Easter Traditions in the USA

Easter Traditionsin the USA 

(video in one piece)

I Lead in.

a)    What do you know about Easter? What season (winter, spring, summer or autumn) is this holiday celebrated in?

b)    What are the associations or symbols of Easter for you? Take 2 minutes to write down the symbols or associations you can think of. Compare your lists with other students.

II Match the images to the names of Easter symbols. Watch the video in Task III below and check. Which of the Easter symbols from the list do you have in your country?

a)    jeweled Easter egg (Fabergé egg)

b)    Easter Bunny

c)    chocolate bunny

d)    Easter eggs

e)    Easter basket (with candies)

f)     Jelly Beans (a type of candy)

g)    decorating eggs

h)    a rabbit

III Match the dates and numbers in the list to make facts about Easter traditions. Watch the video and check your answers.

16 billion;    18th century;      19th century;     17th century;      17th century; 2nd century; 88%;   90 million;       1930s

1)    The time the first Easter celebration was recorded =  ______

2)    The time when a connection between rabbits and Easter appeared = ______

3)    The time when the association between   rabbits and Easter was brought to America = ______

4)    The time when the tradition of giving jewel-encrusted eggs appeared =______

5)    The number of chocolate bunnies produced in  America for Easter each year = ______

6)    The number of  Jelly Beans produced in  America for Easter each year =______

7)    The time Jelly beans were invented = ______

8)    The time Jelly beans became an Easter candy = ______

9)    The proportion of American parents prepare Easter baskets for their kids  = ______

 IV Match the words to their definitions.

bunny; secular; pagan; significance; merchant; jewel; candy; resurrection; Lent; fertility

a)    in Christian religion, the 40 days before Easter (during which people stop eating some types of food and doing particular things)

b)    return to life after death

c)    not connected with religion

d)    belonging to a religion that worships many gods 

e)    ability to reproduce

f)     a precious stone

g)    a person whose job is to sell products

h)    importance

i)      sweet food made from sugar  

j)     a rabbit, especially a young rabbit

V Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

Bunny; symbolize; eggs; immigrant; theory; life; spring; festival; religious; buddy; peasant; Easter; symbol; celebrate; holiday

For many people of the Christian faith Easter is the most important 1)_____ of the year. It is the culmination of religious season of Lent and the day on which Christians 2)_____ the resurrection of Jesus.

In addition to its 3)_____ importance, Easter is also a popular secular holiday thanks to its associations with the Easter Bunny, colorful decorated 4)_____ and of course all that candy. The first recorded celebration of 5)_____ was back in the 2^nd century but it probably goes back even further than that. According to one popular 6)_____ early Christians adopted Easter from a pagan 7)_____ celebrating Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of 8)_____ and fertility. The goddess consorted with a hare, which as the theory goes was the original inspiration for today’s Easter 9)_____. But it appears that little evidence exists to support this story. So where did the Easter Bunny actually come from? Rabbits are an ancient 10)_____ of fertility and new 11)_____, two ideas strongly associated with spring and with Easter. The connection between rabbits and Easter arose in Protestant Europe in 17^th century and was probably brought to America a century later by German 12)_____.

VI Watch the part of the video and answer the questions.

1) What do people of Christian faith celebrate at Easter?

2) What are the secular (not religious) associations and symbols of Easter?

3) When did the first recorded Easter celebration take place?

4) How is Eostre connected to the celebration of Easter?

5) What stories try to explain the connection between Easter and bunnies?

6) What did bunnies or rabbits symbolize in ancient times?

7) When did the tradition of Easter Bunny appear? How did this tradition get to America?

VII  Watch the video and choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

But we bet you didn’t know that the Easter Bunny is not the only animal/animated/minimal associated with the holiday. In Switzerland a cuckoo delivers the Easter hugs/hogs/eggs, while in different parts of Germany kids wait for the Easter box/fox/facts, chick, rooster or stork. Though eggs also symbolize fertility and renewal; they may have become popular on Easter for a more practically/practical/ethically reason. For centuries the Christian church banned eggs along with other mood/flood/foods during Lent, and it became a special treat to eat them again at Easter. Decorating/Decoding/Recording eggs is one of the oldest Easter customs. One of history’s most lavish Easter traditionally/rendition/traditions developed in late 19^th century Prussia/Russia/Persia, when royalty and other members of high society began giving each other jewel-encrusted eggs as Easter drift/gifts/brief. The man behind these insanely valuable eggs was the artist jewel goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé, who was commissioned by czar Alexander III to create jeweled Easter eggs for his life/wife/strife.

For most Americans, however, Easter is about the sweet stuff, dandy/candy/candid. American candy makers produce some 90 million chocolate/cocoa/chilled bunnies, 16 billion Jelly Beans for Easter each year. Jelly Beans were invite/inventory/invented in 17^th century but they only became an Easter candy in 1930s after merchants pointed out how much they look like eggs/bag/pigs. Today more candy is sold for Easter than any other holiday except for Hello/Halo/Halloween. And more than 88% of American parents prepare Easter escape/baskets/skate for their kids.

From its powerful religious significance to its popular customs Easter ranks among one of the most widely celebrity/elate/celebrated holidays. This spring sweeten up your celebration with a little bit of history/historically/really and some funny Easter facts we bet you didn’t know.

VIII Watch the video and mark the sentences as True (T) or False (F). Correct the false statements.

1)    In some countries there is no Easter Bunny and Easter eggs are delivered by other animals.

2)    In different parts of Germany kids wait for the Easter deer. 

3)    Eggs symbolize happiness, spring and renewal.

4)    During Lent people could not eat eggs, so they were happy to taste eggs at Easter.

5)    Decorating eggs is the newest Easter custom, it originated in 1980s.

6)    In late 19^th century Russia royalty and members of high society gave each other simple colored eggs as Easter gifts.

7)    Peter Carl Fabergé created expensive Easter eggs with jewels for royalty and members of high society.

8)    Originally Alexander III asked Fabergé  to create jeweled Easter eggs for his daughter.

9)    For most Americans Easter is associated with meat.

10)    American candy makers produce chocolate bunnies and Jelly Beans for Easter each year.

11)    Jelly Beans became an Easter candy in 17^th century.

12)    Jelly Beans became an Easter symbol because they look like Easter Bunnies.

13)    Today more candy is sold for Easter than any other holiday.

14)    American parents don’t prepare Easter baskets for their kids.

IX OVER TO YOU. Compare American Easter traditions to the way Easter is celebrated in your country. If Easter is not celebrated in your country, describe the Easter symbol or tradition discussed in the video that you find the most interesting or unusual.