Answers to Thinking Geographically Questions

Figure 2.1: Buildings, designs, music, languages, and crafts often survive, sometimes in forms that are now produced in factories. They become nostalgia items for people who wish to remember former times and ways of life. Places with many remains of folk cultures may become tourist destinations.

Figure 2.2: It provides mechanisms for the manufacture of items of popular culture, as well as the communications technology that disseminates the information about it and the advertising to promote it.

Figure 2.3: The idea of the barn would have come with migrants from central Europe, who then modified it to fit their needs in their new homeland. The forebay is useful because hay is stored in the upper level, while animal pens are in the lower level. Farmers can throw the hay out the doors to animals in the barnyard without blocking the doors to the animal pens. This barn seems to have lost its role on a farm producing livestock and is used mainly for general storage.

Figure 2.4: Although the actual origins of the practice, which probably came from Africa, have been lost, it has been connected to the danger of snakes. The practice also eliminates the need to maintain vegetation by watering and mowing.

Figure 2.5: The apparatus is crudely constructed, with no superfluous parts. It was made of local materials, although the original design as brought by migrants demanded the use of scarce wood. It would probably never have been advertised, because each rancher would know how to construct a “beef wheel” if needed.

Figure 2.6: The scenes were taken in the following “unplaces”:

(a) McDonald’s in Tokyo, (b) Breezewod, Pennsylvania, sometimes called “Town of Motels.”

Figure 2.7: There are no signs for multinational companies and no billboards advertising anything. Houses are in traditional style, oriented to the topography.

Figure 2.8: You may think of other lifestyle clusters, especially if your home area is not included in the three regions mapped. You may also dispute the distribution of one or more of these regions, for example pointing out that the coast of California south of San Francisco is home to a great many groups besides upper-middle-class retirees.

Figure 2.9: These regions are renowned for their vineyards and wineries and have long cultural traditions of winemaking.

Figure 2.10: Answers will vary, but some other examples in the United States are Tex-Mex cuisine in the Southwest, seafood specialties in various coastal regions, Cajun food in Louisiana (and surrounding areas), boiled peanuts in South Carolina, and soul food in the South.

Figure 2.11: The patterns of fast-food consumption could be related to such factors as availability of fast-food restaurants in states with small populations like North Dakota. Regional differences in average income could also be a factor, as fast food is generally cheaper than many healthier food choices.

Figure 2.12: It would likely show that states named in rap/hip-hop lyrics tend to be those that contain major urban centers (such as New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta), where rap/hip-hop music developed and enjoys large fan bases. Therefore, this music’s popularity would not show a strongly regionalized pattern like that of country music.

Figure 2.13: Population in the area marked “West” is more sparsely distributed, so that towns are farther apart. All of this area was once part of the frontier, and thus it gained the perception of being “the West” as it was settled. Businesses use that perception to self-identify with an important element in American cultural history. Places with no regional perception are transition zones between culture regions and have received influences from several sources. An example is the area of western Pennsylvania–northern West Virginia–southeastern Ohio, which has influences from the Middle Atlantic, the South, and especially the Appalachian Mountains.

Figure 2.14: Although landscape features tend toward sameness, people tend to identify with a particular region and use it as a relative location. Mass media (for example, The Weather Channel) also use such regions as identifiers, solidifying the perception of their extent.

Figure 2.15: Contagious diffusion was first, and given the time period when the first fair was held (1810), that would have been the most available kind. In the far West, probably hierarchical diffusion played a role as fairs were established in major towns, especially county seats.

Figure 2.16: Answers will vary, but you may think of examples such as the diffusion of popular music styles like reggae from the Caribbean, newly popular competitive ballroom dances that diffused to the United States from older European dance styles, or popular reality television programming that diffused to the United States from European popular television.

Figure 2.17: In such countries, urban areas are frequently a major draw for migrants because they are perceived to have more wealth and job opportunities. Similarly, Western culture is perceived as more prestigious because the West is perceived as wealthy. McDonald’s acquires its reputation by this association.

Figure 2.18: Besides the Pacific Ocean, the major barrier would be the eastward extent of ranching and thus of local cowboys and cowboy life. Rodeos would not resonate with local populations in the East in the same way.

Figure 2.19: The distribution seems to have been both independent invention and diffusion. Probably the blowgun was developed independently in the Africa/Pacific region and in the Americas. The distribution in the Indian and Pacific oceans matches that of Austronesian languages, suggesting transfer by long-distance traders. Among the data that might be used to investigate these questions would be other cultural transfers and the details of the blowguns’ designs.

Figure 2.20: Migrations probably took place in family groups and in groups of people from the same valley in Appalachia. This could have been groups migrating together at the same time as well as chain migration. Not only would migrants find mountainous territory appealing as a reminder of the environment in which their culture developed, but they would have similar resources (wood, water) available. However, the choice of a place to settle would also depend on available land.

Figure 2.21: Both hierarchical diffusion through media and contagious diffusion (conversation with friends or relatives who have been there) would be involved. The large number of visitors adds to the environmental stress by its demands on water, food (which comes from outside the park), waste disposal, and the sheer impact of more feet and more vehicles in the park.

Figure 2.22: The Yankee houses have central fireplaces, providing heat for the long, cold winters. The African-American shotgun house probably originated in Africa and came to the lower Mississippi Valley via Haiti. The construction on piles allows for air circulation under the house, keeping it cooler in the hot summers, and also provides protection from moderate flooding.

Figure 2.23: The dogtrot house allows air circulation in the hot summers. The construction material is logs, which were abundantly available in the Upland South.

Figure 2.24: (a) Québec French farmhouse, Port Joli, Québec; (b) Yankee New England large house, New Hampshire; (c) Yankee upright and wing house, Massachusetts; (d) African-American shotgun house, Alleyton, Texas.

Figure 2.25: Although it is possible that the idea traveled by migration and the in-between cultures have discontinued the style, the probable explanation is independent invention. The techniques involved are relatively simple and do not require extensive learning from other people. Cultural geographers might look for other cultural transfers between the same regions and for other buildings that use similar techniques to these polygonal structures.

Figure 2.26: Painted scenes are found on houses in southern Germany. Some appear to be purely decorative, while others have religious themes. In North American popular culture, plastic eagles, hex signs, flags, and holiday decorations are common exterior decorations. They express holiday observances but also souvenirs of travel and to some extent the rules of taste regarding decoration in the community. Flags may express patriotism or loyalty to a sports team as well as aesthetics.

Figure 2.27: Answers will vary.

Figure 2.28: The wealthy often wish to preserve their privacy when taking advantage of elitist landscapes. Therefore, these areas are often developed in secluded places or feature walls, vegetation barriers, sea barriers, or other privacy defenses so that the media and the less wealthy do not have visual or physical access to them.

Figure 2.29: Aside from the valuable horses raised on these farms (not visible in the picture), the beauty of the landscape is a major tourist draw.