Women of the South in a changing society

This lesson examines the lives of women in Southern Appalachia and other areas of the south during the Civil War and focuses particular attention on analyzing the historical stereotypes of women of the 19th-century.

A lesson plan for grade 11 English Language Arts

By Cindy Mcpeters and Aletha Aldridge

Learn more

Related pages

• Eroded land, eroded lives: Agriculture and The Grapes of Wrath: This lesson plan, designed to be taught before students read The Grapes of Wrath, focuses on helping students put this novel in historical context. Students will learn about the (unintentional) abuse of soil that allowed the Dust Bowl to be so devastating and extensive. They will also see photographs by Dorothea Lange and others depicting the wasted land and subsequent wasted dreams of thousands.
• My favorite women: My Great Aunt Arizona: These three (or four) 45-minute lessons will introduce kindergarteners and first graders to Women's History Month. The students listen to the story of author Gloria Houston's great-aunt, Arizona Houston Hughes. During and following the listening and viewing experiences, the students will discuss their experiences with women in their own history who are helping them become good citizens and grow up well.
• Walking in the woods with Owl Moon: This is an integrated project using the book Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. Students will use the story to write a personal narrative, understand the elements of a story, and practice answering open-ended questions.

Related topics

• Learn more about South, United States, language arts, personal narratives, and women.

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

Learning outcomes

Students will examine a variety of sources including diaries, first-person narratives, and other collections to evaluate the accuracy of traditional stereotypes of southern women.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2-3 days

Materials/resources

Words of Southern Women attachment.

Technology resources

Internet access

Activities

1. Students and teacher participate in a brainstorming activity which focuses on the historical stereotypes of southern women during the Civil War era.
2. As a class, students and teacher should develop a list of adjectives and characteristics which define the stereotypical southern woman.
3. Using the resources from NCECHO (see attached document), students should examine the lives and experiences of at least three different women.
4. In a well-organized essay, students should compare and contrast the lives of the women from the documents provided to the stereotype of the southern woman of the Civil War era which was established at the beginning of the lesson.
5. Teacher and students should work together to create an accurate definition of historical southern women as they are portrayed through the source documents.

Assessment

The essay will be assessed based on the student’s evaluation of the source texts, on the student’s ability to compare and contrast those evaluations to the original stereotype, and on standard conventions of grammar.

Supplemental information

Comments

This plan would work well in conjunction with any study of Appalachian literature or culture and particularly in the context of reading Cold Mountain by Charles Frasier.