GEOG 202. Commonwealth of Virginia Name: ____________________________________
Assignment #1: Key concepts.
Introduction: The questions below are based on the reading "The Significance of Virginia" by Jean Gottmann. This reading gives you practice recognizing key geographic concepts.
Geographers view location in several ways. Site refers to the actual physical position and conditions of a place. Situation refers to a relative position or how human activities in a place are affected by what is going on in other places. Links, natural or man-made, between places allow for spatial interaction and hence determine situation.
A region is a basic unit of study in geography and refers to some circumscribed area whose limits are defined by a particular uniform characteristic or set of characteristics that distinguish a given area from surrounding areas.
Landscape, in geography, refers to the "visible scene" that bears the imprint of human activities, past and present, on natural features of the land. Natural features include landforms, drainage patterns, and vegetation.
1. The author provides several descriptions of what a geographer would call the site of Virginia. In your own words, write out one such description of Virginia’s site.
2. The author contends that certain factors of relative location (situation) were important in Virginia's rise to national significance. What is one of these?
3. Links to other areas promote spatial interaction. What important links does the author mention with respect to early Virginia? Show these on an outline map of eastern North America. Use double-headed arrows ( « ) to connect places.
4. According to the author, there are three classical divisions or regions in Virginia. What are they? By what criteria are they valid regions?
5. According to the author, what created the distinctly Virginian landscape?
6. Where are you from? ________________________________
Do you consider Virginia to be part of the South? Why or why not?
7. Identify one distinction between "history" and "geography" that is revealed in this reading.
8. This article was written in the late 1950s. Is there anything the author says about the "personality" of Virginia that you think is still true? Is there anything that you think is no longer true? Support your statements.
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