ESL: For Thanksgiving Day (Thursday) 27 November 2008

Class Assignment
Thursday 27 November 2008

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1. What is the movie, An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving about?
2. Who is the legendary actress interviewed?
3. Who wrote the story?
4. What is "bugging" one of the interviewers?
5. How many generations of women is the movie about?
6. How does she descrbe the grandmother character she plays?
7. Who is this character intimidated by?
8. Which character in the film is more like her?
9. Who is an adventuress in the film?
10. Did she read the short story? No.
11. Briefly, why or why not?
12. What book did she read in detail to prepare another film?
13. What attracts the actress to certain parts?
14. Which film has comedic stuff?
15. Who co-stars in this film?
16. When was it released?
17. Which character does she play?
18. Does she like doing comedy?
19. Does she find comedy difficult to do?
20. With which family member did she have a complicated relationship?
21. What did she resolve with her mother before she died?
22. Has the actress had botox or plastic surgery?
23. What does she believe in?
24. According to the actress, what do nasty thoughts in the mind do to the system?
25. What does she think the government should give everyone?
26. What size pot does she mention?
27. What does she think can be cleaned up by this?
28. What part of eating does she want to get rid of?
29. What kind of food does she prefer?
30. What is she not fanatical about?
31. What kind of student does she advise being?
32. Who suffers in the film and becomes more human?
33. Where does An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving premiere?
34. What day will the show air?
35. What happened on that day in 1963 (not in the interview)?

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THANKSGIVING DAY Home Listening, Due 30 November 2008

Home Listening
Due 7 December 2008
View video, below.

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1. What can happen to consumers if they're not careful about Thanksgiving purchases?
2. According to the show host, how many ways are there to save on Thanksgiving Day dinner?
3. Regarding the state of the economy, what are people closely watching this Thanksgiving?
4. What might one find in one's refrigerator and pantry?
5. Where should one shop to save money?
6. What kind of turkey will likely save the consumer money?
7. How much was a fresh turkey in the store?
8. How much was the frozen turkey?
9. What food is often free in stores?
10. How much do you have to spend to get it for free?
11. What kinds of vegetables should one avoid in stores?
12. How should one purchase vegetables to save money?
13. What foods should one clean and cut oneself?
14. What is the best bread to use to make stuffing and save money?
15. How much do pies cost in stores?
16. How much did the can of pumpkin pie filling cost?
17. How much can one save if one bakes one's own cookies?
18. How much did the homemade pumpkin pie cost?
19. What kind of milk was used to make the pie?
20. In one word, what should Thanksgiving Day be according to one consumer?
21. Besides "advanced planning" what, according to the host, does one need to save money on one's Thanksgiving Day feast?

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THANKSGIVING (Click to ENLARGE)

In-Class Assignment Due 25 November 2008

A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING
Due 25 November 2008

View A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in three segments (1, 2, 3) and prepare the following questions for class.

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    1. What does Charlie Brown think Lucy thinks he is, when she calls his name with a football in her hand?
    2. What is one of the greatest traditions Americans have, according to Lucy?
    3. What is the biggest most important tradition of all?
    4. According to Charlie Brown, what should a person never turn down?
    5. According to Charlie Brown, what wouldn't Lucy try to do on a traditional holiday?
    6. As he races towards the football, where does Charlie Brown vow to kick it to this time?
    7. As Charlie Brown lies on his back, what does Lucy say is peculiar?
    8. What does Sally think that her big brother, Charlie Brown expected in the mailbox?
    9. What always depresses Charlie Brown?
    10. Sally went down to the store to buy a turkey treat but what was all the store had?
    11. Why isn't Sally thankful about Thanksgiving?
    12. What schoolwork is attached to the name of Myles Standish (whom she calls Stanley Miles)?
    13. What does Sally say she hasn't finished doing for Halloween?
    14. What does Linus say that America was the first country in the world to do?
    15. Where are Charlie Brown and his little sister, Sally, going on  Thanksgiving?
    16. What does Sally want to do with Linus under the table at her grandmother's?
    17. What does Peppermint Patty ask Charlie Brown?
    18. What nickname does she use for "Charlie"?
    19. Why does she think that Charlie can't talk to her about his feelings for her?
    20. What does she want to do with their "intimate feelings"?
    21. Where is her father?
    22. Where does she want to go on Thanksgiving?
    23. What does she call Charlie before hanging up the phone and saying she'll see him soon?
    24. Who does Peppermint Patty invite in addition to herself?
    25. What parts of the turkey does she want Charlie to save for her?
    26. Why does Sally say it's Charlie's fault that Peppermint Patty invited herself?
    27. Who's the third person Peppermint Patty invites over?
    28. What does she call the Thanksgiving Day event?
    29. Why does Charlie say you can't explain anything to Peppermint Patty?
    30. What is Linus's solution to Charlie's Thanksgiving Day dilemma?
    31. What does Charlie say is all he knows how to make?
    32. What outfit does Peppermint Patty say Charlie Brown always wears?
    33. What does she say Charlie Brown didn't say the party would be regarding dress?
    34. What does the bird, Woodstock, put into the toaster instead of bread?
    35. What hat does Charlie Brown want Snoopy to wear instead of his Pilgrim's hat?
    36. Why does Charlie want Snoopy to get ready?
    37. What does Peppermint Patty want to say before eating?
    38. According to Charlie Brown, when was the first Thanksgiving Day feast held by the pilgrims?
    39. Who were honored guests at that feast?
    40. What "opportunity" did the minister at that first Thanksgiving Day dinner thank God for?
    41.  What three foods are in the dish Snoopy serves for Thanksgiving Day dinner?
    42. According to Peppermint Patty, what 4 foods make up a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner?
    43. How does Peppermint Patty think she affected Charlie Brown by complaining about the Thanksgiving Day dinner?
    44. What does she want Marcie to do for her?
    45. What does Marcie want Peppermint Patty to do instead?
    46. What Thanksgiving Day story does Linus think of?
    47. Why does Charlie Brown say to Marcie he feels bad?
    48. What should they be thankful for according to Marcie?
    49. What does Peppermint Patty call Charlie for holding her hand?
    50. What does Charlie Brown call Peppermint Patty when he refers to her to his grandmother on the phone?
    51. Where does Charlie Brown's grandmother live?
    52. What does Snoopy serve Woodstock after Charlie Brown and his friends leave for Grandmother's?

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Picks of the Pix Golden Hits

AMERICAN THANKSGIVING

American Thanksgiving

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The story of Thanksgiving is basically the story of the Pilgrims and their thankful community feast at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
     The Pilgrims, who set sail from Plymouth, England on a ship called the Mayflower on September 6, 1620, were fortune hunters, bound for the resourceful 'New World.'
     The Mayflower was a small ship crowded with men, women and children, besides the sailors on board. Aboard were passengers comprising the 'separatists', who called themselves the "Saints", and others, whom the separatists called the "Strangers".
     After land was sighted in November following 66 days of a lethal voyage, a meeting was held and an agreement of truce was worked out. It was called the Mayflower Compact. The agreement guaranteed equality among the members of the two groups. They merged together to be recognized as the "Pilgrims." They elected John Carver as their first governor.
     Although Pilgrims had first sighted the land off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they did not settle until they arrived at a place called Plymouth. It was Captain John Smith who named the place after
the English port-city in 1614 and had already settled there for over five
years. And it was there that the Pilgrims finally decided to settle.
Plymouth offered an excellent harbor and plenty of resources. The local
Indians were also non-hostile.
     But their happiness was short-lived. Ill-equipped to face the winter on this estranged place they were ravaged thoroughly. Somehow they were saved by a group of local Native Americans who befriended them and helped them with food.
     Soon the natives taught the settlers the technique to cultivate corns and grow native vegetables, and store them for hard days. By the next winter they had raised enough crops to keep them alive.
     The winter came and passed by without much harm. The settlers knew they had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate.
     They celebrated it with a grand community feast to which the friendly native Americans were also invited. It was kind of a harvest feast, like the Pilgrims used to have in England. The recipes included "corn" (wheat, by the Pilgrims usage of the word), Indian corn, barley, pumpkins and peas, "fowl" (especially "waterfowl"), deer, fish. And yes, of course the yummy wild turkey.
     However, the third year was real bad when the corn got damaged. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and rain happened to follow soon. To celebrate, November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the
real beginning of the present Thanksgiving Day.
     But Thanksgiving Day is presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. This date was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in November as was designated by President Abraham Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to Christmas, leaving the businesses even less than a month's time to cope with the two big festivals. Hence the change.

See the original at this link.

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Refer to the essay above for content answers: 1.  What is the "New World"?
2.  What was the name of the ship called that arrived in the "New World"?
3.  Thanksgiving is now celebrated on the fifth Thursday of every month. T-F.
4.  What does it mean to be unable to cope?  If something is copacetic, is that good or bad?
5.  What's the opposite of a feast?
6.  Name some other feasts, in Taiwan or elsewhere.
7.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the first Thanksgiving. T. F.
8.  The law-making body in America is called the a)judiciary, b)congress.
9.  What does the writer mean by "Native Americans"?
10. What kind of corn is very painful and cannot be eaten?
11.  When someone says a movie is corny, what does that mean?
12.  What is one's native languge?
13.  When something is called "lethal," what does that mean?  What's a one-word synonym for lethal?  What's a lethal weapon?
14.  When something is yummy, does it mean it's good or bad?
15.  Is a tummy ache good or bad?  What's a one-word synonym for tummy?
16.  If you call your boyfriend or girlfriend a dummy, does that mean you think s/he's smart?
17.  What's a dummy in a department store?  What is a department store dummy usually used for?  In entertainment, what's a dummy?
18.  When you settle down someplace, what does that mean?
19.  What's a one-word synonym for cultivate, as in the phrase, "He's cultivating grapes."  "Cultivated" can also be used intransitively; that is, without an object, as in, "He's very cultivated."  Does that mean he lives in a garden?  What does it mean?
20.  How can you damge your teeth?  Hearing?
21.  What American holiday follows Thanksgiving?
22.  Should a person be arrested for beating the odds?  What does it mean to beat the odds?
23.  Who befriended the first European settlers in North America?
24.  Is the opposite of "real bad" "unreal bad"?  What is a one-word synonym for "real" in "real bad"?
25. What's a one-word synonym for "pilgrim"?
26.  Using a form of the word "pilgrim," what do you call it when you make a visit to a special place, like a shrine or religious location?
27.  What do you feel thankfulfor, apart from taking my class?
28.  What does it mean when your application has been approved?  To apply for a job?  To apply yourself to something?
29.  Name a person whose fame was short-lived.
30.  What's a one-word synonym for "designate" as it is used in the essay (5th sentence from the bottom)?
31.  What does it mean when a child is estranged from her parents?
32.  What is the name of the Pilgrim governor who ordered a day of fasting and prayer after the corn got damaged in the 3rd year of the Pilgrim settlement?
33.  If Thanksgiving falls on the last Thursday of November, what is the day after Thursday called?
34.  What was the truce between the Strangers and the Saints called?
35.  Where did the Pilgrims first decide to settle?
36.  What foods were included in the first Thanksgiving feast?
37.  What does it mean to proclaim a holiday?  Does it mean to praise a holiday?
38.  What's a famous port city in Taiwan?
39.  How would you settle a dispute between two feuding neighbors?
40.  What kind of woman is a fortune hunter?
41.  Why do you pay shipping costs on purchase of something?
42.  When someone says, "Don't crowd me!" what does he mean?
43.  When a conductor shouts "All aboard!" what does he mean?
44.  The word "saint" comes from a Latin word meaning "holy."  Another form of the word appears in the name of a famous person who wears a red suit and travels around the world once a year.  What's his name?
45.  Name some kinds of fowl.
46.  What is foul language?  A foul ball in baseball?
47.  When a movie is called a "turkey," does that mean it's very good or very bad?
48.  What recent movie have you seen that you would call a turkey? Some Thanksgiving Day jokes: 49.  What key has legs and can't open doors?
50.  What kind of music did the pilgrims like?
51.  Why did they let the turkey join the band?
52.  What did the mother turkey say to her disobedient children?
53.  Where did the first corn come from?
54.  Why didn't they take the turkey to church?
55.  Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building?
56.  Why did the police arrest the turkey? Match the answers to the joke questions above, then explain the joke: a)The stalk brought it.  b)Plymouth Rock. c)A building can't jump. d)He was suspected of fowl play.  e)If your father could see you he would turn over in his gravy.  f)He had the drumsticks.  g)A turkey.  h)He used fowl language.

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