Student: Don’t see any reason changing it now.
Student: Somebody was going to judge me on the way I spoke then I
would judge him as being close-minded.
Al Dale: Students in the class say they’re not trying to deny their
heritage.
Student: I don’t feel comfortable with the way I speak. I feel like I
should do better.
[Film clip: My Fair Lady, “The Rain in Spain”]
Al Dale: Just as it did for Eliza Doolittle, what worked for these
students is practice ...
Students: “Pepper ... hanger,” “sister, remember,” “I can’t follow the
minnow in the shallow water.”Source: Reproduced by permission of ABC News
Discussion Questions and Exercises
In this chapter, the popular entertainment examples that
contribute to Southern stereotypes are dated. You may not
know who Lil’ Abner is, and you may never have seen an
episode of The Beverley Hillbillies. Does this indicate to you
a decline in Southern stereotypes? If not, where are the
current-day stereotypes to be found? How were your
beliefs and opinions about the South (or the North)
formed? If you are interested in pursuing this question, you
may want to start with Cooke-Jackson and Hansen (2008)
“Appalachian Culture and Reality TV: The Ethical Dilemma
of Stereotyping Others.”
Read the following article: Knight, D. (2000) Standards. In
R. Dal Vera (ed.) Standard Speech and Other