An Argument Analysis of “The Three Souths” in the Views of Kimberly Glanding

John Shelton Reed says that the South embodies three different regions. Do all of these regions still exist? Or have they become incorporated into what is considered the South today? “The Three Souths,” by Reed, divides the South into three categories: Dixie, Southeast, and Cultural South. Southern agriculture and the growth of cotton established Dixie. The Southeast region is a metropolitan region that relies on commerce and communication to grow. The valued qualities, such as religion, sports, and manners are characteristic ways that set apart the Cultural South. According to Reed, Atlanta is the only place one can be in all three “Souths” at once. The daily life of a person in the South is very similar to the daily life of a person in another part of the country. Each work a normal workday but their use of free time sets them apart (Reed 17-27). The South of the past still exists today through traditional Southern values passed down in families and carried throughout the nation, yet the division of the South no longer exists as a three part entity, but as a growing, changing region.

Appealing to both people of the North and South, Reed accurately describes many traits and qualities of Southerners in his opening paragraph, “You’re in the American South now, a proud region with distinctive history and culture” (17). He effectively employs pathos throughout his introduction and captures the reader’s attention from the beginning by saying, “Where churches preach against, ‘cigarettes, whiskey, and wild, wild women’ and American football is a religion” (17), thus immediately appealing to peoples traditional values. While cigarettes, whiskey, and wild, wild women have values in the Southern culture, not all churches in th...

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...y captures the South and the aspects that it holds dear and appeals to both people of the North and South alike through accurate and descriptive examples of Southern culture. Dixie embodied the start of the South and some agriculture aspects persist today, yet through industrialization the Southeast has changed from Dixie’s rural land to urban areas of growth. Cultural South continues to shape the current attitudes and values that are exhibited in many residents who are proud of their background and are satisfied with its current ideas and cultures. While the South heralds from traditional values and institutions, Dixie, Southeast, and Cultural South have been blended together to form what we today consider the South.

Works Cited

Reed, John Shelton. “The Three Souths.” Minding the South. Columbia, MO. University of

Missouri Press, 2003. 17-27. Print.