Appalachia Culture Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people have different views on what Appalachia is, I grew up thinking that Appalachia meant people were dirty, poor, illiterate, inbreed and we also called them mountain people. As I grew up I realized that most of the things they went through and had a hard time with, I was dealing with the same problems. So what exactly is Appalachia? Well you will find out as you read on.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Appalachia is no longer the land of severe poverty that it was three decades ago, now the poverty rate of one in 15 is close to the national average. The number of adults who have received a high school diploma has also jumped from one out of three to two out of three; and the infant death rate has been cut in half. Comparing the 391 counties in the Appalachian Regional Commission with counties outside the region that were similar to Appalachian counties in the 1960s, researchers found that Appalachian counties grew significantly faster than their counterparts. Specifically, overall income in Appalachia grew 48 percent faster; per capita income grew 17 percent faster; and population grew five percent faster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Appalachian mountaineers have been discovered and forgotten many times. Their primitive agriculture disrupted by foragers and incessant guerrilla warfare, thousands of them straggled out of the mountains in search of food and shelter. Their plight was brought to the attention of President Lincoln, who promised that after the war a way would be found to aid the poor mountain people whom the world had bypassed and forgotten for so long. The war ended, President Lincoln was assassinated, and so therefore Appalachia was forgotten. Appalachian people are considered a separate culture, made up of many unique backgrounds - Native Americans, Irish, English and Scotch, and then a third immigration of Germans and Poles - all blended together across the region. The mountains also figure into the uniqueness of Appalachia. The mountains kept Appalachia isolated from the rest of the country and from other people's involvement in their lives that they developed a distinctive culture. (arministry.org) The life in the wilderness and the continuing isolation of Appalachian people has made us different from most other Americans. The Appalachian value system that influences attitudes and behavior is diff... ...the only major geologic event in the history of the Appalachians. Several glaciers have covered parts of the Northern Appalachians over the last three million years. (Appalachian tales) The mountains have been there ever since and that is how they were formed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So what is Appalachia? Appalachia is no different from any other person in this world. The people had to struggle just as bad as some of us did, but were criticized because they lived in the mountains or away from other people. They didn’t know that once they sold their land for the oil miners that they would loose everything and eventually be run out from their own homes. They couldn’t help being poor or not being able to go to school and get the proper education like most of us got. So why do we still have these same stereotypes now as they had before? One description was that they walked barefoot and I guess I’m part of the Appalachian region because I walk outside almost everyday barefoot even though I had my thoughts about which Appalachian people were. Appalachia is part of our history that people don’t know much about or they wouldn’t have these stereotypes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

“Trash” by Andy Mulligan Essay

Rat, is a small but clever boy who really does live up to his name. He is fast but sneaky, dirty but charming and is friendly. Rat is always getting things from the mission school as he appears to be sweet and useless. He saves the money that he is giving so, surprisingly is one of the riches people on the dump. Quotes about/by Rat: â€Å"Rat is a boy- three or four years younger than me. His real name is Jun-Jun. Nobody calls him that, though, because he lived with the rats and has come to look like one. He was the only kid in Behala that I knew of who had no family at all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  P.19 â€Å"The kid was sitting up, just in his shorts, gazing at me with frightened eyes and his big broken teeth sticking out of his mouth.† P.22 â€Å"I am the best hearer, the best jumper, the best runner-they think I brag, but they know it’s true!† P.159 â€Å"Rat saw a once we had to dive back in among them†¦ It was the smarted thing he ever did.† P.163 Trash (2010), a novel by Andy Mulligan, ends with the protagonists Raphael, Gardo and Rat starting their new life together. In the course of the novel, they faced many challenges and their friendships grows. Each character has qualities which helped build this friendship. Raphael shows the qualities of friendliness, kindness, caring and self less. Gardo shows the qualities of empathy, cleverness and leadership. Rat shows the qualities of trustfulness, sneakiness and thoughtful. The boy’s friendship holds the key to their survival, helping them to leave the dumpsite and find a better life. Raphael’s key qualities are friendliness, selfless and clever. Raphael shows the quality of friendly in the scene where he listen to Rat when nobody knows what he is doing. A quote which gives evidence of this quality is â€Å"and I’d listen to his chit chat singing† (Mulligan,2011, p.23). Another important quality that Raphael shows is selfless. He demonstrates this quality in the scene where he wants to give Rat some food for him to eat. A quote which gives evidence of this quality is â€Å"I thought, I should have brought him a bit of food† (Mulligan, 2011, pg.22). Finally, Raphael’s quality of clever is shown in the scene where he trying to figure out the code for the words. A quote which gives evidence of this quality is â€Å" go to the map ref where we lay look for the brightest my child.† (Mulligan, 2011 , pg.152). All of these qualities help Raphael to overcome his hardships and  be a good friend to Gardo and Raphael†¦.

Prime Minister Joe Clark Biography

At the age of 39, Joe Clark became the youngest Prime Minister of Canada in 1979. A fiscal conservative, Joe Clark, and his minority government were defeated after just nine months in power on a non-confidence motion on a budget of tax increases and program cuts. After losing the 1980 election, Joe Clark stayed on as Leader of the Opposition. When Brian Mulroney took over as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1983 and then Prime Minister in 1984, Joe Clark continued as an effective Minister of External Relations and Minister for Constitutional Affairs. Joe Clark left politics in 1993 to work as an international business consultant, but returned as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1998 to 2003. Prime Minister of Canada:Â  1979-80Birth:Â  June 5, 1939, in High River, AlbertaEducation:Â  BA - Political Science - University of Alberta, MA - Political Science - University of AlbertaProfessions:Â  Professor and international business consultantPolitical Affiliation:Â  Progressive ConservativeRidings (Electoral Districts):Â  Rocky Mountain 1972-79, Yellowhead 1979-93, Kings-Hants 2000, Calgary Centre 2000-04 Political Career of Joe Clark Joe Clark began his political career as Director of Organization for the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party from 1966 to 1967. He was Special Assistant to a Conservative member of parliament Davie Fulton in 1967. He served as Executive Assistant to a Conservative member of parliament Robert Stanfield from 1967 to 1970. Joe Clark was first elected to the House of Commons in 1972. He was elected as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1976 and was Leader of the Opposition until 1979. Joe Clark was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada after the 1979 general election. The Conservative government was defeated in 1980. Joe Clark was again Leader of the Opposition from 1890 to 1983. Joe Clark called a Progressive Conservative Party leadership convention and lost the party leadership to Brian Mulroney in 1983. In the Mulroney government, Joe Clark served as Minister of External Affairs from 1984 to 1991. He was President of the Privy Council and Minister Responsible for Constitutional Affairs from 1991 to 1993. Joe Clark did not run in the 1993 general election. Joe Clark returned as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1998. He was re-elected to the House of Commons in 2000. In 2002, Joe Clark said he had carried the Progressive Conservative Party as far as he could. Joe Clarks resignation as Progressive Conservative Party leader was effective at the leadership convention in May 2003. Unhappy with the subsequent merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Alliance Party into the new Conservative Party of Canada, Joe Clark decided not to run in the 2004 general election.