GLOSSARY OF TERMS

1. Culture - all the characteristic activities and interests of a people

2. Cultural area - a geographic area where distinctive cultural traits are displayed

3. Heritage - something that is handed down from earlier generations or from the past

4. Folk Music - musical forms that express the culture of local peoples and which are often passed along by oral tradition

5. Oral Tradition - the passing along of culture (information, beliefs, and values) to others by "word of mouth" or by demonstration, as opposed to formal training as experienced in schools or through textbooks

6. Blues - a form of music which developed in the 1890s in the Mississippi Delta among African Americans

7. Realism - the picturing in art & literature of people and things as it is thought they really are, without idealizing

8. "Hollers" - vocal songs performed in conjunction with physical labor, often with the intent of creating a rhythmic pattern to group work

9. Rural - living in the country; having to do with country life

10. Gospel music - in the broadest sense, this term refers to any religious music; in the African American community, gospel music most accurately refers to a popular style of music which combines secular musical forms with religious text; in the Anglo American community, gospel music most accurately refers to vocal quartets or family groups which perform Christian music most often enjoyed outside of the church setting

11. Sacred music - music of or connected with religion or religious rites

12. Secular music - music not pertaining to religious things or the church; temporal; worldly

13. Fiddle - a four-stringed instrument played by drawing a bow across the strings; a violin by another name; resourceful musicians have made fiddles from cigar boxes, tin cans, even bottle-necked gourds

14. Fiddler - someone who plays a fiddle; the term also refers to a level of expertise attained by one who plays a fiddle: "I can play the fiddle, but I'm not a fiddler."

15. House Party - a social gathering, within one family's home, of rural people who lived within a close proximity to one another; folk music often played an important part in such gatherings

16. Shape-note singing - singing according to note-heads with characteristic shapes which were intended to make learning to sing more efficient and enjoyable. Initially, the four characteristic shapes were squares, diamonds, triangles, and circles.

17. Second Great Awakening - a movement of Protestant revivalism which spread across the U.S. during the 1790s and early 1800s

18. Camp meetings - large, outdoor religious revivals

19. The Sacred Harp - a tune book containing shape-note songs which was originally published in Georgia (printed in Philadelphia, PA) in 1844; The Sacred Harp is the most popular of nineteenth century shape-note songbooks that survive today.

20. Singing-school - a gathering of shape-note singers, usually under the direction of a "singing school master," to teach practice and teach shape note singing

21. Fasola Singers - shape-note singers who practice the older, four-note style (fa, so, la, fa, so, la, mi & fa) of shape-note singing

22. All-Day Singing - a shape-note singing gathering which lasts from early in the morning until late afternoon; all-day sings typically are annual or biannual celebrations sponsored by a specific group of shape-note singers

23. Dinner on the grounds - a term which refers to mid-day meals served by participants in a church activity which takes place "on the grounds" of the church

24. Material Culture - material objects, such as houses, barns, folk art, and crafts, which reveal the characteristic activities and interests, the culture, of a people

25. Handmade Object - any object made by human work which reflects the culture of a group of people

26. Geography - the physical features of a region, including surface features, climate, plants, animals, natural resources, and inhabitants

27. Aesthetic - of beauty; an individual's or a group's ideas of what constitutes beauty and art

28. Craftsperson - an artist; one who exhibits great skill in the practice of artistic work

29. Pottery - pots, bowls, jugs, jars, pitchers, etc. made of clay and hardened by heat

30. Maritime - on, near, or living near the sea; in Mississippi, maritime artifacts are most often associated with the seafood industry which is of great historical significance to the coastal region of the state

31. Mississippi Sound - the body of water between the Mississippi barrier islands and the shoreline

32. Biloxi Schooner - a shallow draft sailing vessel designed for use in the Mississippi Sound for commercial fishing in the late nineteenth century.

33. Trawl - a large net pulled by a fishing boat along the bottom of a body of water; most often used to catch shrimp along the Mississippi Gulf Coast

34. Cast net - a fishing net which is operated by one human throwing ("casting") the net over the water, where it lands, sinks, and catches fish beneath it as it is drawn back to the operator

35. Oyster knife - a knife with a thick handle and double-edged blade which is used to open oyster shells and cut the oyster away from the inside of the shell

36. Quilt - a bedcover made of two layers of cloth filled with down, cotton, wool, or some other "fluffy" material and stitched together in lines or patterns to keep the filling in place

37. Quilt Block - a square or rectangular section of a quilt top

38. Patchwork - needlework made of odd patches of cloth or other material sewn together at the edges...the term also refers as an adjective to any design or surface like this (as in, patchwork quilt)...

39. Piecing - sewing together small pieces of cloth to form a patchwork

40. Applique - sewing small pieces of cloth to a solid layer of material to form a patchwork design

41. Recycle - to use again and again for the same or different purposes; the use of material scraps in quilting can be considered recycling

42. Quilting Bee - social gatherings of women to work together sewing quilt.

43. Narrative - having the nature of a story or tale; oral tradition emphasizes the art of telling a story and "storytelling" has greatly affected the distinctive nature of Mississippi literature, preaching, and comedy

44. Sermon - a speech given as instruction in religion or morals, especially by a clergyman during a religious service using text from scripture

45. Literature - writings of imaginative prose or verse

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