Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November.

→ Compare the Plymouth Thanksgiving of 1621 with today's typical American Thanksgiving.

The Plymouth Thanksgiving of 1621

Today's Typical Thanksgiving

-Wild turkey that Plymouth hunted can fly.

-Didn't have enough sugar to make cranberry sauce (just in the stuffing).

-Pumpkin cut into pieces.

-Didn't have forks, picked food by hand and wiped their hands on very large napkins.

-Eat outside.

-Domesticated turkey.

-Cranberry sauce is an essential part.

-Mashed pumpkin and served in a pie.

-Set a beautiful fancy table.

-Eat inside.

AFTER YOU READ:

I. Getting the Message:

1. The Separatists came to America because they wanted religious freedom.

2. It isn't historically correct to refer to all Plymouth colonists as Pilgrims because some of them came for adventure or economics gains.

3. The colonists were grateful to Massasoit and his tribe because they taught them better farming techniques resulted in a good harvest.

4. Priscilla Mullens didn't want to marry Miles Standish because she loved John.

5. The settlers and the Native Americans became enemies because both of them want the same land.

6. Pocahontas was kidnapped by the Jamestown colonists because they warned her father tribe to be peaceful toward them.

II. Sharpening Reading Skills:

1. inspire: cause someone to want to do something.

2. voyage: a long trip, usually on water.

3. courtship: seeking romance and/or marriage.

4. timid: shy and frightened.

5. alike: similar.

6. hostile: showing the desire to hurt someone.

7. apologize: say you're sorry for doing something wrong.

8. bloodshed: injury and/ or death.

III. Understanding Idioms and Expression:

1. On display means to put out for people to see.

2. If you have your Thanksgiving dinner out – of – doors, you eat it outside.

3. Role-playing means pretending to be someone else.

4. If you take advice from a friend, you do what your friend suggests.

5. After all, means what happened was a surprise.

6. John Smith owned his life to Pocahontas because she protected him from death.