The History of Halloween

Read the text and asnwer the following questions:

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.

1. Where is the celebration of Halloween thought to have come from?
2. The Celts occupied an area of land covering three modern day countries. Name all three.
3. Why did the Celts celebrate ’Samhain’ on the night of 31st October?
4. What did the Celts believe the ghosts of the dead would cause damage and trouble to?
5. To commemorate the event, what did the Druids build?
6. What costumes did they wear?
7. What did they re-light to help protect them from the coming winter?
8. By 43 AD, who had conquered the Celts?
9. What two other festivals were combined with ’Samhain’?
10. After many changes due to the spread of Christianity, what new celebration was created in 1000 AD?
11. What were the similarities between this day and ’Samhain’?
12. What was another name given to this celebration?
13. What was the night before called and what did this finally become?

Jack O’Lantern

Read the introductory paragraph taken from http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history and then read the full article entitled ’The Legend of Stingy Jack’. Look for the answers to the following questions. Share your answers with your classmates.

1. The Jack O’Lantern tradition originated from which Irish myth?
2. What did Jack do with the coin instead? Why?
3. Under what condition did Jack free the devil?
4. What trick did Jack play the following year and how did he prevent the devil coming down from the tree?
5. What happened soon after?
6. What problem did Jack then face?
7. What did the Irish call Jack’s ghost?
8. What did the Irish then begin to make and place in their windows and doorways and why?
9. What did the vegetable become in America?

Apple-bobbing

Read the first paragraph of this website link about the rules of apple-bobbing:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_bobbing. Answer the following questions.

1. How is the game played?
2. Why are apples used?
3. What do players use to catch the apples?
4. What part of your body are you prevented from using?

Trick-or-treating

Read the first paragraph of this website link about the tradition of ’trick-or-treating’ : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating and answer the following questions,

1. What do children ask for when they travel from house to house? (Note: the answer is an American word, do you know the British English equivalent?)
2. What question do the children ask?
3. What is usually the ’trick’?
4. Since when has this tradition been practised in North America?
5. What do homeowners who wish to participate usually do to their houses?
6. In what countries did two traditions similar to trick-or-treating already exist?
7. What were these traditions called?
8. What was different about these to current trick-or-treating traditions?
9. Trick-or-treating has become prevalent in countries outside of America - what do the children ask for in Mexico?

Watch the video and answer the questions below. Once you have finished, send your results by writing the following teacher code: srubio