HALLOWEEN

• What do you know about Halloween? Name 3 things you relate to this tradition. • Do you celebrate Halloween?

1. Fill in the blanks with the missing words and then answer the questions

We celebrate Halloween every year on ______________ 31st. But where does this holiday come from? The holiday originally comes from a people called the Celts. The Celts lived in Europe more than 2000 _______ ago. On November 1st they celebrated the end of summer. They thought ghosts visited the living on October 31st. They dressed up like ghosts so the spirits would not harm them. Today, many ______________ still remember the dead on November 1st. It is called All Saints day. Another name for it is All Hallowʼs Day. The day before, October 31st, is called All Hallowʼs Eve, or _________________ for short. Halloween is an old tradition in Ireland and Scotland. In those countries, _____________ dressed up and carried lanterns made of turnips. When people moved from Ireland and Scotland to the United States, they started using ________________. This is where the jack-oʼ-lantern comes from.

They also had a tradition of giving __________ to the spirits. Later, they gave the food to poor people. This is where trick-or-treating comes from. Halloween has changed a lot since its origins. New people have brought new _________________, and changed the old ones. What do you think Halloween would be like in another two thousand years?

PUMPKINS TRADITIONS YEARS HALLOWEEN OCTOBER FOOD PEOPLE COUNTRIES

 

  1. What is this story about?

a. Trick-or-treating b. Ghosts c. The origins of Halloween

2. When did the Celts live in Europe?

a. More than two hundred years ago b. More than two thousand years ago c. Less than two thousand years ago

3. What did they celebrate on November

1st? a. Halloween b. All Hallowʼs Day c. The end of summer

4. What did ghosts do on October 31st?

a. They visited the living b. They dressed up c. They celebrated All Hallowʼs day

5. The word Halloween comes from …

a. All Hallowʼs Day b. All Saints Day c. All Hallowʼs Eve

6. Nowadays, jack-oʼ-lanterns are made

of… a. Turnips b. Pumpkins c. Carrots

7. Trick-or-treating comes from…

a. Giving money to the poor b. Giving food to the spirits c. Giving candies to children

2. Halloween Quiz 1.Which monster drinks blood? a. ghost b. mummy c. vampire 2.What does a witch use to fly? a. vacuum cleaner b. broom c. stick 3. Which of these is a magical horse? a. swan b. toad c. unicorn

4. Where does a vampire sleep in? a. grave b. cardboard box c. coffin 5. What do witches do with cauldrons? a. wear it b. cook with it c. fly with it 6. What monster is usually wrapped in bandages? ________________ 7. Which animal uses its sensors to fly at night? ________________

  3. Work in pairs. Discuss these questions: A) What do you think about Halloween? B) Do you celebrate Halloween in your country? C) Whatʼs your favourite festival in your country? D) What costume would you like to wear for a Halloween party? E) Do you believe in ghosts or vampires ? Why/Why not? F) Who is your favourite monster? G) Do you like watching horror films? ? Why/Why not? H) What is your favourite horror film?

 

Did you know...?

Apples, to the Celts, were sacred, coming from the Isle of Avalon, a land that existed in a magical mist across the sea. Bobbing for apples represented the journey to the Otherworld for the sacred apple.

Pumpkins were used to create jack-oʼ-lanterns by carving out the middle of the vegetable, cutting a face out of the shell, and then lighting it with a candle placed inside.

Cornstalks were a symbol of the harvest. They were used to stuff scarecrows to keep crows out of the fields, as well as to ward off evil spirits.

The legend of Jack of the Lantern

It was the Irish who brought the tradition of the jack-oʼ-lantern to America. The practice of carving jack-o'-lanterns goes back to the Irish legend of Jack, a lazy but shrewd farmer who tricked the Devil, making him climb a tree and then refusing to let the him down unless the Devil agreed to never let Jack into Hell . The story goes that the Devil agreed, but when Jack died, he was too sinful to be allowed into Heaven, and the Devil wouldn't let him into Hell. So, Jack carved out one of his turnips, put a candle inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He was known as Jack of the Lantern, or Jack-O'-Lantern. Nowadays the typical Jack-o'-lantern is a pumpkin whose top and stem have been carved off and inner membranes and seeds scooped out to leave a hollow shell. Sections of a side are carved out to make a design, usually a face. A light source (traditionally a candle) is placed inside the pumpkin and the top is put back into

place. The light illuminates the design from the inside, adding another spooky decoration to the celebration of Halloween.