“An April Day” Analyzation:-Malika Srinivasan In this poem Cotter is saying that he loves these beautiful days that he gets to live in the Appalachian. The aroma of the place is sweet and warming. “Sufficient is it just to live On such a day as this.” The author states that he enjoys life and living on such a beautiful day as he mentions in his poem. In the Appalachians there is so much nature and land around. The Appalachian area of the U.S. is filled with so much nature, mountain ranges, and rivers. As a child Cotter learned to read and write from his sister, Florence Olivia. She found that he was very talented and had a magical way with his words, she could also tell that he enjoyed it so much. This ties back to the poem and how blissful his words are about the things around him. Cotter learned to live in the moment and he made every day like his last. Unfortunately Cotter had to leave his college when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but that didn’t stop him from writing. When he wrote about the Appalachians it would always be good, because it reminded him of his childhood and all the playful times he had.
“Memories” Analyzation:-Malika Srinivasan The author is expressing that the Appalachians are so pretty and the aroma of the whole place is comforting. “That brought me joy-and you.”This says the Appalachians will bring joy and wonderful memories to everyone. If you compare “Memories” and “An April Day” since both of them are the same authors both poems very similar. Both of them have a happy mood and tone. “A thousand stars, like a thousand isles in a dark and placid sea, Bring memories of a golden night,” The shining gorgeous stars are bringing him small memories to remember about his experiences at the Appalachians. For Cotter the memories must’ve been calm and good because he describes his memories coming back of a “golden night”. He also describes the stars in a positive manner like, “thousands” and “placid” which corresponds to his memories. If the Appalachians brought him bad memories he would probably say something like, A thousand star, like a thousand lions in this dark and creepy swap, bring memories of a black night.
"All That Glitters Isn't Gold" Doris Betts
Analyzation- Kennedy Carver
In the short story All That Glitters Isn’t Gold, there are 5 characters mentioned throughout the piece. First two are the narrator’s mother and her father. While they’re not a huge part of the story, it is important to know their importance and how they relate with the Appalachian Culture. The mother of the narrator is a very strong christian woman, and upon reading other stories and researching, I learned that religion is a very strong thing in the Appalachian culture. Miss Carrie is also a very strong christian and believes deeply in God. Along with that, Miss Carrie is a very welcoming friend to the narrators family by letting the narrator come over everyday and stay till the day ends. The narrator also mentions how she can tell that Miss Carrie loves her, even "though she doesn’t really show it, and many people in the Appalachian culture are seen as friendly and welcoming, which she represents. Then there is Granville, who kind of goes against the flow in this story. He is an atheist who doesn’t believe in a God; this causes diversity with his mother. While he is different in that way, he is the same in the sense that he cares for the narrator and she knows it. Then there is the narrator herself, who is a bit of a listener. While researching, I read that appalachian people hate change, and when the vines by her favorite little pond are cut up, she is furious at the fact that her daily routine is messed up. But she lives an easy life and takes what she is given and makes the best of it, like the Appalachians do. The Appalachian culture has been discovered and forgotten many times, which is how I think the narrator sometimes feels. She spends most of her time thinking and observing, but never speaking. In her shoes, I bet it is very easy to feel forgotten, but to be okay with it. The Appalachians have a very easy way of living which is reflected in the simplicity of Betts short story.
“Wild Plums” Jesse Stuart
Analyzation by: Ethan Hall
In the short story, Wild Plums, Jesse Stuart writes about a high school principal's day at school during a Spring April day at the high school. When he finds out the 41 students had skipped school, he went out looking for them to punish them for “playing truant” on the spring day. During his search, he becomes distracted by the beauty of the April day, and “plays truant” for quit a while before he finds one of the students trying to write poetry. After they talk for a while, the principal decides not to punish the students who skipped school that day, but instead, in the future to implement a break from school in April. Jesse uses irony in the story when the principal, who went out to punish the students who skipped school to play on the April day, played around all day, caught up in the beauty of the day. Jesse also uses a lot of imagery to describe the April day, repeating multiple times that the day is too nice to be in school. “The smell of the earth revives him. He sees the beauty in the snow-white clusters of the wild plum blossoms. He hears music in the songs of the birds and the hum of the bees. He feels that the earth beneath him is alive with the white-hair roots of April and the trees above him are filled with the growing green-hair of April. He feels that the earth is alive with music, beauty, and song. (Paragraph 22) This suggests that Spring in the Appalachians was very beautiful to the author, and felt that he should have been outside playing during some of those days rather than in school. Jesse both attended school as a child and also became a teacher later in his life. He expresses how school was like to him both as a student through the character of Dick Martin, and also as a teacher through the characters of Principal Jason Stringer and Eustacia Pratt.
“Memories” Analyzation:-Malika Srinivasan The author is expressing that the Appalachians are so pretty and the aroma of the whole place is comforting. “That brought me joy-and you.”This says the Appalachians will bring joy and wonderful memories to everyone. If you compare “Memories” and “An April Day” since both of them are the same authors both poems very similar. Both of them have a happy mood and tone. “A thousand stars, like a thousand isles in a dark and placid sea, Bring memories of a golden night,” The shining gorgeous stars are bringing him small memories to remember about his experiences at the Appalachians. For Cotter the memories must’ve been calm and good because he describes his memories coming back of a “golden night”. He also describes the stars in a positive manner like, “thousands” and “placid” which corresponds to his memories. If the Appalachians brought him bad memories he would probably say something like, A thousand star, like a thousand lions in this dark and creepy swap, bring memories of a black night.
"All That Glitters Isn't Gold" Doris Betts
Analyzation- Kennedy Carver
In the short story All That Glitters Isn’t Gold, there are 5 characters mentioned throughout the piece. First two are the narrator’s mother and her father. While they’re not a huge part of the story, it is important to know their importance and how they relate with the Appalachian Culture. The mother of the narrator is a very strong christian woman, and upon reading other stories and researching, I learned that religion is a very strong thing in the Appalachian culture. Miss Carrie is also a very strong christian and believes deeply in God. Along with that, Miss Carrie is a very welcoming friend to the narrators family by letting the narrator come over everyday and stay till the day ends. The narrator also mentions how she can tell that Miss Carrie loves her, even "though she doesn’t really show it, and many people in the Appalachian culture are seen as friendly and welcoming, which she represents. Then there is Granville, who kind of goes against the flow in this story. He is an atheist who doesn’t believe in a God; this causes diversity with his mother. While he is different in that way, he is the same in the sense that he cares for the narrator and she knows it. Then there is the narrator herself, who is a bit of a listener. While researching, I read that appalachian people hate change, and when the vines by her favorite little pond are cut up, she is furious at the fact that her daily routine is messed up. But she lives an easy life and takes what she is given and makes the best of it, like the Appalachians do. The Appalachian culture has been discovered and forgotten many times, which is how I think the narrator sometimes feels. She spends most of her time thinking and observing, but never speaking. In her shoes, I bet it is very easy to feel forgotten, but to be okay with it. The Appalachians have a very easy way of living which is reflected in the simplicity of Betts short story.
“Wild Plums” Jesse Stuart
Analyzation by: Ethan Hall
In the short story, Wild Plums, Jesse Stuart writes about a high school principal's day at school during a Spring April day at the high school. When he finds out the 41 students had skipped school, he went out looking for them to punish them for “playing truant” on the spring day. During his search, he becomes distracted by the beauty of the April day, and “plays truant” for quit a while before he finds one of the students trying to write poetry. After they talk for a while, the principal decides not to punish the students who skipped school that day, but instead, in the future to implement a break from school in April. Jesse uses irony in the story when the principal, who went out to punish the students who skipped school to play on the April day, played around all day, caught up in the beauty of the day. Jesse also uses a lot of imagery to describe the April day, repeating multiple times that the day is too nice to be in school. “The smell of the earth revives him. He sees the beauty in the snow-white clusters of the wild plum blossoms. He hears music in the songs of the birds and the hum of the bees. He feels that the earth beneath him is alive with the white-hair roots of April and the trees above him are filled with the growing green-hair of April. He feels that the earth is alive with music, beauty, and song. (Paragraph 22) This suggests that Spring in the Appalachians was very beautiful to the author, and felt that he should have been outside playing during some of those days rather than in school. Jesse both attended school as a child and also became a teacher later in his life. He expresses how school was like to him both as a student through the character of Dick Martin, and also as a teacher through the characters of Principal Jason Stringer and Eustacia Pratt.