How times have changed. From the blackboard in Christy’s schoolhouse to our digital screens in our palms. The people of Cutter Gap couldn’t read or write, but they learned. To this day there is a stigma surrounding the people in Southern Appalachia. They’re hillbillies, and they can’t read or write. I’m by no means a great writer or reader. I’m in fact a poor and slow reader at that. My East Tennessee dialect doesn’t help the hillbilly stigma either. In fact, some places I’ve visited I’ve been mocked. They literally thought I was putting on an act. That can be said for other dialects as well. I think writing can remove this distinction to a good limit, but I’m not ashamed of my dialect. I’d rather keep it than lose it. It’s a part of our identity and culture here. I generally don’t write how I talk. If I did it’d problee soun sometun like tis and youd problee not understand me at well. Similar and probably deeper than those in Christy. Yet those who looked down on this area and its people are now flocking to it for various reasons. Things will always change and we are slowly losing our distinct dialect here.
I think it’s generally true that East Tennessee is behind in writing, grammar and incorrect spelling. You could easily see that when Christy arrived in Cutter Gap. Keep in mind Christy is based in part on true events. I think my writing for Blog posts would at best be subpar according to an affluent writer. The grammar would be incorrect, but would that make my way of talking and writing wrong? Everyone in Cutter Gap knew the keywords and way of talking to be the correct way. That is they knew how to get their point across. That’s their way. The local way. Not an acceptable gold standard everyone must obey. Just as long as I can get my point across in the right way. Miss Alice had her thee’s and thou’s thrown out practically every time she talked. Even Dr. MacNeill had his own dialect and grammar.
If you haven’t heard of artificial intelligence on the rise you will. It can do almost anything to replicating someone’s voice to answering any question. Teachers are concerned with this type of technology as it can be used to write any academic paper or story you would like. It can do so out of the blue, and to top it off it won’t be replicated. That is, it can’t plagiarize or plagiarize it’s previous outputs. This particular application is called ChatGPT by OpenAI. The face of teaching changed in 2020 and continues to do so now. During the early 1900s during Christy’s era they didn’t have these tools or experiences. The camaraderie among the children and Christy was something unique. Everyone is zoned out today. There was interaction in Cutter Gap. Face to face. Bird’s Eye got his point across easily and not by texting or Facebook. There was a human element of interaction to the every day life. Even Christy realized Mountie learned by touch. In the novel and show she put Mountie in her lap to teach. She needed nurturing and that’s not happening today. Back then each student had time to meditate, to have dreams, ambitions and goals in life. You can see this near the end of the Pilot episode. Yet today we’re relegated to typing a few words into a computer and it giving us what we want. If anything Christy teaches us to learn from each other, by discussion, human interaction, hard work and trust.
I asked artificial intelligence to write me a poem about Christy and here it is. Even as good as it is we can’t let it control us. This poem was created in less than 10 seconds. God gave us our brain and surroundings. So instead of being a human conduit to a computer, become a Rob Allen, a dreamer.
In the early 1900s, a story was told,
Of a young woman brave, with a heart so bold,
Christy Huddleston was her name, and her path was clear,
To teach in the mountains, where few would venture near.
To Cutter Gap she went, a town so remote,
Where Alice and Neil, did run with a spirit afloat,
David served as the preacher, with his faith so true,
And together, they brought hope, to a place that was new.
In the midst of change, they learned and grew,
Through trials and tribulations, they stayed true,
With a steadfast spirit, they forged ahead,
And in their hearts, they found love instead.
The beauty of the mountains, the spirit of the land,
The strength of the people, the touch of God’s hand,
All of these things, they held so dear,
And in their hearts, they found hope and cheer.
So let us remember, in this day and age,
The story of Christy, and her undying sage,
A tale of strength, of love, of hope,
A story of a time, where we learned to cope.