The Literature of the American South : W. W. Norton College Books

Section One: Beginnings to 1880
JOHN SMITH (1580–1631)
A Description of New England
- [The Delights of a New Land]
The Generall Historie of Virginia
- [Smith Captured by Powhatan]
EBENEZER COOKE (1667–c. 1732)
From The Sot-Weed Factor; or, A Voyage to Maryland
WILLIAM BYRD II (1674–1744)
To Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrey [July 5, 1726]
From The History of the Dividing Line
THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743–1826)
The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson
- A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress Assembled.
Notes on the State of Virginia
- From Query VI. Productions Mineral, Vegetable and Animal
- From Query XIV. Laws
- Query XVIII. Manners
- Query XIX. Manufactures
BENJAMIN BANNEKER (1731–1806) and THOMAS JEFFERSON
Letter from Benjamin Banneker to the Secretary of State, with His Answer [August 19, 30, 1791]
JOHN PENDLETON KENNEDY (1795–1870)
Swallow Barn; or, A Sojourn in the Old Dominion
- Chapter I. Swallow Barn
- Chapter II. A Country Gentleman
GEORGE MOSES HORTON (1797–1883)
Division of an Estate
George Moses Horton, Myself
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS (1806–1870)
The Lazy Crow: A Story of the Cornfield
JAMES HENRY HAMMOND (1807–1864
From Letter to an English Abolitionist
EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809–1849)
Introduction
To Helen
Israfel
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Philosophy of Composition
HARRIET ANN JACOBS (1813–1897)
From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- Chapters I, II, V, X, XXI, XXXIX, XL, XLI
WILLIAM WELLS BROWN (1814–1884)
My Southern Home; or, The South and Its People
- Chapter XVII [White Supremacy after the Civil War]
- Chapter XXVIII [Self-Elevation and Independence]
JOHNSON JONES HOOPER (1815–1862)
Some Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs
- The Captain Attends a Camp-Meeting
FREDERICK DOUGLASS (1818–1895)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself Chapters I-VII, X, XI
MARY BOYKIN CHESNUT (1823–1886)
From Mary Chesnut’s Civil War
HENRY TIMROD (1829–1867)
From Literature in the South
The Unknown Dead
Section Two: The New South: 1880–1940
SAMUEL CLEMENS (1835–1910)
A True Story
From Old Times on the Mississippi
- Chapter IV. The Boys’ Ambition
- Chapter V. I Want to Be a Cub-Pilot
- Chapter VI. A Cub-Pilot’s Experience
SIDNEY LANIER (1842–1881)
Song of the Chattahoochee
The Marshes of Glynn
Evening Song
GEORGE W. CABLE (1844–1925)
Belles Demoiselles Plantation
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS (1848–1908)
The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story
Free Joe and the Rest of the World
KATE CHOPIN (1851–1904)
Désirée’s Baby
The Storm
THOMAS NELSON PAGE (1853–1922)
Marse Chan
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON (1856–1915)
Up From Slavery
- Chapter I. A Slave Among Slaves
CHARLES WADDELL CHESNUTT (1858–1932)
The Goophered Grapevine
JAMES WELDON JOHNSON (1871–1938)
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
- Preface to the Original Edition of 1912
- Chapter I [Passing]
O Black and Unknown Bards
ELLEN GLASGOW (1873–1945)
Jordan’s End
H. L. MENCKEN (1880–1956)
The Sahara of the Bozart
ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS (1881–1941)
The Sacrifice of the Maidens
ANNE SPENCER (1882–1975)
Before the Feast of Shushan
At the Carnival
Letter to My Sister
TWELVE SOUTHERNERS
I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition
- Introduction: A Statement of Principles
JOHN CROWE RANSOM (1888–1974)
Spectral Lovers
Antique Harvesters
Bells for John Whiteside’s Daughter
Old Mansion
Philomela
The Equilibrists
Janet Waking
ZORA NEALE HURSTON (1903–1960)
Sweat
How It Feels to Be Colored Me
EVELYN SCOTT (1893–1963)
Escapade
- [Motherhood]
JEAN TOOMER (1894–1967)
Cane
- Karintha
- Becky
- Carma
- Georgia Dusk
- Cane
CAROLINE GORDON (1895–1981)
All Lovers Love the Spring
WILLIAM FAULKNER (1897–1962)
Dry September
An Odor of Verbena
LILLIAN SMITH (1897–1966)
Killers of the Dream
- 1. When I Was a Child
ALLEN TATE (1899–1979)
Ode to the Confederate Dead
Message from Abroad
Aeneas at Washington
The Swimmers
W. J. CASH (1900–1941)
The Mind of the South
- Preview to Understanding
- From Chapter I. Of Time and Frontiers
THOMAS WOLFE (1900–1938)
Look Homeward, Angel
- Chapter 35 [Ben]
STERLING BROWN (1901–1989)
Strong Men
Old Lem
Remembering Nat Turner
ROBERT PENN WARREN (1905–1989)
Bearded Oaks
Tell Me a Story
Heart of Autumn
Mortal Limit
Muted Music
Old-Time Childhood in Kentucky
Acquaintance with Time in Early Autumn
Blackberry Winter
RICHARD WRIGHT (1908–1960)
The Ethics of Living Jim Crow, an Autobiographical Sketch
Long Black Song
JAMES AGEE (1909–1955)
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
- [Three Families]
Section Three: The Contemporary South: 1940–Present
KATHERINE ANNE PORTER (1890–1980)
He
LILLIAN HELLMAN (1905–1984)
Pentimento: A Book of Portraits
- [Preface]
- Theatre
- Pentimento
EUDORA WELTY (1909– )
A Curtain of Green
Where Is the Voice Coming From?
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS (1911–1983)
A Streetcar Named Desire
RANDALL JARRELL (1914–1965)
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunne
Losses
The Woman at the Washington Zoo
The Lost Children
90 North
RALPH ELLISON (1914–1994)
Invisible Man
- Chapter 2 [Southern Dreams, Voyeurism, and the Blues]
MARGARET WALKER (1915– )
For My People
We Have Been Believers
Molly Means
Southern Song
October Journey
WALKER PERCY (1916–1990)
The Last Gentleman
- Chapter Four [The South]
ALBERT MURRAY (1916– )
Train Whistle Guitar
- [Scooter, Little Buddy, Luzana Cholly]
CARSON McCULLERS (1917–1967)
From A Member of the Wedding
- Part 1 [A Summer of Fear]
PETER TAYLOR (1919–1994)
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
ALEX HALEY (1921–1992)
Roots
- [Learning American Ways]
- Chapters 41-45
ELIZABETH SPENCER (1921– )
Sharon
JAMES DICKEY (1923–1997)
Hunting Civil War Relics at Nimblewill Creek
The Lifeguard
Cherrylog Road
FLANNERY O’CONNOR (1925–1964)
Revelation
WILLIAM STYRON (1925– )
The Confessions of Nat Turner
- Author’s Note
- To the Public
- Part III: Study War
["To draw the blood of white men"]
A. R. AMMONS (1926– )
The Wide Land
Cascadilla Falls
Easter Morning
Meeting Place
MAYA ANGELOU (1928– )
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- Chapter 1 [Easter Rituals and Color Consciousness]
- Chapter 5 [Momma’s Transcendence]
TED SHINE (1931– )
Contribution
DORIS BETTS (1932– )
The Ugliest Pilgrim
ERNEST J. GAINES (1933– )
The Sky Is Gray
REYNOLDS PRICE (1933– )
The Company of the Dead
HENRY DUMAS (1934–1968)
Ark of Bones
WENDELL BERRY (1934– )
The Regional Motive
SONIA SANCHEZ (1934– )
for unborn malcolms
Masks
we a baddDDD people
elegy
FRED CHAPPELL (1936– )
Cleaning the Well
Second Wind
JULIA FIELDS (1938 – )
Not Your Singing, Dancing Spade
BOBBIE ANN MASON (1940– )
Shiloh
DAVE SMITH (1942– )
Bluejays
The Colors of Our Age: Pink and Black
Smithfield Ham
NIKKI GIOVANNI (1943– )
Nikki-Rosa
Knoxville, Tennessee
The True Import of Present Dialogue: Black vs. Negro
Poem for Aretha
Flying Underground
JAMES ALAN McPHERSON (1943– )
Why I Like Country Music
ELLEN BRYANT VOIGT (1943 –)
Farm Wife
A Marriage Poem
Feast Day
Short Story
LEE SMITH (1944– )
Between the Lines
ALICE WALKER (1944– )
You Had to Go to Funerals
Revolutionary Petunias
For My Sister Molly Who in the Fifties
We Have a Beautiful Mother
Everyday Use
In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA (1947 – )
Ia Drang Valley
We Never Know
Saigon Bar Girls, 1975
Facing It
R.T. SMITH (1947 – )
Yonosa Home
Red Anger
Beneath the Mound
DOROTHY ALLISON (1949– )
Trash
- Preface: Deciding to Live
- River of Names
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR. (1950– )
Colored People
- Chapter 1. Colored People
- Chapter 4. In the Kitchen
ANDREW HUDGINS (1951– )
The Persistence of Nature in Our Lives
Claims
At Chancellorsville
After the Wilderness
The Last Time I Saw General Lee
BRENDA MARIE OSBEY (1957– )
Ceremony for Minneconjoux
RANDALL KENAN (1963– )
The Foundations of the Earth
Section Four: Vernacular Traditions (Pieces marked with an are included on the Audio Companion)
SPIRITUALS
Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Lay Down Body
GOSPEL MUSIC
Little David, Play Your Harp
Amazing Grace (John Newton)
Nobody Answered Me (Albert Brumley)
Precious Lord (Thomas A. Dorsey)
Trouble of the World
BALLADS AND LYRICS
Dixie’s Land (Daniel Decatur Emmett)
Tom Dooley
The Streets of Laredo
The Wreck of the Old 97
Boll Weevil
Cotton Mill Colic (Dave McCarn)
Factory Girl
Freight Train (Elizabeth Cotton)
WORK, ORGANIZING, AND PROTEST SONGS
Take This Hammer
Grizzly Bear
Hard Times in Coleman’s Mines (Aunt Molly Jackson)
We Shall Overcome (Zelphia Horton, Frank Hamilton, Guy Carawan, Pete Seeger)
THE BLUES
Titanic Man Blues (Gertrude "Ma" Rainey)
Hell Hound on My Trail (Robert Johnson)
Parchman Farm Blues (Booker "Bukka" White)
PREACHING
The Eagle Stirreth Her Wings (C. L. Franklin)
I Have a Dream (Martin Luther King Jr.)
STORYTELLING
ORIGIN STORIES
- The Creation of the Earth (from the Yuchi)
- The Daughter of the Sun (from the Cherokee)
TALL TALES, TRICKSTERS, AND GHOST STORIES
- Davy Crockett and the Frozen Daybreak
- Sop, Doll!
- The Cat-Witch
- Why Women Always Take Advantage of Men (Zora Neale Hurston)
- The One-Eyed Giant
- How Rabbit Filed Deer’s Teeth
- How Frail Got His Tongue; Outtalking a Woman (John Joines)
HUMOR
- [Steve and Willy] (John Joines)
- Sam Jones Story (Jackie "Moms" Mabley)
- [The Chigger] (John Joines)

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The Literature of the American South

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