Ideological Criticism : Small Town Ideology

I have for better or for worse chosen the show Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo as my source of media that generalizes rural communities. HCBB is a spin off of “Toddlers in Tiaras” where thee focus is shifted to the main character Alana Thompson and here respective family members consisting primarily of here mother and father. The show is “shot” in Mclntrye Georgia with an estimated population of 650 as of 2010. The town its self also only occupy roughly 5.4 square miles making it effectively a “rural” town by national standards. By in large the characters of this show Alana and June are portrayed as “ignorant” and lacking common sense. Each episode is littered with cut shots of each of these members engaging in behavior that exemplifies stupidity,

Ty’s team won, but Troy was not upset. The two were good friends now and talked a lot now. Troy talks about his uncle, who would have been a great NFL player if he hadn’t died his junior year of college in a car crash. Ty tells how his mother had a brother that fits that description. Troy told him his name and they figured out they were cousins. At the end of the story, everyone says their goodbyes and they all go home.

“Ideology is a body of ideas concerning economic, social and political values and goals which posit action programmes for attaining these goals.”—Padelford and Lincoln

A discourse community is said to be resistant to internal criticism and self-scrutiny because all ideas that severely contrast the values and beliefs within the community are defined as being on the outside, as demonstrated in the texts. “The Discourse itself defines what counts as acceptable criticism” (Gee 162). All of the articles use similar rhetorical strategies by describing a problem in shared thinking; the common conception that the

Growing up in the small town of Pocahontas, Iowa gives appreciation to the simplicity of tight-knit communities. With a population of 1,800 people, there is single café where local farmers enjoy a morning cup of coffee while discussing the news. Rural communities are a place where children have birthday parties at the local pizza place and teenagers’ first jobs are as detasslers. As a child, your mother knows if you got in trouble at school before you return home and everyone’s name is well known throughout the area.

Nate Brodie has a dream to meet Tom Brady and to win a million dollars. The only way he can accomplish this goal is with hard work and determination. So he starts by practicing everyday, all day he throws a football through a tire. He does this to work on his accuracy and so he knows he can do it. He also practices by being on the high school football team. There is so much on the line for him at the time. His parents are in financial trouble and his best friend is going to go blind if they don't get a surgery soon.

You would be hard pressed to find any Southerner who does not know and understand the sentiment behind the statement, “The South will rise again.” The South is a region within the United States that does not follow the generalized ‘American rule.’ In an effort to identify what makes the South a distinctive region, one must explore the comparisons of culture, education, racism, religion, and identity of the South and its people to the rest of America. Through the use of a wide variety of statistics and comprehensive comparisons, it is possible to understand why Southerners feel it is important to protect and preserve their heritage from what they consider to be ‘attacks’ from outsiders. While the South has experienced many

The Southern States of the United States of America have been victims of perceptions and stereotypes that tend to describe them as different from the rest of the United States, especially in terms of culture. These portray the South as rural, uneducated, conservative, racist, and violent. While there are varied opinions on these perceptions this paper will seek to look at whether the South is rural, racist and violent. It is true that incidents of gruesome violence have occurred in the Southern states. Similarly, these states have a significant population of rural dwellers, as well as an expansive amount of underdeveloped territory. However, it is important to note that these occurrences are not autonomous to the southern states but are also characteristic of other states outside the southern region. At the same time, the prosperity, racial tolerance, quality education, etc. observed in states outside the South are equally observed in Southern states. Therefore, the position held in this paper is that the collective generalization or notion that the south is rural, violent and racist needs revisions.

Politicians throughout the United States are debating whether or not the Confederate flag should be allowed to be on the Mississippi state flag. The flag is the center of much controversy. People argue that the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism and hate and that it should not be allowed to be used in public places let alone on a state flag. While others will argue that it is a piece of history and that it honors the soldiers that died in the civil war; it is a symbol of southern pride. The confederate flag has been argued over for many years, dating all the way back to the 1800’s, but the heat of the debate sparked up in 1962. (PBS, Web. Costa-Roberts)

While Stars and Bars have long been associated by many with slavery, the latest campaign to remove Confederate emblems has extended beyond the flag to statues, memorials, parks and even school mascots. The debate over what symbolizes heritage and what stands for hate has never covered so much ground, as efforts to remove icons that have been part of the visual and cultural landscape of the South for decades are a foot at national, state, and local levels. In one Arkansas town, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the song "Dixie" for the next school year and phase out "Rebel," the school's mascot. "They are part of our history and not all of our history is dandelions and butterflies." - Mick Mulvaney, representative for South Carolina. In Maryland, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is trying to make a plan that would change the name of Baltimore's Robert E. Lee Park. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings, Blake told The Associated Press she supports the name change and is willing to work with the county to find an appropriate alternative name. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have called for a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader, to be removed from an alcove outside the Senate chambers. The bust, with the words "Confederate States Army" engraved on it, has been at the state Capitol for decades. That bust is part of history, yes that guy may have been racist but that's how times was when slavery was around. It is a part of history so we can’t forget it or we might redo the whole situation over again.(“Debate over the confederate

As someone that has grown up in the south in on a family farm and living the country boy life he also explained his opinion on the confederate flag controversy and what it has meant to him.

The American South. An area full of rich history and the home to some of the nation’s largest conflicts throughout history, such as the civil war and the civil rights movement. Southerners have always been proud of their heritage despite its rocky parts and display it for all to see with a 150 year old flag. This is proving to be problematic, though, as the Confederate flag they are all so proud of, is really only 50 years old and has been associated with ideals of white supremacy and racism. Some Southerners and other Americans choose to not believe the truth about the flag, others were never taught the truth. However, it is incredibly important in forming an opinion on the flag, and to whether or not the flag must be removed from state buildings. And the truth is, due to its historical affiliation to racist whites in the South, white supremacy groups, and recent events such as the Charleston Shooting, the Confederate rebel flag should not be flown on state buildings as it is not culturally sensitive to African American people who have been targeted by these people.

Students at Castleton University, a liberal arts college in Vermont, have begun to voice their concerns over the use of the Confederate flag on campus. Currently, the university does not have a policy on the flag and some students feel that there should be one implemented. The article references the flag being prevalent on campus as a material creation; seen in windows, laptops, and bumper stickers. The displaying of the flag is a behavior. Some students find the flag offensive and inappropriate; while others believe that the flag is an expression of constitutional rights and is a historical symbol.

The Confederate flag remains to be a hot topic that is drawing a lot of controversy in the state of Mississippi. Some individuals feel that the flag has a right to be flown all over the state; while, others can see it removed completely. The purpose of this paper is to discuss in detail four important topics as follows: (1) the history of the Confederate flag, (2) the economic impact, (3) state agencies and municipalities’ stance and (4) the Legislative position concerning the issue. The flag originated as a banner, but in today’s society is recognized as a symbol. The symbol of the flag represents the Confederate war. Because of strong emotional ties Confederate ancestors have a particular perception of the flag. However, everyone does not share the same opinion, some perceptions are different and often conflicts with what others understand the flag to mean (Coski, 2015).

It was week 8 and the Panthers (white) had recently lost to the Panthers (red). Thus, that was the worst season that the Panthers (white) had had in the past 3 seasons. Meanwhile, we did not have a game in week 9, so the coaches, Klinger and Howell, made us practice from 5 PM to 8 PM Monday through Friday. In practice, one day we found out that we were going to play the Dragons. Consequently, we all knew we had to win or we would be the only team that had not won a game by week 10. Coaches Klinger and Howell trained the defense against the offense constantly. Finally, the defense could anticipate the quarterback’s decisions and the offensive line would protect the quarterback long enough for him to throw the ball to a wide receiver. In summary, the coaches knew we were ready to defeat the Dragons.