Writing Assignment: Southern Horrors and The Red Record
Following the failures of Reconstruction, African-Americans faced a segregated society. The Jim Crow laws of the South ensured African-Americans were treated as second-class citizens, while Southern society reinforced a culture of difference. Without much protection, African-Americans faced public humiliation and violence in the South, its most prominent feature being lynchings. Many African-Americans sought anti-lynching laws to be passed, one of the most fervent supports being Ida B. Wells. In this assignment, write a 3-4 page review of two of her pamphlets: Southern Horrors and A Red Record. It must answer the following questions:
Why is lynching so widespread in the South according the Southerners? Why is it so widespread according to Wells? What do these reasons for lynching tell us about Southern society and proper/improper behavior? What does it say about race, gender, and class?
How does Wells use newspaper articles and statistics to make her arguments? How does she treat her sources? What does she try to prove or disprove about lynching in the South?
How does Southern Horrors and A Red Record differ from each other? Why were multiple pamphlets needed to address the same issue? Is one pamphlet more effective than the other?
Formatting: Papers must be typed and double-spaced. The papers should be formatted with 1 inch margins on all sides and be written in a standard font, like Arial or Times New Roman, in size 12 font. A minimum of three full pages of text are required. No cover page is required.
Citations: Citations are required for this assignment. When quoting or paraphrasing from the text, use parenthetical citations (Author, Title, Page #). The author’s name is only needed for the first citation, subsequent citations will just require the page. A Works Cited page is not required.
