Create easy story - Essay Example

CUSTOMS AND CELEBRATIONS IN AMERICA A. Thanksgiving One of the most special of holidays in America is Thanksgiving, which is celebrated every last Thursday in November. Historically, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday and also picked a Thursday for the special occasion. (Kamma and Dodson, 2001, p. 28)Thanksgiving is a tradition that Americans have nurtured all through the years. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks against the United States, President George W.

Bush proclaimed November 22, 2001, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. Americans have many reasons to thank for despite adversities. President Bush quoted President Dwight Eisenhower who said that Thanksgiving is a time when Americans should celebrate ‘the plentiful yield of our soil … the beauty of our land … the preservation of those ideals of liberty and justice that form the basis of our national life”. (Bush, 2001) Thanksgiving is a time when many American families gather together to celebrate.

In cities like New York, millions celebrate even in the streets, the harbor is full of ships also joining the celebration, and everyone is as happy like they are celebrating a joyous Christmas Day. Tourists and migrants who have co-celebrated with the Americans need not wonder what’s so special about Thanksgiving. Young Americans today just alter tradition a bit and go for modernity.Comic lifePAGE 1 1. CAPTION: When was the first Thanksgiving? Not sure … but in the farms where life was simple, where a good harvest was one hoped for.

(Three children are playing in front of an oak barrel; the mother, in traditional American dress, is beside them, also joyfully watching; there are sacks of wheat, and in the background is a farm; the father hoisting a sack of wheat on back of a horse.)Mother: Come now children, put some fruits on the table.First child: Fruits and wheat… a beautiful harvest, Mother.Second child: We should thank God everyday.Father: Yeah, children, God’s so good to us.2. CAPTION: The new thanksgiving: parties, dancing and drinking.

(The streets of New York, people dancing and drinking; crowd in jubilation.)Man: (with a glass of wine) Com’n now, let’s drink all night.People: Happy thanksgiving. B. Film DayAmericans celebrate film day to watch Hollywood movies and their favourite stars. Most of the young are star struck; they watch movies to see their stars. Traditionally, Americans watch films with celebrations of food and cowboy films of old, the likes of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or the “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” of yesteryears.

Nowadays, there are varieties of adventure, sci-fi, or maybe high-tech movies such as The Star Wars, or The Transformer, and many entertaining ones which are applied with powerful special effects. The old ones are those starring Katharine Hepburn who is paired with Spencer Tracy, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, or The Godfather fame of Al Pacino and Diane Keaton. (Boswell, 1993, p. 8)Comic life3. CAPTION: The old movies of Charlie Chaplin.(The old cinema house; men, women and children watching a silent movie of Charlie Chaplin; people laughing.)Crowd: (laughing) A girl: You’ll lose your head when the tiger eats it Charlie… huh.

Man: Don’t worry, the tiger’s tame.4. CAPTION: Inside the new cinema.(A guy and a girl are watching Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible.) Guy: Man, this one’s for my kid brother.Girl: Yeah, we better stroll at the park.C. CHRISMASLike many families around the world, Americans celebrate Christmas with gift-giving and parties. The United States is predominantly Christian; Americans worship Jesus Christ and celebrate his birth. Christmas is one of the joyous days of American holiday celebration.

Everyone, young and old, celebrate it with gift-giving, while many go to places for relaxation or reuniting with old family ties. Others go to tourist spots to refresh. During Christmas ice skating is very popular in New York, particular at the Rockefeller Center where a huge Christmas tree is lighted. (Foran, 2003, p. 12) Comic Life5. CAPTION: The solemnity of Christmas in yesteryears.(Inside a church, choir is singing “White Christmas”, the people intently listening as the Preacher is on the podium.)Preacher: Sing Jesus a “happy birthday” dear people of God.

People: Amen.6. CAPTION: A new season of Christmas.(People skating with background music “White Christmas”; a newspaper is seen with some pages showing suicide bombing in Iraq.)Family: (exchanging gifts) Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Merry Christmas, daddy.ReferencesBoswell, P., 1993. Hungry in the land of plenty: food in Hollywood films. In P. Loukides and L. Fuller, Eds., Volume 3 the material world in American popular film, p. 8. United States of America: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.Bush, G., 2001.

Thanksgiving day proclamation by the president of the United States of America. FDCH Regulatory Intelligence Database [e-journal], Available through: City University London [Accessed 14 April 2011].Foran, J., 2003. Christmas: celebrating cultures. Mankato, MN: Weigl Publishers, Inc.Kamma, A. and Dodson, B., 2001. If you were at the first thanksgiving. United States of America: Scholastic Inc.