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.

Try Art Therapy .Part 2

Try Art TherapyPart 2

I Lead in.

a)    Take two minutes to think of the associations with the word ‘museum’. Note down your ideas and compare them with other students.

b)     How do you spend time in an art gallery or a museum? (If you don’t remember the last time you went to a museum, use your imagination). What objects, works of art, sculptures or other exhibits are interesting for you?

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

to incorporate; to look into something; annoyed; to make up; supportive

1.    to try to find information about something

2.    to include something as part

3.    to invent a story

4.    slightly angry

5.    giving emotional help

III Watch the video and the sentences in the correct order.

1.    There are some ways to incorporate approaches from art therapy into your next art experience.

2.    Who does this remind you of? You say may say she reminds you of your grandmother.

3.    You think about what your grandma means to you.

4.    When you find yourself in a gallery or museum, look at portraits and make up stories about what the people might be saying.

5.    If your grandma were with you, would that make you feel safe?

6.    Maybe you look at this lady in pink and think she looks mildly annoyed and disapproving.

7.    Now you may not have such a program at your local museum, and you’ll never know until you look into it!

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

associate; advice; portrait;  reject; escapist; landscape; quality; painter; symbol; person; talk

You might look at another 1)______ nearby and imagine a conversation between the two of them. What would they say if they could 2)______ to each other? Or if you just want to focus on this one, imagine if this 3)______ were to give you advice. What would it be? More often than not, that advice will be something you need to hear. Alternatively, you could consider what 4)______ you’d offer the individual in the painting. Walking into any museum, you could guide your visit with a larger quest, like to find a 5)______ of strength. Perhaps you find that in a portrait, but you might just as well find it in a 6)______, or an abstract work, or even a conceptual one. You might try to find “yourself” in the galleries. Perhaps it’s just someone who looks sort of like you, or you might think about a 7)______ you have that you see exhibited in someone or something else. Find something you associate yourself with, or would like to 8)______ yourself with. 

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

1)    What can people who try art therapy imagine when they see portraits in an art gallery?

2)    What questions can people ask the portraits they see in the gallery?

3)    When people try to find “themselves” in the gallery, what works of art can help?

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

There are a lot of faculty/difficult/facility topics that art can help you confront or address, but those are probably not the best ideas/does/ideal to explore without the guidance of a licensed therapist. Like you probably wouldn’t want to guide your musical/music/museum visit with the question, “what are you missing?” unless you had a therapist with you who could help you explore the arc/dark/lark places but then lead you back to a more positively/possessive/positive, constructive place. If you’re doing this on your own, you could try to find a work of art that reminds you of home or reminds you of your most beloved family/familiar/familiarize member. You could look for an image or object that brings you comfort. Like one painting might remind you of a vocational/vacation/evocative with your family. Or another might remind you of the tea partial/partially/parties you had when you were a little girl. You might then ask yourself "How did you feel back then. And how does that differ from how you feel now?" If you’re looking at abstract/abstraction/absent works, you might try to attach emotion words to them, like joy or hungry/anger/angrily, elation or confusion. You might find an possessive/expressive/expression of happiness in the galleries, or sadness, or something harder to give words to but that an homage/image/imagine might capture even better. But whatever you do, try to end on a positively/positive/possibly note! It’s important to remember that real art therapy is facilitated by a professional therapeutic/therapist/thermal who weighs a lot of concerns, and tailors their approaches very specifically to who they’re working with and the environmental/environment/mentally they’re working in.

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

1)    Art can help you confront or address only easy and positive topics.

2)    It’s not a good idea to explore difficult topics without the guidance of a licensed therapist.

3)    Only a therapist could help a person explore the dark places but then lead them back to a more positive, constructive place.

4)    In museums people can try to find a work of art that reminds them of home or reminds them of their most beloved family member.

5)    People could look for an image that makes them hungry.

6)    A painting might remind you of a vacation with your boss.

7)    In abstract works people try to find the faces of family members.

8)    You might find an expression of happiness in the galleries, or sadness.

9)    It’s important to try to end your visit on a positive note!  

VIII Vocabulary focus. Match the words to their definitions. Use four words in your sentences.

to enrich; nursing home; mental health; goal; challenging; to engage; self-conscious; to improve; shelter

1)    a building where people who have  no home can get help

2)    a place where old people live and get care

3)    to improve the quality of something by adding to it

4)    an aim or purpose

5)    the condition of someone’s mind

6)    to get better

7)    nervous because you’re worried about what people think about you

8)    difficult or complicated

9)    to interest someone

IX Watch the video and fill in the gaps with the missing words. 

Whether it’s in a 1)_____, or within a hospital or shelter or nursing 2)_____or veterans’ organization or school, art therapy can deeply enrich the 3)_____of a wide range of individuals and support therapeutic treatment 4)_____. It can be a part of treatment plans for those with severe medical and mental health problems, but it can also be something that just improves your 5)_____in a smaller way, helping you give voice to your 6)_____and experiences. Best of all, it’s a way of being with art that doesn’t ever make you feel stupid! Or self-conscious about what you did or didn’t learn in 7)_____.

My art therapy experience has made me 8)_____the ways I usually look at art in a really challenging and exciting way. Most of the time, I’m still going to read 9)_____and give in to my desire to engage with art intellectually. But other times, maybe I’ll just engage with what’s in front of my eyes, and dare myself to see how it makes me 10)_____.

X OVER TO YOU. Try elements of art therapy during your own (virtual visit) to a museum.

A.   Look at the list of the museums that offer virtual tour, and choose the one you want to visit (on a virtual tour). (You can choose a different museum if it offers a virtual tour but is not listed below);

B.   Go on a virtual tour of the museum of your choice. As you explore the collections do a little art therapy exercise. Don’t try to find the information about the paintings or other works of art that you see. Only your feelings and associations are important. During your virtual tour of the museum find and get ready to briefly describe:
1.     Find a portrait. What advice can the person in the portrait give you?  
2.    Find ‘yourself’ in the museum (find an artwork (a painting or a sculpture that you associate yourself with or would like to associate yourself with)).
3.    Try to find a work of art that reminds you of home or reminds you of your most beloved family member. Look at the painting and answer the question: "What or who does the picture remind you of? How did you feel at that time? And how does that differ from how you feel now?"

C.   Share your ideas and experience with other students, get ready to briefly describe the artworks that you chose in task B.

List of museums:1.    British Museum, London  
2.    Guggenheim Museum, New York 
3.    National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
4.    Musée d’Orsay ,Paris
5.   National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
6.    Pergamon Museum, Berlin

7.    Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

  8.    Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
9.    The J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
10.Uffizi Gallery, Florence
 11.MASP, São Paulo
 12.    National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City