Essay Prompt 9

Our chapters say that their interest were displaced. It also says that the interest came from a position of presumed cultural superiority along with it being naive, an unconscious practice of Orientalism. It also says that Norman resented Schnekkans presumption of his right to appropriate the history of eastern Kentucky for his own “artistic” use and political agenda without any consideration of the effects of that use upon the people who live and struggle in the social matrix he viewed in such a limited way. Next it says that if those who criticized the Appalachia region had actually gone and approached it with clear intentions to exploit its natural and human resources the situation would be different. It is important for the media to portray the region in such a way because that is the norm, also portraying the region in such a way grabs more attention from the population. It is interesting to us to see how those from the Appalachia culture lives and carries themselves in a such a different manner than we do ourselves. If the media portrayed the region in any other way i feel like we as outside people would lose interest in the Appalachia region, eventually causing it to fade from exsitence.

Help Received: Book Deondre Anderson

Essay Prompt 6

The role music played in Appalachian struggles were that the music would relate to what is going on in the lives of the Appalachian people. The music would refer to the social context and reflect changes they and everyone else were experiencing. For example there was a ballad about a young man killed on a railroad from Grayson County in West Virginia and in that ballad Stoneman made a reference to the Johnson law, which exempts corporations from the consequences of accidents that occurred on their property. The music was mostly country and many of the early country stars were women. We see music play a significant role in US struggles at times when things terrible would happen, such as a huge natural disaster, a major political figure being killed, or representation of something important. For example, we play the star spangled banner as a way to unify our country. Most Americans have respect and or a emotional attachment to the sound of the star spangled banner because of the pride it brings to almost each and everyone of us. The sound of “Taps” is also another example of how music plays a role in US struggles. When Chris Kyle aka “American Sniper” died. The playing of Taps was a symbolic way of honoring are fallen hero.

Essay Prompt 1

I do not find Harney’s depictions of Appalachian people problematic because i feel as if he was describing what he was seeing during the time he was around. If he was saying these things without any evidence whatsoever of the Appalachian culture then i would describe his depictions as problematic. For example on page 2 Harney talks about the people he met and their faint speech and poverty. He talks about passing a poor man with five little children with there stock on a donkey traveling from Tennessee into Georgia. He also talks about when he knocked on the door of a small white cottage, the door opened and all he saw was an unspread bed, foul table, unwashed dishes, had the smell of half-eaten food, and a poor helpless old man sitting on a stool.

I do not find Frost depictions of Appalachian people problematic because i dont feel like his intentions was to talk bad about the people and culture. I did find somethings concerning such as when he was describing the people as poor white trash, , moonshiners, homicides, and illiterates. This concern me because i felt like it was not necessarily the right words to use. However on the second page of the article he talks about new american architecture such as the log cabin, and balconies. Also stuff that may seem strange to us was apart of Appalachian peoples everyday life.

Help Received: Article Deondre Anderson

Essay Prompt #4

The three main arguments that i came across while reading this article are that McDonald’s is a cultural colonization that overwhelms locally own businesses and devours local culture, and individuals have fought to keep McDonald’s out. Kincheloe talks about how communities hated that McDonlads attempted to enter their area while they strongly opposed it being there. Also how tensions got so intense that Kroc ordered high walls to be built around construction sites to keep them hidden from the locals. Another argument is that childhood is not and has never been an unchanging developmental stage of humanness. Rather it is a social and economic construction tied to preventing perception of what constitutes “natural order”. Here Kincheloe talks about how industrialization and urbanization played a big part in the lives of children pertaining to McDonald’s. McDonald’s have used the development of media and techno-power to maximize their capital accumulation. Last, but not least the last main argument is that McDonald erases all differences, all conflicts, and social inequities and that they are overcome through consumption. In this argument Kincheloe discusses how consumption how McDonald’s is consuming the world and how important issues such as minimum wage, free trade, and collective bargaining are decreasing. These arguments affect US culture by showing that American cant focus on bigger issues at hand because they’re worried about a kiddie toy land known as McDonald’s. Knowing that kids think the way that McDonald’s wants them to think is also reflecting US culture by showing that a fast food place determines how a child thinks. We can relate this article to the Appalachian region because there culture also determines how they think. For example being away from technology, and only around a few people all your life will naturally decrease your social skills. Also their living style reflects how they think about everyday situations.

Help Received: Kincheloe Article Deondre Anderson

Essay Prompt 3

I think Steinberg chose this form to show that we were all created differently but equal and that in the bible it does not define us by the color of our skin, how we dress, or the contents of our bodies. This rhetorical choice works in terms of Steinberg’s argument because she talks about how different kinds of barbies were created but in the end they all remained equal. She discusses how both male and female “barbies” had no private parts. Being that ken is a male barbie he should possess genitals. Steinberg also talks about how some barbie dolls were white, black, Hispanic, and Asian. Even though the ethnicity of the doll changed the features of them stayed the same. Steinberg also brings up the fact that ‘Barbie” was an interchangeable doll meaning that she was able to wear all different styles out outfit, and how as a kid she would try not to wear the same outfit for at least a month. One day she slipped up and got caught wearing the same outfit and the class noticed. Along with why Steinberg chose this form i think this taught her that no matter how many different outfits we wear, were still the same person, and are all still equal.

Help Received: Steinberg Article Deondre Anderson

 

Essay Prompt 5

When searching the terms redneck and hillbilly these are the results that I have found. A hillbilly refers to one as being an unsophisticated country person, associated originally with the remote regions of the Appalachians. A redneck is a working class white person especially a politically reactionary one from a rural area. Hillbilly was used in a derogatory way to say a hillbilly is someone not as sophisticated as an everyday person, basically lacking the most basic social skills one should have. Redneck was used a derogatory term to say someone was racist. I was not able to find a way in which the terms were used positively. When searching the term hillbilly images came up of people with messed up teeth and someone holding a gun. When searching the term redneck images of the confederate flag came up. I see people using the term hillbilly in a mean spirited way when they talk about someone being different from what they deem as the “norm” or when they see somebody as less fit for society. I see people using the term hillbilly in a mean spirited way when they talk about someone being racist. I saw where Appalachians used these terms for something they’re proud of by stating that they’re cultural and political markers. There are differences between the two terms as hillbilly means unsophisticated and redneck means a working-class white person. There also is a difference between the people that use them, as one group may use it as an insult while another as a compliment. A person can be redneck with hillbilly characteristics.

Work Cited

“Hillbilly.” Hillbilly – Google Search. Google, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

Kranitz, Stacy. “What It Means to Be a ‘Redneck’ or a ‘Hillbilly’ | VICE | United States.” VICE. VICE, 27 Apr. 2016. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.

“Redneck.” Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.