How the States Got Their Shapes

This week I watched an episode from the History channel series "How the States Got Their Shapes" entitled "Mouthing Off". This episode discusses the different accents that exist throughout the different regions of the country, covering both how and why certain dialects developed and the significance of those differences. For example, the Long Island accent is so distinct because of its geographical separation from the rest of the country, and the experts in this show claim that geographic isolation causes significant dialect differences to develop. They also mention the Southern accent as we think of it today, which was something that didn't actually develop until after the Civil War. The experts claim that this accent was developed after the war as a sort of cultural and regional characteristic that could continue to tie the people of the South together. The variety of examples presented is quite extensive, as the show covers regions from the South, to the East coast, to the Midwest and more, and mentions not only large multi-state regions, but also areas as small as a single city.

In addition to covering the basic accent distinctions from around the country, the show examines the significance of accents within the United States, posing the question "Can having an accent be a hindrance?" In order to address this question, the show looks at organizations that attempt to help people rid themselves of their regional accents and develop more standardized patterns.

Interestingly enough, this idea of standardized speech originated from the introduction of media such as the radio and television into everyday life, as the only people who actually speak in that way are those employed in the media business, such as news anchors. In addition to the media, the show also mentions the role of communication in the development of regional accents. Major historical events and developments such as the pony express, the telegraph, the telephone, and the internet are mentioned and their speech pattern implications are discussed.

This history channel program attempts to cover a very broad topic and a large amount of information in a small amount of time and in the most interesting way possible. Overall, I think the show's host and producers do a good job at keeping the information interesting and entertaining, but also accurate and historically based. The show interviews a few experts throughout, in this case two professors from different American universities, who chime in with their two cents every once in a while. However, most of the information showcased is from the interviews with average citizens by the show's host. The show focuses on the opinions and knowledge of the average American in order to attempt to give an accurate representation of the country's population as a whole by interviewing people on the street and asking them to do things like draw a picture of New York state, or recite the Gettysburg address. It is interesting to see the how different people's responses can be to these rather basic questions. This is a rather enjoyable show, and while it can be silly at times, it does actually provide a good amount of accurate historical information and is quite entertaining!