Message of the Mountain

For my summer reading, I chose to read Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. I chose this book without reading the description and mainly based my selection on the great reviews for this book online as well as the fact that the author, Tracy Kidder, had won a Pulitzer Prize in the past. Ultimately, this book turned out to be as remarkable as the reviews stated it was.

Summary: In Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, readers follow a young girl named Minli who lives in the Valley of Fruitless Mountain with her parents. After a hard day's work in the field, Minli listens to her father telling stories of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon, who knows all the answers to life's questions. Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon to find out how she can change her family's fortune. On her journey she meets a dragon who cannot fly. The two become friends and are determined to reach the Old Man of the Moon together, so each of them can ask the man a question. Once Minli meets the Old Man of the Moon, he tells her he will only answer one question. Minli is torn between asking her own question or the dragon's.

mountain. He said it was there that he received his first revelation from God at age 40. Three years after

The next year there were many victories.  The mountain that was beyond the valley and

In the world of Appalachia, stereotypes are abundant. There are stories told of mountaineers as lazy, bewildered, backward, and yet happy and complacent people. Mountain women are seen as diligent, strong, hard willed, and overall sturdy and weathered, bearing the burden of their male counterparts. These ideas of mountain life did not come out of thin air; they are the direct product of sensational nineteenth century media including print journalism and illustrative art that has continuously mislead and wrongfully represented the people of Appalachia. These stories, written and told by outsiders, served very little purpose to Appalachian natives other than means of humiliation and degradation. They served mostly to convince readers of the

The mountain men were known for their explorations and fur trapping in the Rocky Mountains and the great plains from about 1810 to 1880. Outside of their explorations and trapping, the Mountain Men also created Emigrant Trails which allowed Americans of the East to settle in the West. To some they [mountain men] symbolized the rugged freedom of the frontier, to others, anarchy and degradation. The debate surrounding mountain men was, at its core, really a debate about the nature of the West: was the frontier the site of healthy independence or dangerous dissolution? Through the rising and crashing of the trappers ' rendezvous in the 1840 's and the scarce enemies that the mountain

When depicting the tremendous height and abruptness of the mountain he states that “It was like a window ledge on a skyscraper, no more than fourteen or sixteen inches wide”. Bryson’s use of the simile establishes an illustrative image in the reader’s mind and creates a lasting impression of the situation. This improves the author’s tone as it details the uncertainty and discouragement the men were facing during the hike. Furthermore, Bryson advances his narrative and tone with imagery as he adapts to the trail when it becomes hazardous with oncoming snow and freezing temperatures. Bryson describes his surroundings with a bleak and dreary attitude, for example, he states that “the path was broken by steep, thickly bouldered streams, frozen solid and ribbed with blue

The mountain men were known for their explorations and fur trapping in the Rocky Mountains and the great plains from about 1810 to 1880. Outside of their explorations and trapping, the Mountain Men also created Emigrant Trails which allowed Americans of the East to settle in the West. To some they [mountain men] symbolized the rugged freedom of the frontier, to others, anarchy and degradation. The debate surrounding mountain men was, at its core, really a debate about the nature of the West: was the frontier the site of healthy independence or dangerous dissolution? Through the rising and crashing of the trappers ' rendezvous in the 1840 's and the scarce enemies that the mountain men had, Christopher "Kit" Carson, Jim Bridger, and James "Jim" Beckwourth continued to lead the explorations and trappings in the Rocky Mountains making clear that those men were there promoting healthy independence across the frontier during the 1840 's.

“Well,” Mrs. Johnson interrupted, “how about we settled down and talk about our plans for the morning?” Everyone agreed and sat in a circle discussing their ideas. Next, they decided they should head to bed due to the early times they would have to wake in the morning. As they woke up, they put on their layers of clothes, grabbed their bags, and headed for the Johnsons’ business. They would be staying in an attic, which luckily had a bathroom, but would have to sleep all in one room. They set up their belongings and set rules which they would have to follow to stay safe.

Growing up by Mount Newton I had never heard the First Nation History to the mountain. The story of Mount Newton is that an elder gathered the community together to tell them that they would no longer be safe in their homeland because the tides were rising. He warned them that they had to temporarily move up to the top of the Mount Newton to avoid the high tide. The community listen to the elder and gathered up their canoes and belonging and headed to the summit. As the sea waters began to rise up higher than the top of Mount Newton the community members had to tie a rope between their canoes and an arbutus tree and float above the land. The First Nation’s were floating in their canoes when a raven arrived to tell them the flood would soon be over. The raven traditionally in

Appalachian Literature provides a way to gain insight about the common stereotypes that are applied to specific gender. In literature, Appalachia men are shown to be valued less than outsiders as a result of the stereotypes applied to them. They are perceived as lazy drunks and incompetent males, resulting in outsiders viewing themselves as superior and Appalachian males as untrustworthy. Appalachian men attempt to prove their worth, while maintaining their pride. In Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, Inman, who is from the mountains of Appalachia, goes off to war and leaves the war as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Regardless of his appearance, during the time of the war Inman presents himself with pride about where he came from

Activism, culture and value have always had a tremendous influence in society. When it comes to the Appalachian region of the United States, people tend to see our culture and values differently. The individuals of the Appalachian region have been stereotyped for far too long, people forget that West Virginia has played a huge role in building this country. Our coal miners have put their lives in danger time and time again, some losing them, for worker’s rights. The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor rebellion in the history of the United States. This was the foundation of the movement for eight hour work days and minimum wages. The novel Storming Heaven by Denise Giardina is a fictionalized tale of the conflict that took place in these coal fields of West Virginia. The novel brings to light the stereotypes, race and religion of the Appalachian people.

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin is a novel about 14 year-old John and his relationship with religion and spirituality through both his family and his Christian church. The largest individual influence upon John is his father and deacon Gabriel, whose views of his son distort John’s own self-image and understanding of religion. Baldwin writes Gabriel’s interpretation and use of religion as a force to contain, restrain, and disempower his son. However, in the end, John flips that same force, religion, into a method of empowering himself, and to liberate himself from the perceptions and judgments of his father.

7. The Mountain – The mountain in Hindu (India) culture was seen as the center of the universe from which all things could be seen. Since people climb “up” mountains, characters that climb the mountains can be seen as moving upward on a spiritual/emotional journey. Biblically, mountains are places where God reveals his truths to man. In nearly all stories mountains are mysterious, powerful places.

Greg Mortenson was an adventurous man that had his life dramatically changed once his sister had passed away of an epileptic seizure while he was in college. His life was all but average as he spent most of his childhood growing up in East Africa, although being born in Minnesota. He grew up desensitized to other cultures, religions, and races which would be a major factor in his future plans. After his sister died, for her honor, he had decided to climb the K2 mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border. While he certainly made a good attempt, he was starving, cold, ill-prepared and inevitably failed to put his sisters necklace at the top of the treacherous mountain. After several times of losing and finding his guide, he was finally able to make it back to the bottom of the mountain where he ended up in the wrong village named Korphe. He originally leaves the village but quickly returns to the due to the fact they were friendly enough to allow him to sleep in their village, eat one of their rams and drink tea with them which is a sign of friendship/respect. He returns the favor by using some of his medical supplies to assist a woman giving birth in the village. He then ran across a couple boys attempting to learn how to write by using sticks and drawing in the sand. This had moved him and his goal of climbing K2 no longer mattered. Instead, he decided he would build a school in the village of Korphe in order to bring the children education and this, he thought