Madeline ThomasFollow

Date Collected

12-5-2018

Place item was collected

Logan Utah

Informant

Megan Monson

Point of Discovery/Informant Bio

The informant was Megan Monson, an English Major at Utah State University. We met in our ENGL 2210 Intro to Folklore class. She writes grants as part of her job. She is part owner of a company that makes storage racks for winter sports equipment. She has three brothers and a dog names Mia. She and her family belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She hates Christmas music but likes Christmas traditions.

Context

This tradition was gathered as part of series as we walked from Ray B West to Huntsman hall across campus, through the snow, after Megan offered to help me with the collection project after figuring out how badly I procrastinated. I used my cellphone to record the audio as the video followed our feet through the snow. Even with all the people we walked past, Megan stayed remarkably focused on the interview. The context for use in this tradition is linked heavily to the other Christmas Eve traditions I gathered from Megan, coming at the end of a very ritualized night for the family. This follows a specific meal, a candle lighting tradition, and a series of gift giving procedures. Based on the way Megan talked about her siblings, this is a tradition that has remained important to all of them even into adulthood.

Text

And then in our jammies, we drink hot cocoa and we watch White Christmas, every single year, which is the best, because it's a musical and it’s like the only good Christmas movie, and then we go to bed really late.

Texture

This piece of folklore came at the end of our interview, so at the time it felt almost like she was reciting the end of one long list, and felt relatively smooth and free from an extraordinary amounts of emotion. This, of all the traditions Megan shared with me, seemed to be the one that she most genuinely fond of and the least sarcastic about. Sarcasm was still evident, as it was through the entire interview, but to a lesser degree than at other instances. Due to what is probably her familiarity with collecting folklore, her voice was relatively smooth and her words were well thought out and clear. She laughed often between traditions, and I inserted some agreement throughout the interview.

Course

ENGL 2210

Instructor

Lynne McNeill

Semester and year

Fall 2018

Theme

G1: Holidays

EAD Number

1.13.12.40

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