Holidays in the United States

(Last updated on July 5)

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Kenji Kitao
Vincent Broderick
S. Kathleen Kitao
Hideo Miyamoto
Junko Miyazaki

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EICHOSHA CO., LTD.
TOKYO

Copyright, 1989 by Dr. Kenji Kitao. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher.
Printed in Japan.

Eichosha, Kusaka Bldg., 2-28 Kanda Jinbo-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101
Phone 03-3263-1641 : Fax 03-3263-6174

kkitao@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

1. American Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. Martin Luther King's Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3. Abraham Lincoln's Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4. Valentine's Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

5. George Washington's Birthday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

6 . Easter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

7. Mother's Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

8. Memorial Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

9 . Independence Day (Fourth of July) . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

10. Labor Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

11. Columbus Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

12. Halloween . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

13. Veterans Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

14. Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

15. Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

16. New Year's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Time Record Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Reading Speed Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Introduction

Hints for Students

We recommend that you...

. . . open your mind to a different culture and way of life. American holidays, annual events and their related customs represent the cultural, historical, and religious backgrounds of the American people. Some holiday customs were brought to the United States from other countries. Others are related to the history of the United States itself and the culture that developed there. In this textbook, there are fifteen selections which cover the ten federal holidays, plus some state holidays and annual events.

. . . try to read without translation. This textbook is designed to help you read English better without translating. All difficult expressions are defined in easy English. Use the definitions provided. Try to guess the meanings of words you do not know from the context.

. . . try to use an English-English dictionary, if you want to find the precise meaning of a word.

. . . use the exercises to help you understand the main text. Different types of exercises are included to help you understand various aspects of reading, grammar, vocabulary, etc. Through using this textbook, you will surely learn reading techniques inductively.

. . . time yourself whenever you read a selection, and keep a record of your reading speed. The number of words is indicated at the end of each selection. You can time yourself and find out how fast you are reading, using the "Reading Speed Chart" provided. We suggest that you keep such records in the "Time Record Chart" provided at the end of the text. By using these charts, you can see how much you are improving your reading speed.

. . . use the visual aids to help you understand what you are reading about. We have included many pictures, maps, and other visual aids in the text. We hope they will help you visualise what you are reading about and give you helpful background information.

. . . do further study on American life and culture by yourself, since this textbook only deals with a small area of American life and culture.

. . . do as much additional reading in English as possible in order to further improve your reading ability. You will find it more enjoyable if you read about something you are interested in, for example, your hobby.

To the Teachers

Holidays in the United States is based on American Holidays, which, in turn, was based on the format of the An American Sampler series. These textbooks were developed based on preliminary research from 1979 to 1984 on Japanese college students' problems in reading English. For Holidays in the United States, we simplified the readings and the format, adding a Pre-Reading Exercise for each lesson and limiting the exercises to the Pre-Reading Exercise, Skimming Questions, and Comprehension Questions in a true/false format.

The goals of this textbook are to: 1) give students information about American holidays, annual events and their related customs, 2) interest students in reading English, and 3) help students improve their reading skills. This textbook is designed for students in the upper grades of high school and the first year of college.

This textbook is intended to be flexible so that you can use it in many ways. you can have oral practice in the classroom. You can ask students to work by themselves in the classroom or at home. The students can practice writing, speaking, and listening comprehension. For each selection, be sure to give clear goals and procedures to follow. This textbook can also be used to increase students' reading speed. We hope that this book will help your students understand some aspects of American culture and life as well as increase their reading proficiency.

We wish to express our appreciation to Ms. Michiko Inoue for helping with the production of this textbook and to Ms. Linda Yamashita for reading and commenting on the manuscript. We also wish to thank Mr. Leslie Sackett and Mr. Tsukasa Matsui, who helped with the preliminary research.

Dr. Kenji Kitao
February, 1989
Kyoto, Japan

1 American Holidays

American holidays are influenced by American history, religion, and immigrants' cultures. By studying American holidays, it is possible to understand American culture better.

In the United States, there are federal (national) holidays, state holidays, and annual events. On federal holidays, federal and state offices, banks, schools, and companies close throughout the United States. Most people have a day off. There are ten federal holidays now. State holidays are legal holidays in a particular state or states. State offices, banks, schools, and companies in that state close. For annual events, offices and stores do not close, and people work as usual.

American holidays can be divided into four categories based on their content. Holidays for birthdays of famous Americans include the birthdays of George Washington (February 22), Martin Luther King (January 15), and Abraham Lincoln (February 12). Patriotic holidays include Memorial Day (May 30), Veterans Day (November 11), and Independence Day (July 4). Religious holidays include Christmas (December 25) and Easter; Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November), Valentine's Day (February 14), St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and Halloween (October 31) have religious origins. Jewish holidays are celebrated by Jewish Americans. Other holidays include New Year's Day (January 1), Mother's Day (the second Sunday in May), Labor Day (the first Monday after September 1), and Columbus Day (October 12).

There are many other holidays which are not mentioned. Each holiday has an interesting origin or history, and learning about holidays can help you understand the United States and its people. (249 words)

Vocabulary
1. 2 immigrants': of people who move from one country to another to make their homes
2. 7 day off: day when one does not work
3. 12 categories: divisions in a system of dividing things according to their characteristics
4. 21 Jewish: of the Jews

Pre-Reading Exercise
What American holidays can you think of? What do they celebrate?

Skimming Questions
1. How many federal holidays are there now?

2. What famous Americans' birthdays does the writer mention?

3. When is Labor Day celebrated?

Comprehension Questions
If the statement is true, circle T. If it is false, circle F and write a true statement in the space provided. If the information is not included in the reading, circle "?."

Source:
Kitao, et. al. (1989). Holidays in the United States. Tokyo: Eichosha. Pp. 1-3.

Note: This material is copyrighted and exclusively distributed by Eichosha in Japan. It can be copied and used outside of Japan only.

10. Labor Day

The first Labor Day celebration was held in 1882. The Central Labor Union held a rally at Union Square in New York City to which 10,000 people came. The idea for a rally came from Peter J. McGuire. He was a leader in the Knights of Labor, one of the forerunners of the modern American labor union movement. The 19th century had seen an explosive growth in American industry. It was based on the factory system and employed a vast number of workers, often under very harsh conditions. To gain a better life, the workers formed unions. They tried to work together to bring about changes in working conditions and improvements in pay. The first Monday after September 1 was chosen as Labor Day. It was about halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day.

Nowadays, Labor Day has lost a great deal of the connection it once had with labor militancy. For most people, it is just the last holiday of the summer. It takes place just before the opening of the school year in most areas, just after there is a noticeable shift toward autumn-like weather in the northern parts of the U.S. Along with Memorial Day, the holiday that starts "summer," it was the first holiday designed to make a "three-day-weekend." (214 words)

Vocabulary
1. 1 the Central Labor Union: an organisation helping workers to gain their rights and improve working conditions
2. 4 the Knights of Labor: a labor union
3. 5 forerunners: those that come before and prepare the way for something or someone else
4. 6 explosive: very fast; as quick as an explosion
5. 15 militancy: state or quality of being willing to use force to reach a goal, usually a radical one
6. 20 three-day-weekend: three-day holiday made by adding either Friday or Monday to the normal weekend

Pre-Reading Exercise
1. Does Japan have a day to honor workers? What is it?

2. Are there any other annual events that have special significance to workers? What are they? How are they observed?

Skimming Questions
1. In what year was the first Labor Day held?

2. When was there explosive growth in American industry?

3. Of which season is Labor Day the last holiday?

Comprehension Questions

Source:
Kitao, K. et. al. (1989). Holidays in the United States. Tokyo: Eichosha. Pp. 37-39.

Note: This material is copyrighted and exclusively distributed by Eichosha in Japan. It can be copied and used outside of Japan only.