Annotated Bibliography
- Miles, Clement A. Christmas Customs and Traditions, Their History and Significance. New York: Dover.
The book is about the traditions of Scotland. It talks about the certain feast they prepare for the holiday. They even have sacrificial survivals that are somewhat a big deal for them. The book explains the religious part of their culture; how they involve their religion in the holiday. There are a couple of festivals like the Winter Cycle and the Rationale Ritual that are put on for religion as well.
It is useful for my family history because holidays are a big deal. Everyone tried to get together and make new memories of each other. This is something that had been done many years throughout my family history. I thought it would be interesting to include some Scotland traditions that they use during the holidays and see how it compares to mine. Scotland has certain feasts and songs that are used every year, much like my family. We used to make a ham for every Christmas and visit my grandparents to open gifts and sing together.
2. Rendall, Jane. “‘Elementary Principles of Education’: Elizabeth Hamilton, Maria Edgeworth and the Uses of Common Sense Philosophy.” Accessed October 2, 2015.
This article is on women in the 1700s -1800s and Common Sense philosophy. It talks about how women were involved or not involved in all the political aspects of Scotland. They wanted education because it was during the Enlightenment when a lot of things were changing for the better. Women were behind the Common Sense philosophy and were trying to have more influence in society, but they needed more education to better their knowledge.
Following my 3rd great aunt, who was born in Scotland in the early 1800s, my discoveries showed where my family came from. Even though most of this is before she was born, it had an affect on her life. This was one event that could have lead her family to the Americas. Education is important in my family as well. So I thought that maybe learning the struggle of education and the importance of it in Scotland could be useful in my paper.
3. Brooks, David. “Lady Gaga and the Life of Passion.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
My grandmother seemed to have the passion for cooking. She loved to “discover [herself] through play.” Like Lady Gaga, it was a way to “use imagination to open up [new] possibilities and understand their emotional histories.” My grandma loved cooking from her mother’s cookbook/notes. It brought back a lot of memories of them cooking together. At least this is what I have been told from other family members. I would have liked to know how my grandmother was like while cooking. Everyone has a different attitude when cooking. It is somewhere from a passion of food to despising every ingredient added to the meal; some people love it and some hate it. I loved the quote “passionate people often discover themselves through play” from the Lady Gaga article. I would love to have known if she changed the recipes her grandmother. I could have learned whether or not she added more things just because she felt like it or just to give meals a different taste.
4. Family history notebooks
My mother was handed two blue spiral notebooks. I did not know what they were or why she was getting them. The man that handed them to her was someone that was always at my grandmother’s church, but I did not know who he was. I now know his name is Tony Sills. He is the historian of the church. This means he was the guy who kept up with the family. He added those that joined our family and wrote ‘deceased’ next to those that died. Sills has been in our family historian for many years. He was a great friend with everyone. The look on my mother’s face showed the confusion for us both. Sells explained that she was now the owner of these ‘history’ books. He told her that she was the last direct descendant of the Webb family. The books could no longer be changed until she passed. Her confusion turned into surprise after hearing this news. My reaction was even more confused. I did not know the Webb were part of our family. I was really young and did not understand much at the time. While looking through these notebooks recently, I found that my mother’s side is really big. I also thought it was just my dad’s side that had a lot of family members, but apparently my mother’s side did as well.
These notebooks not only help me learn more about how many people were in my family, but I was able to see the origin of my family as well. It dated so far back that it was written in the little notes that we were from Scotland. I will not be able to tell what it was like during that time or the reason why they moved, but I can be for certain that we are from Scotland. I hope to be able to find more of my family from different parts of the world and see how they all connect somehow.
5. Graham, Henry Grey. “Country Society and Country Life, 1750–1800, The Land and the People, 1750–1800.” The Social Life of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century. London: A. & C. Black, 1937. 56–81, 201–228. Print.
It was about one o’clock and dinner was almost ready. Half of the food was put aside for the second course at two o’clock. Many families in Scotland ate in two courses to “appease the appetite.” People were just starting to use the whole animal all year round. Agriculture was picking up and they started finding ways of keeping the meat “nose to tail.” Even with the increase in agriculture did not mean they added more taste to the meal. They still kept the “severe plainness in the cooking” to keep the natural taste of the meat. Many noblemen did not even eat vegetables. Most meat was salted or put in broth. Our family had a guest over this day. So we also put aside a meal for the guest. This was a way of showing thanks for sharing food with us. It was a sign of respect and we did not want any problems from the family.
6. Houston, R. A., and Ian D. Whyte. Scottish Society, 1500–1800. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989. 231–243. Print.
In the 1600–1800, everything started growing. Cities were getting bigger because more people were coming in. Urban planning was more common in industrial towns. Tobacco even started being exported more. Everyone was leaving surrounding cities and coming into Scotland and Ireland. this was helping the businesses pick back up until the Seven Years War. Many places in Scotland were farm land. The young men sought out for this estate land to earn some income. Even though Scottish estates were smaller, they owned a lot of land which was needed at the time. Times seemed well during the 1600–1800. It was after when everything started happening. Parliament was controlling and people just wanted religious freedom so they left the state. The people either joined the army and the fight or left. Many left to the West and East Indies in America.
7. It’s a Wonderful Life
It is that time of year when all the movies begin showing on T.V. My dad, being a big T.V. watcher, turns it on and changes it to the Hallmark channel. During the holidays, my family loves to watch this channel. It always has so many good movies that play one right after the other. Every year we check the guide to see what is playing. We are really just looking for our favorite movie: It’s a Wonderful Life. This 1946 Christmas film has played in our house for as long as I can remember. I used to think it was some old black and white show that my parents knew as a child. After growing up, I started to like the movie even though it was never in color like modern day films. The black and white showed the age of the film. Personally, it showed my family how much enjoyment we got out of watching it. It meant that it was something else that was just passed down in my family like the chicken casserole meal. Little things should be kept in memory as happy thoughts. This movie was a happy memory of all of us sitting or laying in the living room with snacks watching It’s a Wonderful Life. For about an hour or so, we just spent time together and did not have to worry about the stresses of life or the holiday season.
8. Gormley, Myra Vanderpool. “Migration Patterns of Our Scottish Ancestors.” GenealogyMagazine.com 2000. Web.
Many people migrated to the Americas throughout history. “Approximately 1.5 million Scots have immigrated to America… since the earliest Colonial days.” The Scottish heritage is enormous. Generations, after generation, pass down the Scotland background. My 3rd great-grandmother came to America in the 17th century during the time many did not have a choice to move. Research does not say if my family was pushed out of the country as criminals. Those that were criminal were deported to the Southern and Middle Atlantic of the United States. Scots that moved fit in well. You could even say maybe a little better than other immigrants. This is because they were very educated. They sent many letters to others still in Scotland to tell of their wonderful experiences. They tended to immigrate as families rather than individuals as well. So only friends that were left behind were getting the letters. I wish to have known my great-grandmother to ask her how different Philadelphia was back in the 18th century. I would love to know why there and not in the South where many families went.
9. Hess, Mary A. “Scottish and Scotch-irish Americans.” Scottish and Scotch-Irish Americans. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
There seems to be many different reasons why Scots left their land. They either were a criminal and got deported, lost land and went sent away, or went through the economic struggle. It does not really seem like economic struggle could be an answer until you know that there was a war before this time that my family came over. The war might not have been long, but in the long run caused some damage. Land was getting expensive and crops were failing. Many started leaving because they could not afford it anymore and had nowhere else to go. America was still new and just got started growing bigger, so it would have been a better place to start over. They could also keep their religion that they preferred because the government was not in control of it like in Scotland.
10. Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print.
Laura Esquivel is the author of Like Water for Chocolate. She is a Mexican novelist, essayist, and screenwriter who wrote about Latin-American literature. She set the book during the Mexican Revolution of the Twentieth Century. Growing up, she spent a lot of time cooking with her mother and grandmother. She learned interesting recipes that were carried down the family. Esquivel based the book from her great-aunt who was forbidden to marry and had to care for her mother instead. Her great-aunt’s name was Tita, which is the name of the main character. The most important part of a household is the kitchen according to Esquivel. She believes it is “a source of knowledge and understanding that brings pleasure” (wiki). The title Como agua para chocolate refers to a colloquial phrase used in Mexico that refers to an extremity of feeling as it refers to a boiling point in terms of anger, passion, or sexuality.” The chapters begin with a traditional Mexican recipe that outlines the preparation of the dish and ties the cooking to a significant event in the protagonist’s life” (wiki). Like Water for Chocolate was based off real situations that Esquivel heard about. Even though she got married, these stories intrigued her enough to write about it. The kitchen being the most important part in a house to her determined where she would set Tita’s peaceful place be. The title means someone who is feeling anger or desire. It is an intense feeling and the food displayed this feeling when the characters ate the food. That is why they all acted weird during the wedding reception and at another time during dinner. Tita showed her desire for Pedro through the food, which is why it is called Like Water for Chocolate. Esquivel used magical realism to enhance the feeling in the food.
11. Anderson, E. N. “Food as Pleasure.” Everyone Eats Understanding Food and Culture. New York: New York UP, 2005. 97–108. Print.
Food is sometimes considered as a pleasure for some people. We do not eat for our interests. It is so we can survive. We have this feeling of hunger and get a sense of pleasure from the process of eating in the brain. People tend to like to eat with others. We lose the desire to eat when we have to alone. We do not like the feeling of being lonely, so we just do not eat. We typically like cooked food because it is healthier and safer for us. The only food we tend to eat not cooked is fruit. Ripe fruit is very pleasing to many people. We also love to eat food that we grow ourselves. We feel like we have accomplished something big in our lives. Home cooked meals are commonly asked for during the holidays. People tend to reject certain foods if we eat it a lot, but sometimes we will continue eating repeatedly for years (of course not every day). When we get bored of a meal, we start branching out to either change it or find something completely different. The best meal does not appeal to just out sense of taste, but to all our senses.
12. Hamm, Thomas D. The Quakers in America. New York: Columbia UP, 2003. 23–58. Print.
Quakers were not always wanted in the Americas. It was becoming common in New England and surrounding areas but not so much in America. Some states did not like Quakers coming into their land. They were expelled and treated harshly. They were disliked because of their different views on religion. This was interesting to me because Hannah Baker was supposedly a Quaker. She was on the list to be sent over to America. When her family came to Philadelphia, they were not kicked out. These, of course, was before she was born and traveled over. This showed us that time changed a lot during this time period. The Quakers migrated to North America where Hannah Baker lived. Once together, they seem to pack together and were able to survive without harsh conditions.
13. Rensel, Sarah, Lillie Lustig, and S. Sondheim. The Southern Cook Book of Fine Old Recipes. Reading: Culinary Arts, 1935. 11. Print.
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, boiled and cubed
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup (mushroom can be substituted)
- 25 Ritz crackers
- 1⁄2 cup butter, melted
- salt and pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Boil chicken breast until tender; drain and cube.
- Spread evenly over the bottom of a square casserole dish.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix sour cream and chicken soup in a separate bowl.
- Spread the sour cream and soup mixture over the chicken in the casserole dish.
- Crush the Ritz crackers and spread over top of the casserole.
- Spoon melted butter on top over all.
- Bake in a 350°F oven until top is golden brown, approximately 20–30 minutes.
Many recipes call for rice or another ingredient. My family seems to leave this out and just cook the chicken. We love when its baked with Ritz crackers instead. I’ve always known its made with crackers because my mother lets me be the one to crush some of them to put on top. I love helping out and this is the best part.
14. Clement, Priscilla Ferguson. Welfare and the Poor in the Nineteenth-century City: Philadelphia, 1800–1854. Associated University Presses, 1985. 24–25. Print.
Philadelphia was a poor city when the Baker family came over. There were barely any limits on travellers. There were not many residents that were spread out. They needed each other so lived and worked together. When so many settlers started pouring in the city, it started growing. It had to so it could accommodate the many people coming over from the East. It got to a point where it was no longer considered a “walking city” because there was just too many people. When the Baker family just started getting used to the Americas, things started changes. Residential segregation was beginning to show up in neighborhoods. These were always the closest neighborhoods to the city because they needed the transportation. This is why many people moved out to the Delaware River. It was still a city but not a segregated place.
15. Springsteen, Bruce. Streets of Philadelphia. Sony Music Entertainment, 1994.
This is a song that was written by a guy going through a rough time. I felt like this would be a good song to show the feeling of how it was like traveling. It’s never easy and many get hurt along the way. The the song writer writes that “ain’t no angel gonna meet me.” This seems accurate when the Bakers came over. They had no family in the Americas. It was a new place for them to start over and fit in with the others already here. The writer also says “On the streets of Philadelphia.” When they left for Georgia, they would be leaving behind the city and again changing their way of life for a better one.
