Objective  

This specific aspect of the University of Guelph's Scottish Chapbook virtual exhibition has been created for a fourth year Digital Humanities Class. The aim of this project is to provide High School History and English Teachers with concise and clear Lesson Plans to educate their students on Scottish Chapbooks. The educational process of these lessons is meant to be enhanced by digital technologies and tools. Within this exhibit you will find, four specific Chapbooks and secondary source information analyzing and connecting the story at hand to other adaptations. Students are provided with online quizzes and essay questions to aid in critically evaluating their understanding of the information given to them.

Historical Background

“We were indeed amazed to see a poor commonalty so capable to argue upon points of government and on the bounds to be set to the power of princes…Upon all these topics they had texts or scripture at hand and were ready with their answers to anything that was said to them.” –Gilbert Burns (An Englishman visiting Scotland in the 1660’s) 

In the year 1696 the “Act of Setting Schools,” was established throughout Scotland to ensure education within each and every Parish in the country. The goal being that all members of society would be able to read Holy Scripture. This Act stems from John Knox’s Book of Discipline, written in 1560, where he called for a reformation of Scotland’s educational system. The result being a new society of literate people with access to (in theory) a free, basic educational system.

Popular opinion generally assumed that Scotland was a fairly uneducated and illiterate nation due to its poverty, however in reality, Scotland’s people were the first Western European society to become literate. Due to the fact that religion was a key faction in Scottish society, literacy was deemed necessary in order to understand scripture and the Bible. As the educational system grew/ evolved and censorship began to diminish in the 18^th century, there sparked a newfound interest in literature itself. Academics began to not only write for scholars but in the interest of the general public as well. This relates directly to the popularity and high demand for the cheaply made, yet entertaining Chapbooks. Which were small, pamphlets of stories, poetry and historical biographies that were meant for the literate lower classes of society.

Reference

Herman, Arthur. How the Scots Invented the Modern World. New York: Three River Press, 2001.

Created by Taylor Bulstrode and Sarah Marynowicz

Below is the Twitter account created for the purposes of spreading word of this educational project. So go ahead, take a look and Tweet @ChapbooUoG!!

https://twitter.com/ChapbooUoG