Eudora Welty Reseach Paper

Even to this day the American South is the most historic region in the United States. Many states including: Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana have been the location in several books because of the vivid scenery. Research asserts, "To the fiction writer in the South, place is everything. It is the literal ground, the red clay, and the dogwood trees; where one's family and community are" (Rupperburg 216). Contemporary Southern Literature has been around since 1935 and still continues to the present day.

There are several authors in southern literature such as Fred Chappell, Larry Brown, and Mary Kay Andrews. However, Eudora Welty reflects the typical characteristics of a contemporary southern author.

There are various biographical facts that support Eudora Welty's inclusion in the Contemporary Southern Genre starting with the place of her birth. Research states, "Eudora Welty in Jackson, Mississippi on April 13, 1909" (Kreyling). This quote proves that Eudora Welty is a southern writer because she was born in the southern region of the United States including Mississippi. Eudora also continued her college education in Mississippi. Research says, "Eudora attended Mississippi State College for Women" (Kreyling). This quote shows that Eudora Welty is a southern writer because she attended a southern college. While in Mississippi Eudora got her first job as a writer. Research proves, "Welty was a copywriter and photographer for the WPA, Works Progress Administration, which aimed at providing jobs for writers. This

job took her on assignments throughout Mississippi, and she began using these experiences as material for short stories. This quote supports that Eudora Welty is a southern writer because by taking this job she was able to travel through the South and her observations inspired her short

stories. Much of Eudora's life was involved in the Great Depression, which started in 1929 and lasted until the early 1940s. Analysis contends, "Much of her early life took place during the Great Depression. Race and racism are frequent themes in Welty's work..." (www.kosmix.com). This quote also shares with the reader that race is a major key point in many of Welty's stories, being one of the factors in the Southern Trinity. Eudora Welty has used many of her earliest childhood memories to help her create her stories. Research informs, "She also remembers how much she loved listening to the ladies in town trade stories, and her habit of noting their speech patterns and colloquialisms served her well when she began writing about the south." (www.enotes.com). One way a reader can tell if they are reading a southern book is by the way the dialogue is written. This quote tells the reader that Eudora Welty used the way she remembered in her childhood now the people spoke and that helped her actualize a character's southern drawl.

Eudora Welty has published many literary works in her lifetime, 11 short stories and 6 novels. "Eudora Welty's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Optimist's Daughter, appeared as a short story in 1969 in the New Yorker," a reviewer states. (www.enotes.com) (Literature Resource Center). This book is about a southern girl who comes back to New Orleans due to the death of her father and soon realizes she cannot cope with his passing. Another one Welty's books was: Why I Live at the P.O. Research explains, "Eudora Welty's ''Why I Live at the P.O.'' was inspired by a lady ironing in the back room of a small rural post office who Welty glimpsed while working as publicity photographer in the mid-1930s."

(www.southernlitreview.com). (www.enotes.com). This book was first published in Atlantic magazine. It is about a girl known

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