After reading Whistlin’ and Crowin’ Women of Appalachia, I
have to say I was surprised by the lives many of these women were living. That was the most surprising factor of
the book to me because it’s not a normal way of living from where I live. Clearly, you’re going to have a
different lifestyle based on where you grew up, but it was interesting to see
how these women grew up in ways where education was so commonly not
recognized. I can’t imagine living
a life where men prefer I don’t go to school so I can be by their side to
provide for them around the house and our children. I couldn’t handle that lifestyle. I need more than that and education should be strongly
valued, I would think.
As for the reading, I enjoyed hearing the women’s stories
from them. It was a nice addition
to the book. It broke away from
the feeling that this was a study as well. I enjoy being thrown into someone’s story, and hearing about
their lives from their own accounts really helped me as a reader.
I mentioned in my paper, and I will here as well. I think it would have been good to find
a way to shed a little more light on the men in a positive way if
possible. Unless if this is how
most of them are, then you can’t really do so. It’s hard to imagine that every man would be like this, and
this book made me feel as though the men are all close-minded toward these
women except a select few. I have
trouble accepting that. In the
end, this book’s focus is on the women of Appalachia so it’s not a critical
factor.
I was able to relate to the way these women felt when it
came to finding their own independence through college. I have always liked to consider myself
as a pretty independent person, but I really didn’t start to feel that way
until I came to college. It has
helped me find a role I want to pursue in life and made me learn more about
what is important as well. Leaving
home behind and coming to college helped me discover a lot more about myself,
and I can tell it did the same for these women in this book.
I think you did a good job with your response. I agree with you on enjoying hearing the women’s stories. I enjoyed seeing where they started in their literacy journey where they were in the book and the obstacles they overcame. I would also agree with you that I would wanted to see a little bit more positive light shed on men. Not every man could be as awful as the men described in the book. Finally, I agree that finding independence is an important theme that the book talks about. The women certainly found it in their life to becoming literate.
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