More handpicked essays just for you.
The tradition of thanksgiving
Thanksgiving personal narrative
The orgins of five popular thanksgiving tradition essay no ads
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The tradition of thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday and it’s not because of the food. I’m blessed to be part of a family that uses any opportunity to hold a feast—that’s how much we love food. For me, Thanksgiving Day is a time of reflection and appreciation. President George Washington said it best when he referred to Thanksgiving Day “"as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God." Our family shares President Washington sentiment. So on Thanksgiving, before we chow down, we gather to share the experiences for which we are thankful and pray. As this year’s Thanksgiving Day approached and I started thinking of all the wonderful things for which I am thankful,
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.
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.
The table can be filled with many different types of foods, and it differs from family to family. However, there are some foods that are seen at almost every Thanksgiving table. First off, the turkey, it is the most important part of the celebration for most families in the United States. There are multiple reasons to why the turkey has become such a big part of Thanksgiving. For example, a colonist named William Bradford wrote in his journals that colonists hunted wild turkeys during autumn of 1621, which is named as the first Thanksgiving. Another reason to why the turkey is an important part of the holiday is because the birds are big and can feed a lot of people compared to other birds such as chickens (Trex, 2008). Although the turkey is the most important food on the table for most families, it is common for most families to also serve some sort of sweet potatoes, for example, a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. As Thanksgiving is a feast holiday a dessert is usually also served, one of the most common desserts on Thanksgiving is a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin has been around for hundreds of years, and always been a part of thanksgiving, however, it is more likely that the pumpkin was served after being baked or stewed rather than a pie on the first years when Thanksgiving were celebrated (Trex, 2008). As it is a feast holiday the table has many more types of foods, but it varies from family to family what is put onto the table, however, the turkey, sweet potatoes, and the pumpkin pie is almost always found at every Thanksgiving
Textbooks in today’s schools still tell the same story that has been handed down from generation to generation. Every year children dress up and put on plays about the famous story of the first Thanksgiving. No one knows the truth though or at least people pretend to not know the embarrassing truth of our “founding fathers.” Textbooks today give the candy coated version of good saintly Englishmen come to a better world and find good neighbors willing to help in their time of need.
During thanksgiving I really like to reflect on everything I have and it’s just a great way to remind myself to be more generous and to hold what and who I love dearly and show them that I care about them. Especially during this time of year when everything can be very stressful with the end of the semester and some mid terms, it gives me a chance to think on the less fortunate who don’t even get an education and would love the chance to get what I have. I’m so thankful for my availability to music and the abundance of caring people in my life with so many opportunities for me right at this moment. I realize that a lot of people take everything they have for granted and honestly everyone does this from time to time, I really like to just bluntly tell people that I care about them and that I’m thankful for them to be in my life at this point, even if it's just to remind myself to be more grateful towards them. Just think about what you have and be grateful for the good
The first Thanksgiving was a very memorable time in U.S. history. The real meaning of Thanksgiving is to spend time with your family and be thankful for what you have been blessed with.
When the great holiday of Thanksgiving comes to mind, most people think of becoming total gluttons and gorging themselves with a seemingly unending amount of food. Others might think of the time spent with family and friends. The whole basis of the holiday is family togetherness, fellowship, and thankfulness for blessings received during the previous year.
Thanksgiving is undoubtedly a holiday to celebrate family. It also celebrates many other things, as the name suggests. Thanksgiving is a holiday to give thanks for the things that a person has rather than to wish for more things. Accomplishments and shiny cars are not part of the essence of Thanksgiving, as these do not have the inherent humbleness expected of the holiday. This air of humility and frugality, harkening back to the days of the pilgrims and Native Americans, is probably what lead Ellen Goodman to describe the holiday as a suppressing of individualism. However, the rift between individuality and family that Goodman describes in Thanksgiving is not as deep as she makes it seem, and Thanksgiving Day is hardly the only day of the
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.
Our soldiers and the lives lost for our freedom were, and still are a crucial part of America’s story. I need to remember and honor our veterans because they are the ones who have fought for our freedom. Each individual who has fought for our nation has left their imprint on the book of America. I am not only reminded about who served our nation, but why. I remember that Americans have many rights that people of other countries aren’t lucky enough to have.
Now you want to know what I think being thankful is. I think being thankful is enjoying life every step of the way. Being thankful is also enjoying the things you got from life and not taking them for granted. Now I’ll tell you about three things I’m thankful for.
I am thankful for my grandparents, God, and my pet rabbit. I am thankful for my grandparents because my grandparents loves me, took care of me when I was a child, and helps me. My grandparents loves me because they always take me out to eat. They took care of me by feeding me and playing with me. They would always tell me fascinating stories and tell me about the world.
While it is unknown whether the Pilgrims actually had turkey at the original it has nevertheless become a symbol of thanksgiving in the United States (History.com Staff, 2009). Many people volunteer on Thanksgiving day either by hosting a food drive or full Thanksgiving meals for those in need (History.com Staff, 2009). Another Thanksgiving day tradition is large parades (Pardon a Turkey? 7 Thanksgiving Traditions Explained, n.d.). With the largest parade attracting between 2 and 3 million people and being two and a half miles long (History.com Staff, 2009).
We are thankful There are many things I am thankful for. I am very thankful for some important things, such as my parents, my life on earth, and my opportunity to play sports. These are important to me because I have someone to care for me, something to believe in, and an opportunity to better myself. I am thankful for my parents. I´m thankful for my big house that I live in that they provide for me.
I'm thankful for my family because they gave me everything I need to live and more, while loving me and helping me when I do something wrong. I'm thankful for my wealth because here on earth, money is so important for a happy, healthy life, and I have been blessed with over enough. Finally, I'm thankful for my education because without it I'm not going to succeed in life, and that education is so critical for a person, whether it's academic or social. I’ve been handed so much in life, and I'm so thankful for it. November is the time of thanks, where we sit down and enjoy each other's company, instead of playing on our phones, we say what we are so thankful for, and would want to live without.