# Thanksgiving Around the World – Grade 10 English Notes  
## Unit 2: Festivals & Celebrations – Complete Chapter with All Exercises (NEB Curriculum)

## 🎯 Chapter Overview  
“Thanksgiving” is traditionally associated with the United States, yet harvest-thanksgiving customs flourish on every inhabited continent. This chapter surveys how nations as far apart as **Brazil, Liberia, Grenada, Ghana, South Korea, Iran, Barbados, Canada and the USA** pause to thank nature, honour ancestors and celebrate community. By comparing dates, foods, parades and rituals, you will discover the common human instinct to give thanks after the harvest while appreciating each culture’s distinctive flavour.

**Skills Focus:** global-culture reading, festival vocabulary, reported-speech for questions, comparative writing  


## 📚 Learning Objectives  
After completing this lesson you will be able to:  
- Summarise key Thanksgiving and harvest festivals across five continents  
- Use advanced adjectives and descriptive phrases to portray celebrations  
- Convert direct yes/no and wh-questions into reported speech accurately  
- Interpret matching and true/false items based on factual texts  
- Draft clear comparative paragraphs on cultural celebrations  

## 🌍 Reading Text Synopsis  
| Country      | Local Name & Date                   | Core Customs                                         | Signature Foods/Events                                            |
|--------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **USA**      | Fourth Thursday of November         | Family feast, giant city parades, NFL games          | Roast turkey, pumpkin pie, Broadway-character balloons            |
| **Canada**   | Second Monday of October            | Harvest dinner, outdoor family activities            | Roast turkey, cranberry sauce, maple-flavoured desserts           |
| **Brazil**   | Dia de Ação de Graças (4th Thurs)   | Church services, beach gatherings, Gospel concerts   | Turkey, tropical fruit salads, exotic side dishes                 |
| **Grenada**  | October 25                          | Harvest festival, military-style procession          | Spiced local produce, nutmeg demonstrations, calypso music        |
| **Liberia**  | First Thursday of November          | Evening feasts with dance & song                     | Roast chicken, mashed cassava, Liberian stews                     |
| **Ghana**    | Homowo (August/September)           | Drumming, dancing, sprinkling Kpokpoi                | Palm-nut soup, fried fish, kpokpoi (maize dumplings)              |
| **Barbados** | Crop Over (July/August)             | Carnival, calypso music, grand street parades        | Bajan fishcakes, rum punch, sugar-cane displays                   |
| **South Korea** | Chuseok (Sept./Oct.)             | Homecoming, ancestor memorial rites                  | Songpyeon rice cakes, fresh fruits, family gatherings            |
| **Iran**     | Mehregan (October)                  | New clothes, community blessings, poetry readings    | Pomegranates, nuts, wheat dishes                                  |

*(Only principal examples; other countries have similar harvest-thanksgiving traditions.)*

## 📝 Vocabulary Focus  
| Definition                                        | Word               |
|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| occurring at irregular intervals                  | **intermittently** |
| to remind people of an important past event       | **commemorate**    |
| in a typical or usual manner                      | **typically**      |
| curved shape wide in middle, pointed at ends      | **crescent-shaped**|
| full of life and energy                           | **vibrant**        |
| a noisy person having fun with a group            | **reveller**       |
| excitingly unusual or foreign                     | **exotic**         |
| to spread through and be noticeable               | **pervade**        |
| brightly coloured, likely to attract attention    | **flamboyant**     |
| done quickly with little organization             | **haphazardly**    |

## 📋 Exercise Solutions  

### A. Word–Meaning Match  
(Answers in vocabulary table above.)

### B. Festival–Country Match  
a. Liberia b. Iran c. Ghana d. South Korea e. Brazil f. USA g. South Korea  

### C. Short-Answer Questions  
a. **Main American feature:** A large family meal centred on roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  
b. **Parade features:** Floats themed on Broadway shows and popular characters, marching bands, dance troupes, giant balloons.  
c. **Chuseok timing & purpose:** Late September/early October; to give thanks for the year’s rice harvest and honour ancestors.  
d. **Brazil’s origin:** Established in 1949 by President Gaspar Dutra after he observed U.S. Thanksgiving traditions.  
e. **Liberian founders & motive:** Freed American slaves in the 19th century began it to thank God for liberty and their new homeland.  
f. **Barbados festival:** Crop Over marks the end of sugar-cane harvest with carnival, calypso competitions and street parades.  
g. **Homowo meaning (Ghana):** “Hooting at hunger”—marks survival after famine with drumming, dance and maize dumplings.

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## 🧩 Grammar II – Reported Speech for Questions  

### A. Choose the Correct Indirect Form  
| Direct Question                                              | Reported Speech                             |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| Sujita asked her mother, “When will your father come home?”  | Sujita asked her mother **when her father would come home**. |
| I asked, “Have you ever had caviar?”                         | I asked her **if she had ever had caviar**. |
| The salesperson said, “What can I do for you?”               | The salesperson asked **what he could do for me**. |
| A tourist asked, “Do you belong to Banepa?”                  | The tourist inquired **whether I belonged to Banepa**. |
| The little girl said, “What time are we supposed to come back?” | She asked **what time they were supposed to come back**. |
| The head teacher asked, “Have you filled out the exam form?” | The head teacher asked **whether I had filled out the exam form the week before**. |
| Renuka asked, “Did you call me?”                             | Renuka asked **if I had called her**.       |

### B. Direct Questions from Nihar’s Interview  
a. “Can you tell me about the Newari tradition known as _Ihi_?”  
b. “Why is the ceremony of _Ihi_ performed?”  
c. “Who is Suvarna Kumar?”  
d. “Why was the _Ihi_ tradition started?”  
e. “What age group of girls are married during the _Ihi_ ceremony?”  
f. “Why is it known as _Bel Bibaha_?”  
g. “Why was bel chosen as a witness during the ceremony?”  
h. “How long does the ritual of _Ihi_ go on for?”  
i. “What are the dietary restrictions during the ceremony?”

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## ✍️ Writing Task – Comparative Paragraph  
In 120–150 words, compare Thanksgiving in the **USA** and **Ghana**. Include:  
- Date & cultural context  
- Main purpose & symbolism  
- Signature foods & activities  
- One unique fact about each celebration  
Conclude with which festival you would rather attend and why.

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## ✅ Self-Assessment Checklist  
- [ ] I can name at least **six** countries with Thanksgiving traditions.  
- [ ] I can convert direct yes/no and wh-questions into reported speech correctly.  
- [ ] I can use words like **“vibrant,” “exotic,”** and **“haphazardly”** accurately.  
- [ ] I can articulate similarities and differences between two harvest festivals in clear English.

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## 🌟 Conclusion  
From North America’s turkey feasts to Ghana’s Homowo drumming, harvest celebrations express universal gratitude while reflecting unique cultural flavors. Exploring these traditions broadens your worldview, enriches vocabulary and hones analytical writing skills. Continue investigating global festivals—each reveals how communities unite to honour their heritage and give thanks for life’s bounty.  
