Before continuing with this article, let’s do some brainstorming. Take a piece of paper and write down words that come to your mind when you think of Thanksgiving. Your teacher should make sure it doesn’t take you longer than two minutes.… READY? THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!
NOW, COMPARE YOUR LIST WITH WHAT AN AVERAGE AMERICAN WOULD INCLUDE1: Thursday, November, feast, family, dinner, turkey, stuffing2, cranberries, pumpkin, pie, potato, TV, football, parade, Indians, history, Mayflower, pilgrims3, harvest4, wheat, corn
Although Thanksgiving Day is not celebrated in our country (at least not very widely), you can see that you have some basic knowledge about it! The funny thing is that a lot of people would not include “giving thanks” to their word list, even though they do celebrate the holiday. Well, Thanksgiving Day is a good example of how an original idea can slowly change over the ages to something completely different.
At the beginning the first settlers5 left England in September 1620 on a ship called Mayflower and reached the New World after 66 difficult days. The first winter was brutal, and only half of the settlers survived. In the spring of 1621, they made friends with local Indians, who taught them to cultivate corn, catch fish and avoid6 dangerous plants. In November 1621, after the pilgrims’ first successful harvest, the first big celebration was organized. However, today’s family gatherings7 are far from what used to be an occasion of giving thanks for surviving and escaping hunger. Family dinners with turkey (which might not have been eaten by the first settlers at all), cranberry sauce, and apple pie don’t resemble the original event. The activities vary too. However, it is still a nice opportunity to spend some time together. Many people travel long distances just to see those they love.
And maybe there’s some time around each Thanksgiving dinner table to think about things one can be grateful for!
ACTIVITIES:
Now, take some time to think of the five most important things in your life YOU are thankful for:
1 …………….………………….….
2 …………….………………….….
3 …………….………………….….
4 …………….………………….….
5 …………….………………….….
Compare your list with the person sitting next to you and discuss the similarities or differences. Who or what are you thankful to? Explain.
DID YOU KNOW THAT….
– Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada too? It is celebrated on the second Monday in October!
– Thanksgiving wasn’t a national holiday until 1863?
– it was President Abraham Lincoln who scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November?
– even before the first “Thanksgiving” people in various parts of the world used to celebrate a good harvest?
FUN STUFF
“I like Thanksgiving turkey. It’s the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts.” (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Miroslava Dubanová
Vocabulary: 1 zahŕňať – zahrnovat; 2 plnka – nádivka; 3 pútnici – poutníci; 4 žatva – sklizeň; 5 usadlík – usedlík; 6 vyhnúť sa – vyhnout se; 7 zhromaždenie, stretnutie – shromáždění, setkání