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History of thanksgiving essay
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Thanksgiving is one of America’s most precious holidays and traditions. Even though there are a couple of factors in the way we perceive the day, it can mean different thing to many different people. The Arabic definition for the word thanksgiving is "shukr." There are two main religious thanksgiving days in the religion of Islam: one is Ramadan and one following the pilgrimage rites in Mecca. These days include prayers, thanksgiving means, and generous charities to the poor. Throughout my life living in America thanksgiving was a huge part of my life, but when I moved to Syria we did not really celebrate it anymore. It has been five whole years that I did not celebrate thanksgiving. Luckily, Montclair State University changed that for me.
This is a disgrace! To all the turkey’s at Thanksgiving! forty-five million turkey’s are cooked a year. Not only are those awful humans eating us, now they are entrapping us in disgusting cages and making us eat only corn and soybeans. That’s not even the worst part, they put something in our food called vitamins and minerals. I heard yesterday from keith, my turkey friend, that they talk about how they feed turkeys healthy things so that the people who buy the turkeys won’t get sick or something like that. They also say we taste different at different ages.
Common curtesy has us saying “Thanks” to the point that we may have lost the intentions associated with the response. W.S. Merwin sums up this anomaly in his poem “Thanks”, saying “with nobody listening we are saying thank you” (Merwin 29). We say thanks for so many meaningless things that it no longer carry’s the true intent of the speaker. Instead it is a response to acknowledge the receiver rather than giving true thanks. This repetition allows for questions regarding what are we truly thankful for, and how we make this known to the receiver. Carl Dennis, in his poem, “Thanksgiving Letter From Harry”, struggles with this question. Not seeing himself thankful for all the negative atrocities around him, he tries to find something he can stand up and be thankful for with limited success, “I’m, thankful today I don’t reside in a country/My country has chosen to liberate” (Dennis 2-3). Generic overuse of such a simple, but meaningful word, has made saying “thanks” somewhat mundane, making it harder to express their gratitude to the receiver seamlessly.
The first Thanksgiving was believed to be a feast after the first harvest; The Native American Wapanog tribe taught the first settlers to cultivate vital crops and sustain off the land1. Thanksgiving is an American holiday that values this union and cooperation between immigrant groups; the term “Native Americans” designates the very first immigrants2. The influx of immigrants gave birth, shaped, and developed American society. But immigrant groups, in modern context, have been politically and socially exploited. This may not have been as extreme as colonization, slavery, or exclusion, but a more discreet and covertly nativist ideology exists up to today: the fear of the rising immigrant population demoting White-Americans to a minority3.The view that immigrants were detrimental to society was expressed in the publication of many historical political cartoons. Thomas Nast and G.F. Keller both express their views that condemn and support this xenophobic culture, respectively; Nast utilized labeling while Keller, irony. The use of the analogy of Thanksgiving, in addition to other techniques, expresses the differing views on immigrants, and whether or
Thanksgiving Compare and Contrast Food, Family, and Fun!! Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States, always celebrated on a Thursday in November. There are many different ways people celebrate Thanksgiving. You give thanks and celebrate what you are most thankful for. Thanksgiving is a national holiday that has many different traditions, activities, and foods in different families.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
I stepped out of the chilly November air and into the warmth of my home. The first snowfall of the year had hit early in the morning, and the soft, powdery snow provided entertainment for hours. As I laid my furry mittens and warm hat on the bench to dry, I was immediately greeted with the rich scent of sweet apple pie, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and the twenty-pound turkey my mother was preparing for our Thanksgiving feast.
On Friday, October 23rd, I visited the Islamic Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I participated in the one o’clock prayer and lecture. Since I grew up in a Cuban and Mexican household, it was difficult to find a place, which was not of my own culture. Since I visit Bowling Green every other weekend, I decided to find a place there. I chose the Islamic Center because I have always been intrigued by the Muslim religion and culture. However, I had little knowledge of the customs and I knew visiting the Islamic Center would be beneficial for me.
A big part of Thanksgiving is a Thanksgiving feast. The feast usually consists of potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, peas, gravy, stuffing, salads, buns and lots of other great food. The main part of the feast is usually the turkey. Other families might have ham, roast beef, duck or chicken. The dessert that is most likely to follow the feast is pumpkin pie. Other people may choose different desserts and food depending on their customs and beliefs for which they choose to give thanks. Let’s not forget the biggest and most important reason for this holiday – giving THANKS! People usually give thanks for everything they have. Their jobs, health, families or just being alive are just a few of the things that people give thanks for.
For my thanksgiving I think we have a really normal meal. Normally cooked turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes along with green beans. We usually invite family over so it's fun to heer my family arguing with them and my cousins having a death match in the basement. When everyone first shows up were all happy for the first 10 min. When the turkey starts to smell good all my cousins go insane and act as if they are going to die if they don't eat right now. I'm usually just in my room talking to my oldest cousin either playing games or just watching vines and trying to laugh .We do that until the food is ready then after everyone eats everyone stays for one or two hours then we all disband and go home .
Our family traditions celebrate holidays similar to the Christkindlmarket, however there are different customs. The Mexican culture preserves the meaning of their holidays through celebrations and traditions, for example Posadas, nine days of festivities leading up to Christmas. As for the ChristKindl market, the home made glass ornaments and decorations show why German culture is unique from the rest.
Two years ago my father came up from Georgia for Thanksgiving, and we all stayed at my Grandmother’s house. Most of our close family was coming to my grandmother’s house for dinner, with that being said, we had a lot of food to cook. We are halfway through cooking/baking food for Thanksgiving, which was the next day, and the oven broke. I thought it was the funniest thing I have ever seen, but my grandmother was mortified. So we start surfing the web looking for a store that was open and sold ovens. We finally found a Lowes that was open, and when we got there they had one stove/oven that would fit in my grandmother’s house. We then asked the worker that we would buy that one, but he said that someone already was on the phone with the store
As far back as I was a kid, I was shown three things: to serve, to love and to be appreciative. These are the standards that shape the center of my life and effects the choices I make today. As such, I would like to address you on the matter of being thankful. I pay heed to most things that occurs around me and the people who are responsible for making it a reality. I recall walking along a street in Spanish Town.
Sitting around the table with family and friends while eating a plate of delicious, traditional Thanksgiving food is something the we look forward to all year long. Unfortunately, some of those foods are extremely harmful to your teeth. Swap out a few of the worst Thanksgiving foods and your teeth will be thankful.
Thanksgiving, a time of year when families reunite and come together to express their gratitudes. Autumn-colored tablecloths cover the tables while a display of delicious food sits atop. The aroma of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie permeates throughout the kitchen. However, after this big meal has been devoured, families rush out the door to empty their wallets before the biggest shopping day of the year--Black Friday. Thanksgiving, a day dedicated to giving thanks, gets pushed and overpowered aside by its big brother: Christmas. The month of December flies by and the day of gift-giving arrives sooner than people realize. So why is there a rush to have a Christmas tree in the living room and Josh Groban’s Christmas album playing on Thanksgiving
Christmas traditions across the country varies. Around Christmas time, you see almost every house covered in Christmas lights, wreaths, and yard decorations. Although, all the world is not Christian, and Christmas is a Christian holiday; everyone has made their own Christmas that fits the culture that they are living in. Even though the environment, excitement, and the mood of celebration differs, the main spirit remains all the same. In America, hanging stockings, baking cakes, and giving fruit, and candy as gifts has been a long standing tradition that is being passed down to generations.