Many stereotypes exist regarding Appalachia, which have been discussed at length in the materials of the class ERH-303WX. These stereotypes have been gleaned from first hand sources depicting those stereotypes, essays and articles by Appalachians, as well as non-Appalachians, critiquing these stereotypes, and histories of Appalachia providing explanations of these stereotypes. In the culminating project of the course, an Appalachian native was interviewed, allowing an additional perspective on how Appalachians view themselves. Over the course of the interview, which focused on stereotypes regarding Appalachians and the relationship between Appalachians and non-Appalachians, it was brought up that the best way to combat stereotypes, of any group of people, was to get to know people of that group. This was the most important part of the interview, as it provides a new perspective on Appalachians after having spent having an entire class spent discussing the stereotypes about them.
The Appalachian interviewed for this essay was a twenty-two year old male cadet of the Virginia Military Institute, who, for the sake of anonymity, will be referred to as Anon for this essay. Anon is a first class cadet, mechanical engineering major and commissioning into the United States Navy following his graduation. He is a native of Elizabethton, Tennessee, having lived there all of his life. The questions revolved around perceptions of Appalachians, specifically aspects and perceptions of the Appalachian culture, specifically regarding stereotypes. Further questions revolved around how Anon, as an Appalachian, viewed non-Appalachians.
Many of his answers regarding Appalachia reinforced what ERH-303WX has covered. Anon believed that the most common stereotype of Appalachians was the isolated, uneducated hillbilly, which he found to be frustrating when people automatically assumed that stereotype applied to Appalachians when they first find out that he is from Appalachia. However, he also supported their right to believe or perpetuate that stereotype, as it is free speech. He also finds some humor in it, as he does know people who fit the hillbilly stereotype.
Anon also promoted some other aspects of Appalachian culture that could be and have been perceived as stereotypes, such as a focus on family and community, friendliness and common courtesy, which he found to be important aspects of Appalachian culture. He was also had an enjoyment of what could be seen as stereotypical Appalachian food, such as fried chicken and grits.
Of particular note, however, were his responses to questions regarding comparisons of different regions, most broadly between Appalachia and non-Appalachian, but also between the South, the North, Appalachia and non-Appalachian regions. He believed that different regions of Appalachia were both different from each other as well as sharing a common heritage as a result of these regions being traditionally being difficult to access, as well as having few to no major resources as a whole. Moreover, he was of the opinion that Appalachia as a whole more closely aligned with the South, based on negative treatment of the region as a whole following the Civil War despite regions of Appalachia heavily contributing to both sides of the conflict. These views corroborate some of the historical record of Appalachia as looked at in the ERH-303WX course, as well as many research done in the course focusing on the stereotypes.
However, what is of particular note are the solutions to the negative stereotypes about Appalachia that Anon mentioned in response to a line of questions regarding perceptions of non-Appalachians. Firstly, he wished that people would know more about the history of Appalachia. Specific areas of history that he brought up were the immigrants that settled Appalachia, specifically to the region of Tennessee where he was from, which he believed to be from the Scottish highlands. This is somewhat similar to the theories about how Appalachians speak a form of Shakespearean English disproven in ERH-303WX. His understanding, however, seemed to be more in line of the record of the Pennsylvania Dutch, or Germans who settled in Pennsylvania, knowledge of which is based in historical records. Moreover, he brought up a group of Appalachians who were particularly effective in fighting the British, although he could not remember what they were called.
Of particular note, however, Anon put forth that as someone gets to know a larger number of people from a region, whether it is Appalachia or not, one can begin to develop different views of a region. More specifically, he contended that this would lead to an individual’s views being changed in regards to stereotypes, as the people that they would meet would as a matter of course have many individual qualities, allowing them to be seen in a different light rather than in the light of a certain stereotype.
This is something that was not well covered in ERH-303WX. While his former opinion that more information about Appalachia would aid in working against stereotypes were in line with much of the subject material in the course, getting to know people in Appalachia may be the most effective resort in acknowledging and changing Appalachian stereotypes. Of course, in practice this would be much more difficult. In a modern society, however, this is much more likely than when Harney and Frost wrote their essays about Appalachia and its people. As demonstrated by the interview this essay covers, interactions between non-Appalachians such as the interviewer and Appalachians is not uncommon in environments such as college.
This gives reason for hope that Appalachian stereotypes, specifically the negative ones such as the hillbilly stereotype mentioned by Anon, may eventually be eliminated, as more and more people encounter Appalachians. Even interacting with people who have had interactions with Appalachians, such as this essay’s author, can prove to be useful, as these people, like Anon put forth, have a different perspective on Appalachians and are therefore unlikely to aid in perpetuating negative stereotypes. Moreover, although this is an ideal, positive stereotypes may be presented of Appalachia, such as those valued by Anon, for example the values placed on community.

 
Interview Transcript

ERH-303WX-01
Interview Project Transcipt

Note: Transcript has been edited for clarity and redundancy. The name of the interviewee has been changed to “Anon” for confidentiality. The interviewer will be referred to as “Inter”

Inter: Where did you grow up within Appalachia?
Anon: Elizabethton, Tennessee (Indecipherable)
Inter: About how far from the national park did you say it was
Anon: Approximately 30 miles from the Cherokee National Forest
Inter: Do you identify yourself as Appalachian? If so, why? If not, why not?
Anon: I do so because I grew up in that area all my life and in that culture.
Inter: Ok, what would you describe as aspects of Appalachian people and Appalachian culture?
Anon: I would say strong family ties and a very heavy emphasis on religion. And with that, comes the community ties with the church group and extended family. It’s a very small, inclusive group.
Inter: Can you tell if someone is from Appalachia or is not from the region? If so, how do you know?
Anon: Accent is usually a good give away. I’m sure you can hear mine. Back home, I do not have a very heavy accent.
Inter: Something that I think should be noted is how one says ‘Appalachia’. Could you go over how you corrected me on how I say ‘Appal (a) sha’ or Appal (ah) cha)?
Anon: Okay, so most people out here that say ‘Appal(a)sha’ are not from around. I grew up around that here and I’ve only heard the ‘Appal(ah)chan’ mountains and the ‘Appal(ah)chan’ region. I believe it should be called ‘Appal(ah)chia’ because the people there call it ‘Appal(ah)cha’. It is people who are not from there who call it ‘Appal(a)sha’.
Inter: That’s actually a very good point. Thank you for bringing that up.
Inter: Do you consider Appalachians to be culturally different in any ways from other people in the US or the world? If so, how so?
Anon: You can actually trace the roots back to the Scottish herdsman who emigrated here, I’m not sure when, maybe a hundred years ago. Its in a book I read by Malcolm Gladwell. And he speaks about how we are very similar to the Scottish Highland(ers)… a lot of those people moved here. And you can see that a lot of the ethiticity is of Scottish or English decent. (Asks for the full question again)
Inter: (see above question)
Anon: It goes back to what I said earlier. A large part of the culture is religion and family. You can see there’s a strong bond between you and a negative outlook for anyone who’s (from) outside (of) the region, cause it’s easy to tell the difference.
Inter: This next question actually plays onto that very well.
Inter: What role (if any) does family play in your life?
Anon: Theyre very important. I grew up wtth both my parents. And a lot of friends. And even though there are a lot of split families in my region, they are still really close together. Its really emphasized that you should take care of your parents and they take care of you.
Inter: Growing up, do you remember Appalachians being portrayed in the media and popular culture?
Anon: Yes. Usually it’s the dumb redneck. Like one of the more favorite shows is Beverly Hillbillies. So usually it is a negative stereotype.
Inter: What is your opinion of these stereotypes? Do you find them humorous, disrespectful, would you rather them be something else?
Anon: It’s both. You can’t be offended by it. It’s a free country and free speech, and I do know people like that. So it is humorous and you can relate to it. But when people that just met you automatically assume you’re like that stereotype when they’ve never met you, that’s when I dislike it. But the view itself I find humorous.
Inter: Do you or friends or family prepare or eat certain kinds of foods that you would consider to be Appalachian? If so, what are some examples?
Anon: Yes, We call it ‘home cooking’. Its like fried chicken, fried okra, grits, food like that. I want to say it’s the closest region but what we call it is different and it’s a different group that eats it, but when I visited California, they would call it ‘soul food’, whereas back home we would call it ‘country cooking’ and it is just very common food, (like) sweet tea is a very big staple.
Inter: What would you consider to be respectful in your community and why?
Anon: Respectful as in… gestures?
Inter: Yes, gestures, conversation, forms of address, maybe holding open the door for other people, stuff like that>
Anon: Yes that’s actually a very common gesture. I can remember when my girlfriend traveled out of state, she told me it took her time to get used to not having people not holding the door oen for her all the time. But stuff like that, always be kind and respectful to other people is a big deal.
Inter: Ok. What would you consider to be disrespectful in your community, the converse of the previous question as it were?
Anon: Open rudeness.
Inter: Could you give an example of something like that?
Anon: Someone scoffing or insulting you with very little reason..
Inter: This might or might not tie into the previous question, but what would you think is a common misconception about the Appalachian people?
Anon: Id say mostly the stereotype is the redneck. There broke, uneducated, and…. they could be hermits.
Inter: What would you want young people to know about Appalachian people and their culture and to tie that into the previous question, how would you like them to fix their stereotypes?
Anon: I would like to put more lights on Appalachia and its history, what it has contributed. It goes back as far as the ‘minute men’…. I’m not sure about the name for that.

Anon: I think the ‘minute men’ were up north. I will find the source for you, but it was a group of men that were fighting the British during the Revolutionary War and they were very successful.

I would like for more people to learn more about it and to be exposed to more stereotypes than the uneducated hillbilly.
Inter: Okay another question. Other than the stereotype of hillbilly, are there any other stereotypes that you would like to bring up or is that the biggest one you encountered from non-Appalachians?
Anon: That is the mainly largest one, there just being the whole country music stereotype. You see in every country music video that style, but that does exist.
Inter: Do you think that there are any positive stereotypes of Appalachians?
Anon: I do, a big thing is that there’s a kindness and generosity towards strangers. In the area, I know a lot of people who are nice just out of their goodwill.
Inter: Alright, there’s one more question and then we might go back to some of these other questions and flesh them out. Do you think that the culture of VMI and or the military compare to your perceptions of Appalachian culture…. or do you think its just a result of there being a lot of Southerners (at VMI)
Anon: I think that there are many aspects of Southern culture because VMI was built in the South. Like you were taught to tip your hat to ladies as a rat and I believe that’s more of a culture thing than a military thing.
Inter: Do you see some and these go back to (an earlier question) do you see tipping your hat as something that is seen in Appalachia or is that just a military thing.
Anon: Ive actually not seen it in either case. Tipping your hat just seems to me to be an older thing to do. But it is in the Appalachian culture to be very respectful towards women and females.
Inter: So you think some of VMI and military practices are more old timey and don’t correlate?
Anon: Sort of. VMI is very traditional. It may have been done in the past. But you can see the correlations – be respectful towards women, very respectful to your superiors, a strong bind between what you call your family.

Inter: Do you connect mining in Appalachia because of the history of say coal mining in Appalachia.
Anon: Not in my area. I know you see a lot of mining up north towards West Virginia.
Inter: Do you think there are different definitions of Appalachia between say Tenessee and West Virginia or Tennessee and North Georgia?
Anon: I believe that there are different subcultures, but they are more similar than they are to a Texan or a Californian. But to me and a West Virginian there are differences.
Inter: Could you go over a difference that you have with say a West Virginia?
Anon: Nothing comes to mind, but you could say that we are different because of our isolation.
Inter: That’s an interesting thought, as it is connected with the Appalachian hillbilly. You think the hillbilly stereotype is incorrect, but you think the stereotype is correct?
Anon: I believe it is very correct because historically, infrastructure is so difficult to develop here. And even that there were not many rich resources you could develop so there were not large communities. So that’s why there would be culturally different, I would be hundreds of miles away from someone in West Virginia. And where they grew up in a coal mining town, despite having similar cultures, over hundreds of years, (we) could have developed differently.
Inter: Here’s a follow up question. As a Appalachian, what are some stereotypes of non-Appalachians? What are some common themes?

Anon: Myself and in my community see it as a very rushed lifestyle, very money focused lifestyle, where people move around really fast…. much more fast paced.
Inter: Do you see non-Appalachians as more disrespectful?

Anon: I think part of it is that rushed mentality. Like with that rushed mentality, they might just brush past you, whereas in my hometown at a fair or something, we walk slow and talk to people. And it’s very slow paced.
Inter: Have you had the opportunity to go outside of Appalachia to study abroad or things like that?
Anon: Yes, I’ve been as far as California, I lived there for three months. Ive been to Bolivia.
Inter: ….. Did you notice that people tended to greet you more in your hometown of Elizabethton than in California?
Anon: Much more
Inter: And in Bolivia?
Anon: I was mainly in a (small) village where I was (able to develop relations)…, whereas in California, you’d very rarely talk to complete strangers.

Inter: How would you differentiate Appalachian culture and Southern culture if you would differentiate them at all?
Anon: I would say Appalachian is more of a subculture of Southern culture (there is a dominant culture, but it is all very Southern, comes from Southern roots)
Inter: Have you noticed that say someone from California would treat you different that someone from say NOVA or another part of the South?
Anon: Yes. Many of the times I was in California, people would ask where I was from just because my accent was so foreign to them.
Inter: Your accent has gotten brought up before. If you were talking to someone from Mississippi, would your accent not get brought up as much? Do you guys have similar accents?
Anon: We have different accents, but its more of a Southern roots. We both drop our ‘g’s’, longer vowels,.. but you can still tell the difference between our accents. But (There’s no) ‘you have an accent where are you from?’… we can tell we’re both Southern, just from different areas.
Inter: Now of course, back in the Civil War, certain parts of Appalachia, specifically Kentucky and Tennessee and West Virginians……….does that give you a different perspective, your region a different perspective on the Civil War? Or would you still consider yourself pro-Southern or pro-Union?
Anon: Well because of the discrimination the entire South faced after the War, it was very pushed to a Southern mentality to where now everyone is very pro-Southern, pro-Confederacy .. in a much more favorable light.
Inter: Do you think this ties back to the Appalachian stereotypes? Do you get those more from someone from say Wisconsin or Massachusetts than from someone from NOVA or Florida?
Anon: In what regard? To elaborate on my previous statement, (one of the reasons) people fought for one side or the other was very community driven, so if a town was very pro- Northern, many of the people in that town would go to fight for the North, whereas if a town was very pro-Southern, most of the people in that town would go to fight for the South. And I believe that it was very divided…… but back to my previous statement, even though (many) Tennesseans fought for the North, they were made to pay for it……(angering some people and making them) embrace the Southern mentality.
Inter: Other than being faced paced, do you think there is another stereotype, like they are dismissive of Appalachians or disrespectful, not necessarily from being fast paced?
Anon: Towards Southerners or towards everyone?
Inter: Either, or.
Anon: I think there’s a negative bias against us because of those bad stereotypes of bad hillbillies…..but I think that’s because of the bad stereotypes and not from them being from the North.
Inter: Is there that cuts back the other way, that Northerners are all city folk or something like that?
Anon: I believe that its all relationships. When you get to know someone from the North, you see them in a different light and as you get to know more people, you get to know that they’re not all the same. Expanding your horizons and talking to people.
Inter: Is there anything not covered in this interview that you would like to bring up about Appalachia?
Anon: I believe it was covered pretty well as far as the dialects, the people, how we perceive each other and outsiders. Is there anything else that I can further elaborate on?
Inter: Do you think this interview focused too much on stereotypes… or on negative stereotypes? (Are there things specific to Tennessee you would like to bring up)?
Anon: I think a large point of it was different viewpoints. Where I grew up, there is more of an emphasis on nature, to be a little bit slower, to sit back and watch, not to meditate, but to observe.
Inter: If I might ask, this is something very specific to you…. you are going into the Navy as a mechanical engineer, something that is very fast paced. Do you think (that is view of life) has helped you as a mechanical engineer? How would you tie those two together?
Anon: I see it in a very positive light, because I am not always slow, but when push comes to shove I can work fast…..whenever in my off time I can relax more.
Inter: (To clarify) do you think the ability to sit back and enjoy life helps you to deal with the high work load?
Anon: Yes I do. Because from there it’s not always I am going from this test to this formation to this,.. I might have to but when its over I can sit back and enjoy (nature) and clear my mind from all the clutter and noise.

End of Interview

Not all analysis of the film Deliverance comes from the period in which it was made. A follow up to the film was undertaken by Marketplace, an organization focusing on radio and podcast broadcasting. Some of its reporters and associated documentary producers visited Rabun County, Georgia forty years after Deliverance to examine its impact on the area.
They found that the film produced mixed feelings in the area. The amount of money that it brought to the area is not insubstantial. This was done both by making the county a tourist destination, as well as a style of resort area, with wealthier non-natives buying or building lake side homes as a result of the natural beauty of the area as portrayed in Deliverance. Moreover, people like Billy Redden, who portrayed the boy who participated in the Dueling Banjos sequence, was glad to have participated in the film.
However, the documentary producers also found that the film negatively impacted the area. Among other things, people from Rabun County were often denied jobs when it was found out where they were from on the basis of the stereotypes perpetuated in the film. Additionally, although the film brought money into the region, it was not evenly distributed. Billy Redden, while appreciative of his role, received almost no money from his role in the film.

Word Count: 221
HR: https://www.marketplace.org/2012/08/22/life/40-years-later-deliverance-causes-mixed-feelings-georgia – article

Nathaniel Breier
ERH-3-3WX-01
Essay Prompt 7
Word Count: 266

The region of Appalachia is commonly presented as a backward land full of what could only be described as lesser peoples, not quite up to the standards of the rest of the country. Whether that is a cause for potential, as described in the articles of Harney and Frost, or as threats as in the movie Deliverance, the description is still the same. However, as can be gleaned from other chapters and articles, this stereotype of Appalachians is quite the opposite of the truth. In Montgomery’s article about the language of the Appalachia, he disproves the ideas of Harney and Frost that the people of Appalachia represent some earlier version of the people in the rest of the country in terms of language at least.
And as described in Kincheloe’s and Steinberg’s articles, the region is still affected by big name brands such as McDonald’s and Barbie respectively and in much the same way as the rest of the country. This includes the marketing schemes that the brands utilize, such as exploiting the divide between older and younger generations, as in Kincheloe’s article.
Lastly, as discussed in Appalachia: A History, how these stereotypes came to be is shown, as well as support for the above points. These stereotypes have existed since before the Civil War, but would have been good fodder for the opposing armies that occupied the region at the time. Additionally, later in the region’s history, the stereotype reflects the desire of the various business interests in the region to exploit it for such items as coal and timber without regard for its natives.

Nate Breier
ERH-303WX-01
Prompt 5
Word Count: 359

The language we use to communicate about things is oft quite important, as it conveys ides or impressions about whatever it is we are talking about. It frequently becomes difficult to analyze what is being conveyed, as even words that are synonyms provide subtle differences in how they present what they are conveying.
Specific to Appalachia, the terms ‘hillbilly’ and ‘redneck’ are reasonable examples of two words can provide different impressions, although they are considered synonyms according to a quick Google search. The first term, ‘hillbilly’, is defined more specifically as someone being from the backwoods of the Appalachian mountains, while the second is more broadly defined as a lower class individual from a rural area seen as classless or uncouth (a word that is not seen nearly as much as it should be).
While the two terms are nearly similar, the second one, by virtue of its more detailed definition (from a Google search), may perhaps be assumed to be more frequently used, thusly requiring a more detailed definition. This is likely due to the fact that there exists a group of people who self-identify as such. Their reasons for doing so may be to fight back against the originally negative stereotype assigned to the word by expressing pride in being rural and lower class. This is not unlike how a certain Foxtrot Company began calling themselves F-Troop after having received this nickname back a decade or two back in the history of the Virginia Military Institute.
On the other hand, or perhaps on the other side of the mouth, hillbilly does not provide as many results – 19.3 million results versus 58.8 million for redneck – nor does it have as specific a definition. This may indicate that it is not as frequently used, either in the way that it was originally used for or as a reclaimed word like ‘redneck’. Of interest, it also seems to be used for a certain type of music, which may be why it has not found as flexible a usage as has redneck – it is already being used for more than one idea, so it cannot be used for something else.

Nathaniel Breier
ERH-303WX-01
Word Count: approx. 270
Date and Time: 0917 9/11/18

In his article, Kincheloe examines the methods that Mcdonald’s, as well as its founder, Ray Kroc, seek to increase their power to influence people. More specifically, Kincheloe examines what the company is seeking to influence people to do (buy its food) and how it has impacted people in doing so. In doing so, Kincheloe provides an indirect examination of American culture, one that is increasingly shaped by consumption, but is insecure in its being so. In addition, he argues that the marketing tools utilized by Mcdonald’s promote and exploit the generational divide, using the story of his parents and him going to Mcdonalds, him being fully adapted to the fast food lifestyle, with his parents struggling to keep up. The idea behind this story ties into Kincheloe’s later examination of how Mcdonald’s marketing to parents by selling itself as a way to reconnect to their children, or promoting traditional family values. Conversely, it also seeks to sell itself to children and young adults as being independent of their parents, as Kincheloe later notes, with its emphasis on youth culture with words such as ‘dude’, ‘radical’, or .’we’re into Barbie’ (pg. 43).
In terms of Appalachia, these marketing points may tie into or influence how current American culture view Appalachia. Mcdonalds attempts to use family values to sell itself, while family values are tied to the idea of Appalachia, for example. Of more interest, however, is that by promoting youth culture, with its inherent defiance of the old, Mcdonalds may be connected to the negative stereotypes of Appalachia as not keeping pace with the modern world, being stuck in the past.

Nathaniel Breier
ERH-303WX-01
Prompt 3
Word Count: Approx. 245

By beginning with a format based off of the Bible, specifically modeling passages that could be found in the Old Testament, tracing lineages and such, Steinberg draws a correspondence between how lineages begin small and then become oh so much larger with how Barbie began small and then branched out. Moreover, by modeling her introduction off of Biblical text, she sets up the argument she is making. That is, she discusses the pervasiveness of Barbie in culture, is used by culture and so on. This is no so dissimilar to how the Bible often presents in culture – shaping it by virtue of being, but also being used to shape it, just as Barbie is utilized by corporations to promote themselves.
Moreover, by beginning with a Biblical style, Steinberg connects the religious significance of the Bible with the similar obsession that many have with Barbie. It is also of interest, though likely not of deliberate intent on the author’s part, that she discusses the Western bias of Barbie while connecting it with the Bible, the central text of Christianity, which has too been criticized of having Western bias, particularly regarding its connection to imperialization. Lastly, by beginning with a farce of the Bible, her likely audience is probably psychologically shocked, making them take a mental step back, seeing something generally considered sacred flipped in such a way. This could serve the purpose of having them reconsider something, in this case Barbie, that is generally taken for granted.

Nathaniel Breier
ERH-303-01
Prompt 2
Word Count: 235 Words

In his essay, van Dijk discuss Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which he describes as a method of analyzing how things are talked about in public, to include an analysis of power structure and context. He gives several examples of where CDA is used, including feminist studies and gender inequalities, media and politics, and racism and ethnography. Of note, he mentions that CDA also relates to examinations of professional and intuitional discussions, such as in the courtroom, the medical field or even in scholarly articles and education.
These last two may be the most important, at the very least in the contexts of van Dijk’s article itself. Any article that seeks to add information to a discussion must be analyzed in terms of its Ethos, that credibility of which many students learn in their lower level English courses. As van Dijk notes in his article, if the basic premise of something, be it a scholarly article such as van Dijk’s or a chapter from a university textbook, does not conflict with a person’s belief systems, it tends to be accepted at face value.
This makes CDA all the more important, in that it must be performed on these scholarly articles, to include van Dijk’s, educational material, etc in order to evaluate what is being fed to the wider population, whom it will undoubtedly influence in their views of the society and culture in which they live.

Nathaniel Breier
ERH-303WX-01
Prompt 1

In their essays on Appalachia, Harvey and Frost present the Appalachian people in similar ways. Both present Appalachians as being what could be said as innocent, even idealized in certain regards. This is perhaps most obvious in Harney’s depiction of the girl that he calls ‘Lassie’, a simple country girl who is willing to go above and beyond what is expected of her in order to protect the reputation of the man she loves.
Likewise, in Frost’s depictions of Appalachia, he presents the people there as comparable to the original frontiersman of the country, who were so vital to its foundations. He dwells in some depth on their virtues, and even appears to defend their intelligence, making the argument that with an education tailored to their situation, they could be the reincarnation of the idealized frontiersmen to whom he compares them.
Perhaps the largest issue with these presentations is that it presumes the superiority of non-Appalachians. In Harney’s essay, there is Mrs. G——-, who is characterized as being sophisticated in a way that Lassie is not and who is able to use this sophistication to aid Lassie. Similarly, in Frost’s essay, there is the need for non-Appalachians to lend a hand as it were to lift Appalachians out of their stagnation. Both instances reflect stereotypical views of Appalachians in that, being simpler that non-Appalachians, require outside interventions in order to improve. However, this is somewhat of a gray area, as their need to improve is debatable. Frost himself gives examples such as Lincoln who were able to achieve great things through their own efforts.