Here are my responses to the questions I asked in class today (it occured to me that I never shared all my answers):

1. What do I "know" about the South? I know it's hot in the summer, I know that the economy is booming in certain areas, with lots of population growth and development (and the problems that come along with that, like traffic and smog, especially in the Atlanta area). But I also know that poverty persists in many areas, especially rural ones. One of the growing (and perhaps surprising?) problems in certain poor areas of Mississippi and Alabama is the skyrocketing rate of new HIV cases. My "knowledge" also takes the form of images: rolling green landscapes, good food (biscuits, grits, very, very sweet tea...). Funny but I envision both scenes from Gone with the Wind and the Civil Rights Movement, images that seem quite oppositional.
2. Where did that knowledge come from? Some firsthand experience (I grew up in Atlanta), but also TV, movies, news media, and of course literature.
3. What do I hope to learn? I'm looking forward to learning more as we do the research projects and further contextualizing my knowledge of Southern lit. I also want to know the Faulkner book I assigned, _Go Down, Moses_, better.