HALLOWEEN IS COMING

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When is Halloween? Where did it originate?

What kind of costumes do people wear?

Why are pumpkins important at Halloween?

What sort of things do people do on Halloween?

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is celebrated in many countries around the world, from Japan

to the USA. It takes place on the 31st October and usually involves the wearing

of scary costumes and attending Halloween parties. In the USA, the practice

of “trick or treating” is also popular.

Halloween probably originated in Ireland, from the Celtic festival “Samhain”.

It was a festival which celebrated the end of summer – the “lighter” half of the

year and the beginning of the “darker” half. People believed that evil spirits

would come out on this day, and so to protect themselves they would dress

up as evil spirits themselves. They wore costumes and masks and painted

or blackened their faces. There were similar festivals in other countries. The

word “Halloween” comes from the Scottish “All-Hallows-Even”, which means

“the day before All-Hallows”. All Hallows is All Souls Day or the “Day of the

Dead”, observed in many cultures around the world.

The massive immigration from Scotland and Ireland to the USA in the nineteenth

century took the tradition of Halloween there. It is more popular in the USA

nowadays than anywhere else in the world.

Costumes

Probably the most important tradition in the celebration of Halloween is dressing

in costumes. Theses costumes refl ect characters from horror fi lms or literature;

Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy are favourites. The general themes are

death and evil and costumes include ghosts, witches, vampires, werewolves

and demons.

Jack-o-lanterns

A jack-o-lantern is a carved out pumpkin with a candle inside. A scary face

is carved on one side of the pumpkin. Originally, in Ireland and Britain,

jack-o-lanterns were made from turnips, but in the USA pumpkins were plentiful

and much easier to carve out because of their size.

Trick or treating

This involves going from door to door, usually dressed in a Halloween costume

and asking for “treats”, such as sweets, cakes or even small amounts of money.

The question “trick or treat?” means “give me a treat or I’ll play a trick on you!”

This trick would be some kind of prank or joke.

Guising

In Scotland, guising takes the place of “trick or treating”. Children go from

house to house and perform tricks; they sing a song, do a dance or tell

a story in return for a treat.

Games and activities.

Apple bobbing is a popular game at Halloween parties. Apples are put

into a barrel or a tub of water where they fl oat on the surface. The idea

of the game is to get an apple using your teeth. It’s great fun, and everyone

gets wet!

Divination games are also popular at Halloween parties. Divination means

foretelling the future. In Scotland, they peel an apple, then throw the peel

on the ground. The peel is said to form the fi rst letter of the name of your

future husband or wife.

Telling ghost stories is another popular activity. The story-tellers usually

wear a scary costume and use props like skulls or spiders. They create

a supernatural atmosphere using candles.

Activities:

1.- Choose the correct option, A B or C.

According to the text …

1 Halloween is celebrated...

a in Japan and the USA.

b in lots of countries.
c in every country in the world.

2 Halloween...

a originated in Scotland.
b is called “Samain” in Ireland.
c probably came from Ireland.

3 Jack-o-lanterns in the USA...

a are made of turnips or pumpkins.
b are made of pumpkins.
c are made of turnips.

4 “Trick or Treat?” Means...

a if you give me a treat, I won’t play a trick on you.
b if you don’t give me a treat, I won’t play a trick on you.
c Ii you give me a treat, I’ll play a trick on you.

5 The aim of the game in “Apple bobbing” is...

a putting apples into a barrel of water.
b fl oating apples in a barrel of water.
c getting apples out of a barrel of water.

6 Halloween...

a is celebrated in the same way in different countries.
b is celebrated in different ways in different countries.
c if only celebrated in the USA nowadays.

7 Find a word in the text that means:

1 Something which has been painted or coloured black. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 The movement of populations from one country to another. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 From 1800 to 1900. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 A narrator of stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 A wooden container, usually used to store wine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ANSWERS

1) 1-b 2-c 3-b 4-a 5-c 6-b

2) 1-blackened, 2-immigration, 3-the nineteenth century, 4- story-teller 5- barrel

(O.U.P. free teachers`resources)

8 Word Search

Projects:

I like collecting bookmarks. I ´ve already got more than one hundred and I always bring some new ones back with me whenever I travel abroad. My friends usually give me one as a gift when they go on a trip or they´re back from their holidays.

So, last year I´ decided to ask my students to make halloween craft bookmarks and I must say they worked really hard and designed some very original ones.

Have a look at the final result.