  In re-reading the story, how does King anticipate the final revelation about her? King was a Protestant in a Catholic city: how is (Catholic) convent life and training portrayed?  What roles do men play in the little convent girl's fate?

In Ruth Stuart's story, why does Sheba leave Broom Corn? What does she expect from the city? What does she find? How does Stuart create sympathy for her? What stereotypes does Stuart reflect about black life, especially among black women? What is the nature of Sheba's triumph? Compare Sheba to Gran'mammy. To what extent do these white writers portray their black characters fairly? What are the limitations of their portrayal? What do you think Stuart and/or Bonner would reply to your criticisms of their portraits?

One of the most characteristic features of local color writing is the use of dialect. Notice when dialect appears in these stories. Who talks in dialect? who doesn't? What conclusions would you draw from those observations? Why would a writer want to use dialect? What is gained or lost by dialect?

In contrast to some of the earlier southern women we have read, all of these women saw themselves as professional writers. Writing fiction rather than autobiography, they nevertheless were also writing about themselves. From this limited sample, what common concerns can you detect about women's lives and women's roles for southern women writers at the end of the nineteenth century?