The History of Valentine’s Day

I Lead-in.

A)  What do you know about holidays or celebrations that focus on love and romance? What season (winter, spring, summer or autumn) are these holidays celebrated in?

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

 

 II Vocabulary focus. Match the words to their definitions. Use three words in your sentences.

1.	to martyr	A.	the period of romantic relationship before getting married
2.	to sacrifice	B.	the quality of being able to produce young or fruit
3.	purification	C.	animal’s sexual partner
4.	fertility	D.	a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions
5.	sacred	E.	to kill someone because of their religion
6.	cave	F.	a large hole in the side of a mountain
7.	mate	G.	the process of making something spiritually clean
8.	courtship	H.	connected with god or used in religious ceremony
9.	pagan	I.	to kill an animal and offer them to gods

 

   

III   Watch the video and choose the correct words to complete the sentences. 

 

1.      Across the world and in many forms Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is celebrated by the giving of ___________.

           A. up bad habits

 B. gifts, cards, and flowers

 C. gifs, cardboard, and flour  

2.    Saint Valentine's Day is celebrated in the name of the ____ Valentine on February the 14^th. 

           A. Christian ruler  

 B. Greek saint  

 C. Christian saint   

3.    According to legend there were at least ____  different saints named Valentine or Valentinus. 

           A. three

 B. thirteen  

 C. two  

4.    One of Valentines was martyred (killed because of his religion) because he kept ________. 

           A. helping young people to run away

 B. telling young people about the role of marriage  

 C. marrying young couples in secret.   

5.    The Roman emperor Claudius II had banned ______from getting married because _______.   

           A. young women; they had to become soldiers

 B. young men; marriage was only for generals, not soldiers  

 C.   young men; they were the best soldiers

6.    The first ______  was given by a man or a priest named Valentine.   

           A. Valentine gift

 B.  Valentine greeting

 C. Valentine celebration  

7.    _____ a man or a priest named Valentine fell in love with a young girl and before his death he wrote her a note.

           A. In hospital  

 B. In the capital

C. In prison

 

8.    The note ended with _______, a saying which is still in use today.

           A. ‘for your Valentine’

 B. ‘from your Valentine’  

 C. ‘be my Valentine’

 

IV Watch the video and put the sentences from the talk in order (for example 1-f).

 

A.   The Lupercalia was celebrated between the 13th and the 15th of February.

B.   The luperci, who were Roman priests, would sacrifice a dog for purification and a goat for fertility at the beginning of the festival.

C.   The she-wolf Lupus nurtured the founders of Rome Romulus and Remus.

D.   The luperci had a festival at the sacred cave where it was believed that Romulus and Remus were cared for by the she-wolf.

E.    Lupercalia honoured the fertility god Luperca and the she-wolf Lupus.

F.    It has also been claimed that modern day Valentine's Day has its origin in the Roman festival of the Lupercalia.

G.   The history of Lupercalia celebration goes back to the 6th century BCE (Before Common Era).

 

 V Watch the video and choose the correct words to complete the sentences. 

1.    The first mention of Valentine's Day in writing appears in 1382 in ‘Parliament of Fowls’ written by the English poet _____.  

           A. William Shakespeare

 B. Robert Burns   

 C.   Geoffrey Chaucer

2.    The  ‘Parliament of Fowls’ is the tale of the ______ on Saint Valentine's day.    

           A. ministers who want to buy gifts  

 B. the mating of the birds  

 C. bees who start flying

3.    In the poem ‘Parliament of Fowls’ ____ had to choose first before other birds could choose their mates    

           A. eagles

 B. seagulls  

 C. ravens

4.    In the poem the three male eagles argue over who will have the hand of the fair female until Mother Nature gets tired of all this talk.

           A. mother eagle

 B.  Mother Nature

 C. other birds  

5.       Mother Nature asks the female which of the three she would choose; she chooses _________.      

           A. first of the three male eagles and will fly away with him next year

 B. second of the three male eagles and they will be together next year  

 C. none of the three male eagles and will wait until next year  

6.    In the poems other birds rejoice because they can finally _______.

                A. express their love and choose a mate      

 B. see eagle’s wedding   

 C. be free and fly away  

7.    Scholars believe that Chaucer invented Valentine's Day because _____

           A he associated Valentine’s Day with love and wrote about birds choosing mates on that day

 B. he wrote a poem about love for the first time in human history

 C. he wrote about the Roman priest Valentine for the first time  

8.    The central images of Valentine's Day are the heart and the winged ____    

           A. Mercury

 B. Venus  

 C. Cupid       

9.    Cupid was the son of _____ and ______.     

           A. the god of war Mars; Minerva, the goddess of wisdom        

                 B. the messenger god Mercury; Venus, the goddess of love      

  C. Jupiter; Minerva, the goddess of wisdom        

10. _____ baby Cupid with his bow and heart symbolizing love began appearing on Valentine's Day cards.    

           A. By the early 9th century

 B. By the early 15th century  

 C. By the early 19th century  

 

VI OVER TO YOU.

A)  What is your attitude to Valentine’ Day? Do people in your country celebrate it?

B)   Which legends and symbols associated with Valentine’ Day described in the video were the most unusual and interesting?