Praxis II Citizenship

Answer: D -The U.S. South is a perceptual region, a region defined by a general but informal consensus about shared traits. Though the South seems like a region that is as formally defined as Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, or the British Commonwealth (which are all formal regions), consider which states are part of “the South.” South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana are all unanimously part of the region. North Carolina and Virginia are generally considered part of “the South,” though they occasionally have more in common with Mid-Atlantic states. Kentucky is likewise considered Southern by most counts, though it sometimes has more in common with its Midwestern neighbor to the north, Ohio. And Arkansas possesses all of the shared traits that make its border-states Tennessee and Louisiana “Southern,” but it is nevertheless categorized as part of the Southwest from time to time. Then, there are Florida and Texas. Both states seem to fit the bill based strictly on their geographic positions, but their cultures are wholly unique to them alone and put them at odds with the rest of “the South.” Formal and functional regions do not have that kind of fluidity when it comes to defining the regions’ borders.