Brokeback Mountain

The year was 1997. Rip Van Winkle is lying in bed and dreading going to work. Rip was pay phone technician with Bellsouth. He was rather lazy so this job suited him perfectly. All he had to do was drive around and repair pay phones and collect the money. Rip had been married for fifteen years. During these fifteen years, he had been bossed around daily by his wife. Today wasn’t any different. His wife, Dame Van Winkle, stormed into the bedroom and demanded that he get up. Rip replied to her in…

In the video, “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains”, news correspondent Diane Sawyer introduces the viewers to various families and individuals living in poverty stricken communities in the Central Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. According to the program, the people living there are descendants of pioneers and legendary fighters in the American military. “They are brave, tough, wary of outsiders, steeped in family and faith” (20/20). This is an area of the country that is experiencing…

One of the themes, and the most prominent one, seems to be Vance’s explain of what it means to be a “hillbilly” and what the title entails. Having grown up in towns such as Jackson and Middletown, towns largely populated by emigrants from Eastern Kentucky, JD frequently makes a point to describe what it means to be a hillbilly. He says that hillbillies are white Americans of Scottish-Irish decent. He explains that “poverty is a family tradition” because for quite some time they have been people…

Dian Fossey was a zoologist known for researching endangered gorillas. She researched the gorillas in the Rwandan Mountain Forest. She was murdered and nobody knew it was going to happen. Dian Fossey was only 53 years old when she was killed. She did not go to College to be a zoologist, she went to school to become a occupational therapist. Occupational Therapy is to help with mental, physical, and cognitive disorder. She had a great and unique talent. Though she was never assaulted, the…

Appalachia is a ticking time bomb! This is because the coal mining industry is on a constant downfall. The failing coal mine industry has brought about many new ideas to try and improve the economy. In the past the Appalachia was a very thriving economy it is like our modern-day Atlanta. Every and anyone need or used coal in some way shape or form. This kept all of the people in Appalachia having a job. But as the time went on the use for coal has dropped. People are reverting to alternate…

Mountain Men came to exist throughout the 1800’s, but were at their peak between 1830 to 1850 mainly because of the Fur Trade. There was never a large number of mountain men to exist. Who can blame them? Living this sort of lifestyle was never easy; even for those who have acquired the knowledge needed to survive. They faced many obstacles while traveling from place to place such as extreme temperatures, starvation, and attacks from Indians and Grizzly Bears. They played a large role in the fur…

screening of the documentary film, Jumbo Wild, directed by Nick Waggoner, and it took place mostly at Jumbo Glacier/Valley which is designated as a mountain resort municipality in the East Kootenay region of southeast British Columbia, Canada. It is a massive, breathtaking range of mountain peaks and glaciers that is part of the Purcell Range in the Columbia Mountains located near the edge of Jumbo Creek. What interested me initially in the movie and why I decided to pick this movie from all the…

A few months ago, my cousin Mark invited me to help on his farm. I accepted his invitation, knowing he would pay me handsomely. However, when I set foot on the farm, one thought came to mind: what a dump! Mark 's farm was so pitiful one could mistake it for a junkyard. One thing that stuck out to me was his cattle. The poor creatures did not have anything to eat. All of Mark 's grass was dead, and I could count every cow 's ribs from a football field away. As I roamed around Mark 's farm, it…

Nest” both poets Ron Rash and Robert Morgan describe to readers what it was like to be raised in the southern Appalachian Mountains as a child throughout seasons of life. Both poets Rash and Morgan were natives to the land of southwest North Carolina and created poems that would allow readers to interpret what life was like for these two growing up in the Appalachian Mountains. The authors write in narratives that are delightful to the senses and use imagery to assist readers in the…

up against your jacket. But there’s no need to strap in or grab your poles. Instead, you grab the handle bars and push off, cruising on the three “skis” of Snogo, a new downhill snow bike due to hit the market in early 2016. “I wouldn’t be on the mountain if it wasn’t for ski bikes,” says Obed Marrder,…