The rural poor whites in selected literature of Mississippi writers: Eudora Welty, Ewart Autry, Lola Autry, and James Autry

This study analyzes the rural poor whites in specific literary works of four Mississippi writers: Eudora Welty, Ewart A. Autry, Lola M. Autry, and James A. Autry. The selected literature includes "The Whistle," "Death of a Traveling Salesman," "The Wide Net," Losing Battles, by Eudora Welty; Don't Look Back Mama by Ewart A. Autry and Lola Mae Autry; and Nights Under a Tin Roof: Recollections of a Southern Boyhood and Life After Mississippi by James A. Autry.;The poor whites examined are predominately from the North Mississippi hill country; they are the clodhoppers: sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and small landowners who lived during and after The Depression. Loners, couples, families, and a community of families are thematically characterized through an analytic and historic investigation.;The study finds evidence that stereotyping results from the similarities of group traits which set these characters and people apart from other groups; that within the group are individual traits and universal values, strengths to be emulated, and weaknesses to be avoided; that historical tracking of this particular group is possible and exists in books of Southern culture, history, non-fiction, biography, and autobiography and in oral tradition; that such literature should not be ignored as racist or sexist because the study can promote understanding among people and groups rather than alienation; and that such literature has value and purpose and voice and similarities, which connect with artistic expression, and differences, which stand on their own merits.;Using these writers and specific selections, a secondary Mini-Course offers possibilities for a variety of teaching styles and learning styles through the genre approach, the historical-biographical approach, the thematic approach, the close-reading approach, and the reader-response approach.