Tuesday's Assignment

Good morning!

Halloween 1517

Today, we continue looking at a cultural celebration but from a historical viewpoint. Not everyone celebrates Halloween in the same way, or at all!

1. Watch this Video (focus on 1:08 - 2:09): Can you list 3 modern approaches to Halloween and 1 historical one that affected the nation of Canada? Listen again, following with the transcript. Compare your answers with a partner.
2. Check out the Good Morning, Canada! section, and identify one library resource on word meanings. What does the Oxford English Dictionary say about the word Halloween?
3. If you haven't registered for tomorrow field trip, this is your last chance! Make sure you forward me your confirmation email.

Transcript: Write your answers under Comments below:

We just kind of embraced (1) Halloween, and sometimes churches do that. 

Then there are *(indistinct)* churches. They kind of attack everything Halloween. You shouldn't (2) trick-or-treat, couldn't do anything with the celebration. You need to get rid of all the black cats. So whatever this kind of thing, they kind of come out and take major stand against Halloween. It's of the (3) devil; we want to have nothing to do with it.

And then there are those churches, in most of the responses, we just try to (4) ignore Halloween, and we just try to pretend it doesn't happen, and we'll come back next year, and we'll think about it again, and we'll try to do any one of those things.

Well, today, instead of telling you my opinion of what the church ought to do of those three and cause controversy within our congregation, what I want to do is not to talk about a modern Halloween Day. But I want to take you back hundreds of years ago. In fact, I want to take you back and talk about a Halloween almost 500 years ago, and to come to a certain day, on Halloween October 31, in (5) 1517.

Doubleclick on the blank to reveal the answer.

Halloween in the OED, via the Toronto Public Library link in Good Morning, Canada!