Just taking an informal poll. If you would be great enough to help me out just finish this sentence for me please. So here it goes

Q: When I think of Appalachia and/or Appalachian people, I think of....

Thank you in advance!!

The states you tagged aren't in Appalachia.

...moonshine.

I know. My teacher wants to know what people think about Appalachia from everywhere. I am in Appalachian Studies so we are seeing what everyone thinks not just people from Appalachia.

It is a very cool, hip place with lots of good restaurants and hotels. The people there enjoy classical music, ballet, and theatrical productions of all kinds. The weather is very much like that in Hawaii. Negative stereotypes of the region are inexplicable.

misinformation and stereotypes. Stories abound of poverty, yet, like most everywhere, there are rich, poor and in between. It is a beautiful area of our country.

Rich history of Scotch Irish immigrants. Poverty in the "hollers" of the coal mining areas. Beautiful mountains--the oldest in the world. Music.

I have to confess that I never think about Appalachia. At least not till today. Then I looked it up on Wikipedia. Not an attractive picture.

Mountains and coal mines.

Scots & Irish

...poverty and incredible natural beauty.

The unlearned lessons about the rape of nature and cruel exploitation of individuals by coal barons, eerily repeated by the plague of fracking

Mountains, coal mines and working poor. A lot of tradition and pride.

We drove through there and stopped in a number of towns a couple of years ago and I was humbled by the level of poverty.

The fracking that is going on now is going to cause huge damage.

Poverty - have never been there so can't comment on natural beauty

"Songcatcher" -- with those old songs' moralistic teachings.

Grandfather Mountain, where some of my Scots ancestors lived when they were new to America -- before they moved on to better lives.

Feuds -- all the more fierce because the stakes are so small.

Breathtaking natural beauty smothered under smog.

Source of white babies for the adoption business.

"Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" and Walker Evans' moving photographs.

I do think of rural poverty, mining and now fracking.

Appalachian State University.

Achian people who eat appals of course!

Poverty yes. Great personal pride and fortitude.