Elegy

up and graduated as valedictorian from Lawrence High school, where he also met his future wife, Elinor White. He then attended Dartmouth University for several months, but never graduated. In 1894, he wrote his first poem; "My butterfly: an Elegy", which was published in a weekly literary journal in New York City. After the success of his first poem, he tried to propose to Elinor, but was turned down because she wanted to finish college first. After that, he decided to go on a trip to…

States grows in technology and cultures continue to mix, Americans are continuing to only focus on the big news, such as the newest iPad coming out or the violence going on around the country. J.D. Vance writes in his best-selling book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, how little people know about his type of people yet how many people are just like them. He discusses how their daily life is, how it changes throughout his childhood to how he is still affected by it in…

J.D. Vance’s memoir entitled Hillbilly Elegy, is a captivating story that elucidates his tussle, toleration, and triumph of growing up a “hillbilly” in the Appalachian region of America. This region runs through eastern North America, stretching from Alabama to New York and covering every hillbilly neighborhood in between. Vance, a proud hillbilly himself, grew up in this region, but spent a majority of his time in Jackson, Kentucky and Middletown, Ohio. Vance begins his memoir by describing his…

multiple sources, ranging from the hills of the Appalachian Mountains, to the streets of Chicago. Both of these places come off not only as different in geography but in lifestyle as well. They also share similarities in some instances. In Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, and Our America by LeAlan Jones, and Lloyd Newman, both stories share similarities in the fact that the people in these stories are restricted by the environment in which they are raised in, but also stricken by poverty which is…

of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling or not” (dictionary.com). Although according to J.D. Vance his definition of family is totally opposite, Vance never had the typical family and that is what his book Hillbilly Elegy is all about. In the book Vance’s mother, Bev Vance, isn’t really around. She is addicted to drugs and doesn’t really keep up with the mother role, so Mamaw overtakes the mother role and Papaw takes the father role. Vance’s book argues that no…

include all aspects of the subject of their writing, no matter how disturbing or gruesome. These universal truths are exactly that: the truth, and are necessary in order to write from the heart. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard and Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance are both memoirs regarding growing up in America, including many universal truths, supporting Faulkner’s idea that the writer has a duty to include these. The purpose of…

In America today, there are many children who live in a household that could be considered a foreign nation to another child who lived is the same neighborhood. In the book Hillbilly Elegy, author J.D. Vance gives the reader an inside look at growing up in the Appalachian Hillbilly culture that deals with not only poverty, but domestic violence as well. Vance also explains how he overcame the stereotypical “hillbilly” lifestyle into maturity. Vance explains how he grew up in an atmosphere that…

One of the issues mentioned in the book, Hillbilly Elegy, that relates to today’s society and my own personal experiences is the inability to openly love and trust loved ones. In today’s society, the generation has commonly been described as “lost” or ‘confused”. Many teenagers and adults tend to struggle with trust. The reason being that relationships have been showcased in such a negative and cynical light which cause many people in today’s society tend to focus on the bad aspects of a…

an impartial or neutral position on, as it sparks a lot of controversy, due to its basis on the premise that those in the lower class are in their position by choice. J.D. Vance increasingly proves this statement through his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy”, with his focus on the Appalachian culture and their resistance to personal agency. Vance compellingly criticizes the lower class and specifically Appalachian culture and discusses that they are poor by their own choice and mindset through…

Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, is one of the few cases seen in the social class of hillbillies that has made it past the societal oppression. Vance is a Yale law school graduate, and is moving in life on a successful path. Throughout his memoir, Vance takes a look into his past…