Head over to your google classroom to open the prompt for this blog assignment. I was not able to put a live link on here because it is not a file I was able to share publicly.
As much as we would like to believe that Thanksgiving represents gratitude, and on the outside is does, Thanksgiving has become a time where people sit around a table, eating the same food, cooked the exact same way every year, stuffing their faces until they can not physically eat any more, and argue over society, economy, politics, what to buy the next day for Black Friday, and everything under the sun.
The Thanksgiving dinner is always the same every year. It doesn’t really get boring, because it is the only time of year that that specific combination of food is being eaten. However, the way that the food is cooked, hasn’t really changed or evolved over the years to make it more efficient, or more delicious. Both source A and source E show thee traditional Thanksgiving Turkey. A large golden turkey ready to be carved. But, as the assigner “cooker” of the family may know, that turkey is a long drawn out process that takes the entire day to cook and make sure temperatures are perfect to get the good turkey. There is another way that turkeys can be cooked that take much less time and can evenly cook the turkey. So what about the other issues that might arise? So many people have restrictions on what they eat, for example, vegans or people with allergies (source B). Different foods could be introduced into the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
The most annoying part about Thanksgiving is the fact that the instant people get together in large groups, they start arguing. This doesn’t happen in every household, but the fact that it has become a meme, (source E) shows that it happens often. The belief differences between people within even one family has become so drastic that it’s concerning. This especially happens when the parents are Catholic, the grandparents are more Catholic, and the children have left the church. This situation is all too common and sometimes causes the family to get in heated arguments. Experiences like this and especially hard on young children.
Somethings people skip Thanksgiving altogether to get the best deals on Black Friday. As shown in Source F, getting good deals has become so important to society that families suffer. Sometimes people end up spending more on Black Friday then if they just bought what they needed without the sale.
Thanksgiving could be a great time where family gets together, has a delicious meal, and appreciates what they have. However unfortunately, it doesn’t always turnout that way. But all we can do is our best. This thanksgiving, let’s do some research. Find out some recipes that everyone will enjoy. Remind everyone that politics are banned at the Thanksgiving dinner table. And forget about Black Friday while having dinner.
This was very well-written Marcie! I was glad that you mentioned that some people become so greedy when Black Friday shopping, that they spend more than they would on any other day.
I liked how you talked about how people skip thanksgiving because of the Black Friday deals. I also liked how you said that the experiences that are showed to children are hard to get past so we should make them good ones.
Great essay Marcie! I liked the points you made about how arguments draw away from the meaning of Thanksgiving. I also enjoyed the message you left the reader with at the end.
This was a great essay! I loved how you made the essay feel like a conversation, which made it much more enjoyable to read! I also liked how in the opening paragraph you made such a long list of what Americans talk about besides being thankful, it shows how bad it really is!
Thanksgiving is a holiday that is dedicated to showing gratitude for all the things a family is blessed with. It is an American tradition to celebrate this holiday with your family by having a big meal. In recent years, there has been new technologies, political debates, and Black Friday shopping which are distracting Americans from the traditional Thanksgiving celebration. Thanksgiving has turned into a war zone rather than the traditional holiday of giving thanks. Technology seems to be consuming the lives of a majority of the American people. Most people keep their cell phone with them all of the time, even at the table during Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving dinner is meant to be spent with family and friends whom you are thankful for. Cell phones are distracting people from living in the moment and spending time with the people they are most thankful for. People are showing more gratitude for their followers on social media than their loved ones(Nickel). Technology is causing people to show gratitude for the wrong things and wasting time that should be spent with family. Politics cause an ongoing argument between Americans, especially when the family gathers on the holidays. A political statement from one person can cause the whole family to be at each other's necks all day. A political argument at the dinner table will only result in chaos, as the cartoon from Source E reveals (Kirk). Thanksgiving dinner should be an enjoyable time with conversation about the goodness in each person's life. Politics cause arguments and grudges between family members, which takes away from the whole point of the holiday: to be thankful for each other. No one should spend a holiday dedicated to gratitude being upset with the people they are most thankful for. Black Friday could be considered a new American tradition. Americans are so concerned about getting a good deal that they will blow off an entire holiday just to trample people in the supermarket. People spend their thanksgivings sitting outside of a store eating cold turkey just so they can be the first ones in there on Black Friday(Horsey). The greed revealed by people on Black Friday completely ruins the point of Thanksgiving. It is ironic that people show so much gratitude on Thanksgiving only to push an elderly woman out of the way to get the last blender at Walmart the next day. Black Friday does not in any way symbolize the gratitude meant to be shown on Thanksgiving. Over the past few years, the purpose of Thanksgiving has been defeated by technology, politics and Black Friday. Thanksgiving should be dedicated to giving thanks and celebrating family. Americans can do a better job of celebrating Thanksgiving by getting rid of technology at the table, avoiding politics, and worrying less about what store has the best discounts.
Great synthesis Abby! I really liked the various examples you used about Black Friday shopping to show how it does not represent what Thanksgiving is supposed to mean in any way. It was also easy to read and you had very strong arguments.
I really like your synthesis essay Abby! I thought the way you compared Thanksgiving into becoming a war zone was really interesting. I also liked how you said that the purpose of the holiday has been defeated.
Very good synthesis. I liked how you portrayed an argument at a dinner table as a warzone. I also liked how you said that it is being destroyed by technology.
Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time where you realize how blessed you are, give thanks for that, and work on trying not to take these blessings for granted. Instead of this, people are wrapped up in politics and Black Friday, completely disregarding Thanksgiving as a holiday meant to represent American gratitude. The discussion of politics has taken away from the whole purpose of Thanksgiving. As many have found, talking about politics mainly divides rather than unites. A cartoon from Source E exemplifies this by having a group of people shouting at each other at Thanksgiving dinner and many look miserable. Some individuals have Trump shirts on, so they are clearly arguing about politics. It is extremely rare for a whole family to have the same views when it comes to this, so it can lead to bickering. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of being grateful for relatives, not focusing on differences and dividing everyone. One would think that after fighting about politics nearly all year, individuals would want to take a break from this and just be glad to be in each other’s company. This shows how influential politics can be, even on a holiday built upon great ideas. Lastly, Black Friday shopping has gotten in the way of what Thanksgiving is truly about. There is a cartoon from Source F that symbolizes this. It shows two parents with their children outside of a store waiting for the doors to open for Black Friday. The kids express how unhappy they are about having to be there on Thanksgiving, while the parents basically say that getting there early allows them to be at the beginning of the line and that this is more important than celebrating Thanksgiving the way that it is meant to be. The concept of Black Friday is bad in general, but it is even worse that it is the day after Thanksgiving. One day, a person may go from being grateful for all that they were given to hurrying to obtain more material things. Catholicism tells everyone that these objects do not matter, because it is not like they are coming with people to Heaven. When individuals are more centered around items like this, they no longer have their eyes pointed towards the ultimate destination, Heaven. This event is an example of the way that one is not supposed to live. The whole concept of Thanksgiving has been distorted by society. As political conversations and Black Friday shopping continue to be common around this time, the overall purpose of Thanksgiving is lost, and it may never be the same again. For some, Thanksgiving is just like every other day but with better food.
Great job on your synthesis essay Melaina! I really enjoyed reading through it. I like that you talk about how society has distorted Thanksgiving. I also liked the way you used the sources.
This is a really great synthesis essay Melaina! Your arguments were strong and you used the information from the sources really well. I like how you included Catholicism into your argument. Great work!
The Thanksgiving time period has always meant to remind us of all we have to be thankful for. Sadly, in the last few years, it has become overshadowed with stress, new technology, and the creeping holidays. Despite the opportunity Thanksgiving provided for us, we are overlooking it and not seeing it for what it truly is, a period of simplicity and thanksgiving. Many things have arisen that cause people to see Thanksgiving as a period of stress, especially when it comes to preparing food. People have begun to want to eat healthier, some go to extreme lengths, such as eating only fruits and vegetables. Others have allergies or sensitivities that no one thought to pay attention to forty, fifty, sixty years ago. Even yet, some people have restrictions from doctors on what they are allowed to have and not allowed to have. To add on to all of these, some people are just plain picky and will refuse to eat a number of these things. (Source B) When it comes to the holidays, all these people are primarily worried about making sure that all that is on the table fits their digestive needs. Now, for the one who is meant to be cooking all the food, or even just one dish, they are now faced with ensuring there is something for everyone to eat. They have to find completely new recipes, ingredients, time periods, and sometimes even a new way of cooking. This causes so much added stress that just causes people to resent the holiday, rather than to sit down and enjoy it. The idea of stress overshadows the real meaning Thanksgiving, to be simply grateful for all that we have. Next, technology has made itself very known in the world over the past few decades, but especially in the most recent one. It is taking over everything, from the way people interact to the way people carry themselves and treat other people. Too many studies to count have been done that prove the addiction of technology, especially on the generation’s youngest. People begin to forget what it means to sit down and enjoy a long meal with those most important around us. Everything on technology is short and concise, words are limited or games take four minutes and then a new round begins. This is exemplified in the cartoon from Source A where it talks about saying what one is grateful for in less than one hundred forty characters. It has translated into everyday life. People never want to spend a long time on anything anymore, we are always looking ahead to whatever is happening next. We can never focus on what we have and just be thankful for it because we want what is next. Technology is speeding everything up, including Thanksgiving. People look beyond the holiday and begin thinking about Christmas. Technology pushes us past being grateful for what we have in the present moment.
Finally, the days and holidays that follow Thanksgiving tend to come before it in people’s minds. Weeks before the holiday, families are already thinking about the best shopping deals on Black Friday or what presents Christmas will bring. While Thanksgiving tries to get us to appreciate what we have and not what we will get or what we believe we deserve, the days of shopping that will follow constantly cloud appreciation. People even skip sleeping on Thanksgiving g to go wait in a cold, dark parking lot to be the first one in a store. (Source F) The want we have for what comes next pushes past the opportunity to appreciate the things we already have, whether it is our family, or an old book, or even a brand new toy, it all deserves appreciation. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday that gives us an opportunity to just step back and realize that what we have is enough. That although we want new toys, and new computers, and new clothes, we have plenty. It is a holiday that encourages humility by asking us to appreciate the simple things or the little things that get overlooked. We must remember this as the holiday nears. With all these things in mind, there are many ways Thanksgiving could be celebrated differently, less stress or no technology, but having these occurrences only reminds us to be thankful for the other things we have. So while Thanksgiving today is being overshadowed, we must try to remember that there is so much more to the holiday than what is on the surface.
Wonderful synthesis Audrey! I loved how you recognized that Thanksgiving is being overshadowed and that the holiday is an opportunity to realize that we should be thankful for what we have and not what we could be buying.
Thanksgiving is a holiday that is unique to America. It is a day of remembering the pilgrims who sacrificed their lives to settle in America. Not only are we to remember on Thanksgiving, we are supposed to express our gratitude towards the many different opportunities we are granted. This innocent holiday has sadly turned into a day full of anxiety to try and get the best deals on Black Friday and making sure to wish the insignificant number of followers on social media a lighthearted happy thanksgiving. This unpatriotic attitude towards the holiday has led to a decrease in national gratitude. Social media has undoubtedly changed the way that Americans celebrate holidays. Many people rush to their devices to write a paragraph or two about what they are thankful for. The cartoon from Source A pictures a family that is sitting at the dinner table. A man raises a glass and instead of giving a toast, he asks his family to describe what they are thankful for in 140 characters or less. This character limit refers to how words on posts can be limited. Gratitude should not be limited to the maximum amount of characters. Gratitude should be expressed all year round and shown in many more ways than a 140 character summary. Black Friday is a duo of words that fills the hearts of bargain shoppers in America. Black Friday is the annual event that occurs the Friday after Thanksgiving. Almost every store has big deals to save money. The intelligent planning of this event is to entice shoppers to save money buying Christmas gifts. Thanksgiving is overlooked due to this event. Traffic is packed like in Source D. People used to drive hours away instead of going to thanksgiving dinner. People camp outside of stores on thanksgiving day just to be the first ones in the store the next day. Source F is an example of a family eating a Thanksgiving dinner of fried chicken while waiting to get into a store. This is labeled as the new American tradition. This practice has evolved into waiting on a computer to click fast enough to get the desired items in your cart. Nonetheless, Thanksgiving has not been treated with the correct attitude. Giving thanks has been overshadowed by the pressure of saving the most money on Christmas shopping. The American Tradition of Thanksgiving has evolved into a tradition of shopping and making sure we look good on social media. There are so many things to be thankful for. This thanksgiving we should extend the list of things we’re thankful for from friends and family to include our freedoms and our opportunities, not the great bargains or likes on social media.
Great take on the topic Hope! I love how you pointed out the attitude of Thanksgiving and how shopping and Black Friday have overshadowed the celebration. Great job!
Awesome work, Hope! I was intrigued by your opening paragraph, and the rest of your essay did not disappoint. I really agree with what you said about not limiting gratitude to a character limit.
The American holiday of Thanksgiving is not what it is meant to be. Originally, the purpose of Thanksgiving was to be grateful for the blessings that we have and celebrate these blessings with family and friends. Modern life has turned a time of celebration and gratitude into a time of impatience, greed, and a social media focus. Thanksgiving used to be known as the time to celebrate and be grateful but it has turned into impatience. When the topic of the holiday is brought up, many dread it due to long traveling. It has become a time of stress and long distances. As shown in source D (Granlud), the cartoon shows many people stuck in traffic, complaining about the wait. This represents the stress brought on by Thanksgiving. People are more focused on the wait of traveling than spending time celebrating with family and friends and being grateful for what they have. Another example of impatience during the holiday is the wait for the food. All day there are constant questions about when it will be done when people should be thankful they have any at all. Thanksgiving has been hyper focused on how long it will take. Thanksgiving has also been overshadowed by greed. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when stores begin to sell things for a significant discount. People want more than they have and they want it for cheap. Many people skip the holiday all together and wait in line for stores as Black Friday starts earlier and earlier every year. Source F (Horsey) shows a great example of how greed has ruined the holiday. In the picture, there is a family on thanksgiving, eating take out turkey and waiting for stores to open. This greatly represents the situation now as people care less and less about appreciating what they have and care more and more about what they don’t have. The greed of Black Friday contradicts the meaning of Thanksgiving. Finally, Thanksgiving has also been corrupted by social media. People are now concerned about what they will post on social media about how thankful they are rather than truly enjoying thanksgiving. It is a time of celebration, not popularity. Social media distracts people from spending time with family and friends. The cartoon of Source A (Fritz) pictures the distraction of social media with up the participants wondering about what they will post and not about Thanksgiving. The celebration of Thanksgiving has been overshadowed by the lack of patience, materialistic needs, and social media. It is supposed to be a celebration of what we have, instead of what we can get. It is important to forget about the things we could buy, the stress of traveling and what the public thinks and to spend time celebrating and spending time together.
Good work, Elena! I especially enjoyed the part that focused on how buying more things goes against appreciating what you have. I thought it was a great contrast that helped solidify your point.
Thanksgiving has strayed from its purpose. Within the last two decades, it has shifted from a dinner to celebrate blessings to an opportunity to argue over politics, a race into the stores, and a social media event to make people look better. As a nation, most Americans have lost the true sense of Thanksgiving.
The issue of family arguments around holidays has always been prevalent. Thanksgiving, although meant to serve as a reminder of blessings, was overshadowed by fights in the same ways the other holidays often were. However, in recent years fights concerning politics have become the topic of interest (Source E). A large part of this is social media. It presents the ability to see what your family likes or shares with the world in an environment that encourages people to take a political stance. These topics are fueled by passion and spark fights that seem to divide the country. Nothing strays further from thankfulness than discussing everything wrong with the world or someone’s opinions.
The only thing worse about modern Thanksgiving than the arguments that occur is when people don’t celebrate it at all. Many Americans have recently forgone the traditional dinners to begin Black Friday shopping. As the deals began to start earlier each year, more and more Americans were cutting short their celebration. At some times, they were even canceling it altogether. As shown in the comic, a little girl asks why they have to eat their dinner in line for a store to open, and the parent responds to “just be thankful.” (Source F) While seemingly a dramatization, it is scarily accurate how many people have been brainwashed to think that getting a deal is more important than being with the people they're thankful for. Because of this, the true spirit of Thanksgiving has been lost.
Another issue that is helping to eliminate the purpose of Thanksgiving is the social media hoax it causes. On Thanksgiving day, people, especially the younger generations, spend time curating the perfect post for their account to show off how thankful they are. This is all done in hopes of earning admiration from their followers. Often, after the pictures or message is up, they go right back to being ungrateful or fighting with their family. It’s a narcissistic pattern to fall into, pretending to care for attention only to go against the statement moments later (Source A). Overall, social media has transformed a holiday of being thankful into another way for people to either pretend to be perfect or be upset that they aren’t perfect.
Americans have failed to honor Thanksgiving. The holiday has shifted from a traditional break for a feast of gladness to a dreaded, exhausting event. The true thankful spirit has been trampled over by excessive shopping, social media, and political agendas.
Good work Gina! I enjoyed your viewpoint about how it’s all Americans, and just not one group, that has lost what Thanksgiving is supposed to be all about. I enjoyed reading this!
Thanksgiving is a holiday where we show thankfulness for the good things we have been given. It is right in the name of the holiday: “thanks,” and “giving.” How could someone forget something so simple? Yet, it seems America has forgotten that. Today, Thanksgiving is plagued with the usage of technology, selfish desires, and Americans forgetting what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is. If America continues to treat Thanksgiving the way it is now, Black Friday will be considered more important.
Thanksgiving is about the sacrifice of the pilgrims, who sailed to America to live a free life, and being thankful for the few things we have. As time has passed; however, America has forgotten that. In source D, the voyage of the pilgrims is compared to a busy highway packed with cars. This is meant to depict the general perception of what Americans think of when they think of Thanksgiving. The pilgrims, though they were sick and tired of being on the sea for months, were optimistic as they were happy to just be alive and be with people. Most Americans today are spoiled. They have a car, nice food, and a loving family. Even with all of that, they still complain just as much as the pilgrims. America is a rich nation, and its people live in prosperity. Americans are spoiled with luxuries, and get annoyed when one thing goes wrong. For example, at a Thanksgiving dinner, a family member may complain about Turkey, and throw their serving away, even though by the standards of the rest of the world, they are lucky to even have food. Americans have forgotten to be thankful for what they have because they are spoiled, and as a result, the value of Thanksgiving has been lost.
Technology has played a major role in everyday life, and now it affects a national holiday. In source C, a turkey brags he is invited to dinner because he has a lot of followers on Twitter, which shows how America has forgotten what Thanksgiving means. Social media, which arrived from technology, has distracted America from what it means to be thankful. They care more for a digital number than what they actually have infront of them. America is not thankful for the food they get to eat, because they are too busy posting it on Twitter to eat it. They can not be thankful for their family, because they are too distracted on their phones to see them. The luxuries of life has made America forget that spending time with family, and enjoying what we have, and appreciating it, is the essence of being thankful. In source F, a family is seen having Thanksgiving in a parking lot so they can get the best Black Friday deals. This comic showcases how thankfulness has been lost. The girl complains about having thanksgiving in a parking lot. She is dressed warm and has a family beside her. The pilgrims lost many loved ones, and were lucky to even be eating in the first place. The pilgrims had to eat in the freezing cold, while this girl at least gets clothes. The man says “Just be thankful,” to which the boy responds with, “For what?” The comic shows that the lack of care for such an important holiday has led people to forget how to be thankful. People like that boy do not realize how fortunate they are to be able to live a calm and happy life. People like that boy complain about standing in a line, while someone else dies of starvation. The idea of being thankful has been destroyed because people only focus on what they want, and not what they have.
Today, Thanksgiving is seen as everything but a time to be grateful. In source F, the sign for the Black Friday deal shows a picture of Santa’s head, with people also wearing Santa hats. Thanksgiving has been forgotten entirely, and has been replaced as a time to just prepare for Christmas. Today, America feels Black Friday is more important because they can get discounts on products. They sacrifice important and rare family time so they can be at the front of the line. People can buy products, but not family. If Thanksgiving is the “thankful,” part of the holiday, then Christmas is the “giving,” part of it. The two holidays should be synchronous with each other, but instead America only cares about Christmas. On Thanksgiving, nobody gains anything. That is because it is meant to be a time to look back and be appreciative of what we have, not what we could have. Christmas, people are given gifts and gain something, and thus Thanksgiving has been left in the dust. The point of Thanksgiving has been forgotten because of the material desires of spoiled Americans.
The America of today has forgotten what Thanksgiving is. America’s prosperity is Thanksgiving’s fall. America has so many things; we think nothing needs to be sacrificed, and as a result Americans do not realize they should be grateful for what they have, because in reality it could be lost at any point. America is too focused on their own personal desires to spend time with loved ones, and as a result the value of appreciating what we have has been lost. Finally, Thanksgiving is being ignored entirely. It is like ignoring Veterans Day. The pilgrims sacrificed everything to be free of religious discrimination. In WWII, veterans fought for freedom from communism. If someone ignores the work of a pilgrim, they ignore the work of the veterans America says they love. Everyone should be thankful for what they have, because anything can be lost at any point.
This was really good Tanner! I enjoyed your comparison between us today and the Pilgrims throughout the essay. I think it really tied the whole argument together really well. Great job!
What is one of the best ways to share in a meal together? The breaking of bread is as simple as it sounds. When you break bread with someone there is a sense of brotherhood and acceptance that you gain from it. With all of the hate and anger going on today it is often hard to sit down and break bread with others. We live now in a world where we cannot accept people for who they are or what they believe in. Many people often forget when they are at thanksgiving that they are all friends and family. Thankfully, I often do not have a problem with arguments and political talks at Thanksgiving and most of our conversations are civil. Sometimes however, there are heated discussions about who is the best presidential candidate or what this person did or what that person did. Thanksgiving is not solely supposed to be about just gratitude and giving thanks; it's also about love for one another as the Gospel of Matthew states, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Lately Thanksgiving has veered away from what we are thankful for and has come to what we want because of “Black Friday” the day after thanksgiving. Black Friday is all about how fast we can get what we want and get it at any cost. Proverbs 19:22 says, “What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.” These Black Friday deals have been extended to the night of Thanksgiving and people leave Thanksgiving dinner early so they can get deals on certain items. For my entire life we have eaten the same thing at Thanksgiving which consists of turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole. We are blessed to not have anyone with any special food needs so that conversation does not come up. Thanksgiving has become a battleground for arguing but with the grace of God we can be saved and love one another again.
Unknown, I really like your essay! I think it is well-written and really gets the point across. I like how you mentioned breaking bread and sharing things. I also love how you tied the Bible into this, it really brings your idea home!
Thanksgiving, a family gathering each year were there is a lot of food and is supposed to be about being thankful for each other, the past few years has shifted to being just about politics, Black Friday, and technology.
With Thanksgiving being at the end of November, politics are always a huge argument, especially in years of presidential elections. Everyone has different views and belief and this can often cause blowouts during family events. This is shown in Source E where everyone is shown getting upset over the fact that not everyone is agreeing with them. One point in the political cartoon in Source E that really stuck out to me was the two men arguing with the Bible and the paper (Anderson, Kirk). This was a key part of the drawing because the argument of Bible vs. science is something that is ongoing today because science doesn’t always line up with what the Church teaches. It also, ironically, is titled “The Last Thanksgiving” and this is ironic because to this family and their inability to get along, this may truly be their last Thanksgiving together.
Black Friday, which falls the day after Thanksgiving is another of the conflict of Thanksgiving. Back when Black Friday began, the deals did not begin until later on Black Friday afternoon and only lasted a short time. However, now, the deals will often began on Thanksgiving evening, causing many families to miss out on what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about in order to just get a deal on something. A great example of this is in Source F, where you see a family sitting outside a store waiting for the deals to start, which might be normal, right? If one looks closer, you can see that the family is eating Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot while waiting for the deals (Horsey, David). This just shows that to the family, excluding the little girl who is saying that she doesn’t want to have Thanksgiving in the parking lot, deals are more important than being grateful and spending time with family. However, while deals may be nice, they don’t last forever like the love of a family does.
Technology is also something that has rapidly developed over the past decade, leading to more people having it. Naturally, this technology is going to show up at family dinners, such as Thanksgiving. However, it’s not always a good thing because technology has altered how we interact with each other in day-to-day conversations. For example, in Source A, the family gathered for Thanksgiving is going around saying what they are thankful for, like every family does. Theirs, however, has a little twist - they are only using 140 “characters” just like you would in a social media post, showing that technology changed their ability to keep everything at a short length (Fritz). Technology can tear Thanksgiving dinners apart and cause families to not be able to interact with each other, so it should not be present at dinner.
With all these in mind, Thanksgiving should still be all about the thanks and being grateful for your family. So, how will you spend Thanksgiving this year? Will you be one who starts arguments or will you be the one that makes the holiday be what it’s supposed to be?
This is a very interesting essay Jackie! I agree about your point of views about politics and technology in thanksgiving. You made some really good points. This was very well written!
Thanksgiving is a time for celebration and family. Although the season can be a hectic one it is important for families to take a break and remember what brough them together. Too many people have lost sight of the true meaning of thanksgiving events like black fiday, super saurday, and cyber monday have overshowed the holiday as a whole. People have lost precious family time instead they spend there hours at the mall searching for the next big deal. Source F depictsthis this situation perfectly. A family braves the cold to wait in line for a deal on Black Friday. They have taken their tnakgiving meal to go and they eat it while they wait. The little girl voices her disdain of having her thanksgiving dinner out in a parking lot. Her father response is a simple “Be thankful.” For what exactly? For a missed opportunity to bond with family? For a waisted night out? Or for the sales which their mother seems intent on getting. Dinners are being downsisided into tv meals and fewer and fewer family members are being invited due to squabbles in the family or out of fear a fight would blow up if someone said something another thought was out of line. As depected in Source E a family seems to be in the mist of a civil war between sides. One batch of family members seeming playing the religious card, a male memebr screaming over the table while brandishing a bble. The other side counters by pulling out what seems to be newspaper and yells right back. All the while children are running ramput, other family members are screaming vile things and at the head of the table are the father and mother who look like theyer trying to pray the chaos away. All in all its a very eye opening image that depicts to a family how divided theyer table could really be. The final inage Source A depicts how thanksgiving has become a more online experience. Instead of being there in person people send out greeting that often times have no real meaning behind them. Thanks giving has lost its true meaning and without the effort put in by all members of the family the problem will not get fixed.
I really like your essay Tiff. I liked how you mentioned that Thanksgiving can sometimes be hectic. I also agree that this holiday has lost the real meaning.
Lovely essay Tiff! I liked how you wrote why the little girl in the comic was unhappy eating dinner in the parking lot and how Thanksgiving dinner is not just about eating food, but eating food and spending quality time with your family.
For generations, the Thanksgiving season has been a time for Americans to reflect on the things in their lives that they are grateful for. However, as the years progress, less emphasis seems to be put on the things people care about, and placed on anything else. What used to be a holiday dedicated to food, family, and filled with gratitude, has become a battlefield. Planning who will make every dish, strategically placing family members at different tables to avoid a political debate, and posing it all perfectly to make sure everyone on the internet can see that the family had a wonderful time. (Source E) Thanksgiving has become a confusing minefield that has left many Americans wondering if it is even worth it. Much of the blame for this moral shift during this season is placed on the infamous Black Friday. (Source F) This day of shopping and sales comes the day after Thanksgiving, and for serious customers, requires a lot of preparation. One might argue that the entire holiday season has shifted to please the average consumer. Black Friday shifted into Cyber Monday and it all shifts the meaning of the season to buying things. It seems as though the country has forgotten what they are thankful for and just thinks about what they want. Another problem that has cause the meaning of Thanksgiving to change is social media. (Source A) Social media has undoubtedly grown substantially over the past few years. It has affected the school systems, healthcare, and the daily lives of every American citizen. Therefore, it is bound to affect the holidays as well. The constant need to stay connected to people, the need to keep up appearances on Facebook, and the judgment of others has torn many people from reality. What used to be know as the most thankful holiday has become a battleground for modern society.
Well done Eddie! I really like how you wrote about Black Friday changing the way people think of thanksgiving. I agree how it distracts people of the true meaning of thanksgiving. Good job!
Eddie, I really like your essay! I think you really nailed the idea of how the holiday is changing in response to black Friday. I like how you mentioned Cyber Monday and the other ways it affects life.
Thanksgiving is a holiday in which families gather together to celebrate their gratitude for everything in their lives and, most importantly, eat lots of good and delicious food with their loved ones. In every thanksgiving, gratitude plays an important role on what people talk about during time with their families. Without gratitude, there wouldn’t be anything to be thankful for or talk about, and that is what’s currently happening. Thanksgiving is being shifted from sharing gratitude towards others to now talking about what is wrong with our country and all the problems around the world like the technology, politics, and most importantly Black Friday. Though Thanksgiving is only celebrated in November, it is being hidden by the election which also takes place in November. When it’s an election year, politics can sometimes ruin thanksgiving as everyone only talks about politics instead of being thankful for being around the people that love them. Even though it’s not just politics that can ruin thanksgiving, it could many other beliefs like religion. As shown in Source E, there is total chaos (Anderson, Kirk). You can see people arguing back and forth about certain topics. What sticks out to me the most is the two guys arguing about religious beliefs as there is a bible involved. This cartoon is not what thanksgiving is about. It is showing how politics can hide the gratitude towards people and make them become enemies. Black Friday is the most looked forward to shopping event in the country. It occurs on the following day after thanksgiving. Because the value of products are dramatically changed and are cheaper to buy, people look more forward to buying these items rather than celebrating thanksgiving. In some stores, Black Friday begins on Thanksgiving which can distract people from gratitude. Some people even skip the thanksgiving meal so they can wait in lines at stores to get in as fast as they can. In source F, the cartoon shows people waiting in line for a Black Friday sale at a store. The one guy is eating his thanksgiving meal while sitting in the line (Horsey, David). This is not how thanksgiving is supposed to be celebrated. The way people use technology is also effecting the way they interact with someone. In source C, the cartoon shows a turkey telling another turkey that he has a lot of followers on social media and that they all want the turkey to eat at their thanksgiving meal (Nickel, Scott). This whole idea of just getting invited to people houses for thanksgiving that you don’t even know defeats the purpose of why we celebrate thanksgiving. It’s a shame that they don’t want to celebrate with their family. The whole idea about thanksgiving is to be able to appreciate your close family members and by not going, you show that you don’t care about them. Thanksgiving is being forgotten. The use of politics, the sales on Black Friday, and the way technology can influence people to not celebrate with their family all shadow over the true meaning of thanksgiving, which is to show gratitude toward your family. By everyone realizing and appreciating what they have, maybe thanksgiving will go back to it meaning of true gratitude toward the ones close.
Thanksgiving is meant to be a time of thanks and gratitude. Even though this is the main point, it has not been this for the past couple of years. We get distracted by our phones, all of the shopping they have to do, the Black Friday shopping deals, and so much more. This is not the way that Thanksgiving should be. It should be about giving thanks and being together with family and friends. During Thanksgiving, all people want to do is post on social media. Instead of enjoying the holiday with their families, people tend to be on their phones the whole time. They want to make sure that they share their experience of Thanksgiving with the people of social media (Fritz). We need to get off of our phones, and be thankful for the things that we have. We need to celebrate with our family and friends face to face. If people do this, it could lead to a great Thanksgiving celebration.
During thanksgiving, people are talking about and getting ready for Balck Friday (Horsey, David). People are more worried about sales than the true meaning of this wonderful holiday. In the cartoon instead of gathering together the table and saying what they are thankful for, they are waiting in line for the sales. These people are missing the true point of the holiday. It is also titled the New American Thanksgiving (Horsey, David). This is a perfect title because this is what society is turning to this holiday into. We are making Thanksgiving more complicated than it should be. Colin Stokes represents this issue in the picture. During Thanksgiving we should all just come together and be thankful for all that we have. We should let go all of our troubles and enjoy all of the things that God has given us.
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a holiday in which many Americans celebrated things that they were grateful for and thankful to have. It originated from the encounters the Pilgrims had with the Native Americans during their first year in the new world. Today, thanksgiving has been skewed, and it is being replaced by the “holiday” that takes place the day after it- Black Friday. Black Friday is a day when many stores hold huge sales and have prices marked down really low in order to attract consumers during the Christmas shopping season. Today’s consumer culture is changing what thanksgiving is about and how it is perceived. In order to bring back what is truly important and things that can actually make people happy, which is family and friends, this must be stopped. Black Friday’s crazed shopping lines to enter the store got so out of hand that many stores started to open their doors on thanksgiving in order to deal with the large crowds and space things out more. This; however, has had many negative consequences from people completely ignoring their families to spending thanksgiving in a parking lot, waiting to enter a store (Source F). Families are more concerned about saving money and buying new things that they cannot even sit down with their families and express thanks for everything they have. Stores themselves and the media and popular culture do not help. They make the shopping idea sound necessary and make things sound so convincing and appealing. Their ideas are corrupting the idea of the holiday entirely, and in many cases abridging it so that everyone can make it to Target by 5pm (Source A). It is important to keep family and important things in mind, as well as in perspective. Nevertheless, differentiations in viewpoints can make conversations with family unpleasant and uncomfortable. Many people say to avoid talking about politics and religion to avoid arguments (Source E). Many things have been taken too far in society, and it is getting to the point where people cannot even be civil about their opinions, perspectives, and viewpoints. Life is not a competition, and an individual should not feel the need to dominate and “win” every conversation. This mindset ruins many dinnertime conversations. The hustle and bustle of the thanksgiving season is crazy. People travel to see family, as well as shop on black friday. Many people flock to stores and cities, making traffic unbearable and trip durations significantly longer (Source D). People need to take time to sit and think about their lives and all the wonderful things and blessings that they have. If people would slow down, all the anxiety of life would seem less significant and people wouldn't lose sight of what’s important. Therefore, it is important for an individual to slow down and keep family and friends close to heart during the holiday season. It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, but it is even more important to keep the important things close to heart, and to give them high priority in life.
Thanksgiving has taken on a completely new form in the American household over recent years. A time previously set aside for giving thanks and expressing gratitude has now turned into one of the most controversial events of the year. At its face value, Thanksgiving seems like a great time to sit down with family, exchange stories, and enjoy a nice meal. However, these base values that make up this great tradition have been completely disregarded. Quality time with loved ones during Thanksgiving is now diluted with extreme political stances, clashing personalities, and the people involved giving no thought to the meaning of the event itself (Source E). Sitting down with family has become more of a chore than something to look forward to. Thanksgiving is a time to express gratitude and to be thankful for the people involved in your life. There seems to be much more energy put into winning a political argument than there is for someone to say something as simple as “I am thankful for you.” It is almost embarrassing that not even one day can be aside to be compliant with one another. A second reason for the dramatic change in Thanksgiving in the influence of the internet. People find themselves more worried about their presence on the internet, rather than their social presence. This can cause people to be thankful for all the wrong reasons, once again, completely ruining the meaning of Thanksgiving (Source C). Black Friday Shopping also plays a huge role in the recent fall of this historical holiday. It is widely accepted for people to buy unnecessary things, only hours after claiming they were thankful for what they already have. The Black Friday tradition has caused most Americans to forget about Thanksgiving all together (Source F). Instead of planning a thanksgiving dinner, some families strategically plan out how to get to all of the stores in time to beat everyone else to the good deals. This is completely backwards in terms of the concept of Thanksgiving. Modern tradition and ideas have ruined the historical significance, and moral meaning behind Thanksgiving. The idea that Thanksgiving, in today’s society, is about being grateful and appreciative is hysterical, for it is the exact opposite. The average thanksgiving dinner in 2020 would probably seem like a sarcastic skit to someone attending from 2000. America is changing the direction in which Thanksgiving is headed, and it is not for the better.
This is Eddie's For generations, the Thanksgiving season has been a time for Americans to reflect on the things in their lives that they are grateful for. However, as the years progress, less emphasis seems to be put on the things people care about, and placed on anything else. What used to be a holiday dedicated to food, family, and filled with gratitude, has become a battlefield. Planning who will make every dish, strategically placing family members at different tables to avoid a political debate, and posing it all perfectly to make sure everyone on the internet can see that the family had a wonderful time. (Source E) Thanksgiving has become a confusing minefield that has left many Americans wondering if it is even worth it. Much of the blame for this moral shift during this season is placed on the infamous Black Friday. (Source F) This day of shopping and sales comes the day after Thanksgiving, and for serious customers, requires a lot of preparation. One might argue that the entire holiday season has shifted to please the average consumer. Black Friday shifted into Cyber Monday and it all shifts the meaning of the season to buying things. It seems as though the country has forgotten what they are thankful for and just thinks about what they want. Another problem that has cause the meaning of Thanksgiving to change is social media. (Source A) Social media has undoubtedly grown substantially over the past few years. It has affected the school systems, healthcare, and the daily lives of every American citizen. Therefore, it is bound to affect the holidays as well. The constant need to stay connected to people, the need to keep up appearances on Facebook, and the judgment of others has torn many people from reality. What used to be know as the most thankful holiday has become a battleground for modern society.
As much as we would like to believe that Thanksgiving represents gratitude, and on the outside is does, Thanksgiving has become a time where people sit around a table, eating the same food, cooked the exact same way every year, stuffing their faces until they can not physically eat any more, and argue over society, economy, politics, what to buy the next day for Black Friday, and everything under the sun.
ReplyDeleteThe Thanksgiving dinner is always the same every year. It doesn’t really get boring, because it is the only time of year that that specific combination of food is being eaten. However, the way that the food is cooked, hasn’t really changed or evolved over the years to make it more efficient, or more delicious. Both source A and source E show thee traditional Thanksgiving Turkey. A large golden turkey ready to be carved. But, as the assigner “cooker” of the family may know, that turkey is a long drawn out process that takes the entire day to cook and make sure temperatures are perfect to get the good turkey. There is another way that turkeys can be cooked that take much less time and can evenly cook the turkey. So what about the other issues that might arise? So many people have restrictions on what they eat, for example, vegans or people with allergies (source B). Different foods could be introduced into the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
The most annoying part about Thanksgiving is the fact that the instant people get together in large groups, they start arguing. This doesn’t happen in every household, but the fact that it has become a meme, (source E) shows that it happens often. The belief differences between people within even one family has become so drastic that it’s concerning. This especially happens when the parents are Catholic, the grandparents are more Catholic, and the children have left the church. This situation is all too common and sometimes causes the family to get in heated arguments. Experiences like this and especially hard on young children.
Somethings people skip Thanksgiving altogether to get the best deals on Black Friday. As shown in Source F, getting good deals has become so important to society that families suffer. Sometimes people end up spending more on Black Friday then if they just bought what they needed without the sale.
Thanksgiving could be a great time where family gets together, has a delicious meal, and appreciates what they have. However unfortunately, it doesn’t always turnout that way. But all we can do is our best. This thanksgiving, let’s do some research. Find out some recipes that everyone will enjoy. Remind everyone that politics are banned at the Thanksgiving dinner table. And forget about Black Friday while having dinner.
This was very well-written Marcie! I was glad that you mentioned that some people become so greedy when Black Friday shopping, that they spend more than they would on any other day.
DeleteI liked how you talked about how people skip thanksgiving because of the Black Friday deals. I also liked how you said that the experiences that are showed to children are hard to get past so we should make them good ones.
DeleteGreat essay Marcie! I liked the points you made about how arguments draw away from the meaning of Thanksgiving. I also enjoyed the message you left the reader with at the end.
DeleteThis was a great essay! I loved how you made the essay feel like a conversation, which made it much more enjoyable to read! I also liked how in the opening paragraph you made such a long list of what Americans talk about besides being thankful, it shows how bad it really is!
DeleteThanksgiving is a holiday that is dedicated to showing gratitude for all the things a family is blessed with. It is an American tradition to celebrate this holiday with your family by having a big meal. In recent years, there has been new technologies, political debates, and Black Friday shopping which are distracting Americans from the traditional Thanksgiving celebration. Thanksgiving has turned into a war zone rather than the traditional holiday of giving thanks.
ReplyDeleteTechnology seems to be consuming the lives of a majority of the American people. Most people keep their cell phone with them all of the time, even at the table during Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving dinner is meant to be spent with family and friends whom you are thankful for. Cell phones are distracting people from living in the moment and spending time with the people they are most thankful for. People are showing more gratitude for their followers on social media than their loved ones(Nickel). Technology is causing people to show gratitude for the wrong things and wasting time that should be spent with family.
Politics cause an ongoing argument between Americans, especially when the family gathers on the holidays. A political statement from one person can cause the whole family to be at each other's necks all day. A political argument at the dinner table will only result in chaos, as the cartoon from Source E reveals (Kirk). Thanksgiving dinner should be an enjoyable time with conversation about the goodness in each person's life. Politics cause arguments and grudges between family members, which takes away from the whole point of the holiday: to be thankful for each other. No one should spend a holiday dedicated to gratitude being upset with the people they are most thankful for.
Black Friday could be considered a new American tradition. Americans are so concerned about getting a good deal that they will blow off an entire holiday just to trample people in the supermarket. People spend their thanksgivings sitting outside of a store eating cold turkey just so they can be the first ones in there on Black Friday(Horsey). The greed revealed by people on Black Friday completely ruins the point of Thanksgiving. It is ironic that people show so much gratitude on Thanksgiving only to push an elderly woman out of the way to get the last blender at Walmart the next day. Black Friday does not in any way symbolize the gratitude meant to be shown on Thanksgiving.
Over the past few years, the purpose of Thanksgiving has been defeated by technology, politics and Black Friday. Thanksgiving should be dedicated to giving thanks and celebrating family. Americans can do a better job of celebrating Thanksgiving by getting rid of technology at the table, avoiding politics, and worrying less about what store has the best discounts.
Great synthesis Abby! I really liked the various examples you used about Black Friday shopping to show how it does not represent what Thanksgiving is supposed to mean in any way. It was also easy to read and you had very strong arguments.
DeleteI really like your synthesis essay Abby! I thought the way you compared Thanksgiving into becoming a war zone was really interesting. I also liked how you said that the purpose of the holiday has been defeated.
DeleteVery good synthesis. I liked how you portrayed an argument at a dinner table as a warzone. I also liked how you said that it is being destroyed by technology.
DeleteGreat synthesis Abby! I like your point about how politics have brought people apart especially during the holidays. Good job!
DeleteThis was a good synthesis. I enjoyed your explanation on how things like technology have turned Thanksgiving into a shadow
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ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is supposed to be a time where you realize how blessed you are, give thanks for that, and work on trying not to take these blessings for granted. Instead of this, people are wrapped up in politics and Black Friday, completely disregarding Thanksgiving as a holiday meant to represent American gratitude.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion of politics has taken away from the whole purpose of Thanksgiving. As many have found, talking about politics mainly divides rather than unites. A cartoon from Source E exemplifies this by having a group of people shouting at each other at Thanksgiving dinner and many look miserable. Some individuals have Trump shirts on, so they are clearly arguing about politics. It is extremely rare for a whole family to have the same views when it comes to this, so it can lead to bickering. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of being grateful for relatives, not focusing on differences and dividing everyone. One would think that after fighting about politics nearly all year, individuals would want to take a break from this and just be glad to be in each other’s company. This shows how influential politics can be, even on a holiday built upon great ideas.
Lastly, Black Friday shopping has gotten in the way of what Thanksgiving is truly about. There is a cartoon from Source F that symbolizes this. It shows two parents with their children outside of a store waiting for the doors to open for Black Friday. The kids express how unhappy they are about having to be there on Thanksgiving, while the parents basically say that getting there early allows them to be at the beginning of the line and that this is more important than celebrating Thanksgiving the way that it is meant to be. The concept of Black Friday is bad in general, but it is even worse that it is the day after Thanksgiving. One day, a person may go from being grateful for all that they were given to hurrying to obtain more material things. Catholicism tells everyone that these objects do not matter, because it is not like they are coming with people to Heaven. When individuals are more centered around items like this, they no longer have their eyes pointed towards the ultimate destination, Heaven. This event is an example of the way that one is not supposed to live.
The whole concept of Thanksgiving has been distorted by society. As political conversations and Black Friday shopping continue to be common around this time, the overall purpose of Thanksgiving is lost, and it may never be the same again. For some, Thanksgiving is just like every other day but with better food.
This was really a fantastic essay Melaina! I loved how well you fit the sources into your topics. You did a great job of building on them too.
DeleteGreat job on your synthesis essay Melaina! I really enjoyed reading through it. I like that you talk about how society has distorted Thanksgiving. I also liked the way you used the sources.
DeleteThis is a really great synthesis essay Melaina! Your arguments were strong and you used the information from the sources really well. I like how you included Catholicism into your argument. Great work!
DeleteThe Thanksgiving time period has always meant to remind us of all we have to be thankful for. Sadly, in the last few years, it has become overshadowed with stress, new technology, and the creeping holidays. Despite the opportunity Thanksgiving provided for us, we are overlooking it and not seeing it for what it truly is, a period of simplicity and thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteMany things have arisen that cause people to see Thanksgiving as a period of stress, especially when it comes to preparing food. People have begun to want to eat healthier, some go to extreme lengths, such as eating only fruits and vegetables. Others have allergies or sensitivities that no one thought to pay attention to forty, fifty, sixty years ago. Even yet, some people have restrictions from doctors on what they are allowed to have and not allowed to have. To add on to all of these, some people are just plain picky and will refuse to eat a number of these things. (Source B) When it comes to the holidays, all these people are primarily worried about making sure that all that is on the table fits their digestive needs. Now, for the one who is meant to be cooking all the food, or even just one dish, they are now faced with ensuring there is something for everyone to eat. They have to find completely new recipes, ingredients, time periods, and sometimes even a new way of cooking. This causes so much added stress that just causes people to resent the holiday, rather than to sit down and enjoy it. The idea of stress overshadows the real meaning Thanksgiving, to be simply grateful for all that we have.
Next, technology has made itself very known in the world over the past few decades, but especially in the most recent one. It is taking over everything, from the way people interact to the way people carry themselves and treat other people. Too many studies to count have been done that prove the addiction of technology, especially on the generation’s youngest. People begin to forget what it means to sit down and enjoy a long meal with those most important around us. Everything on technology is short and concise, words are limited or games take four minutes and then a new round begins. This is exemplified in the cartoon from Source A where it talks about saying what one is grateful for in less than one hundred forty characters. It has translated into everyday life. People never want to spend a long time on anything anymore, we are always looking ahead to whatever is happening next. We can never focus on what we have and just be thankful for it because we want what is next. Technology is speeding everything up, including Thanksgiving. People look beyond the holiday and begin thinking about Christmas. Technology pushes us past being grateful for what we have in the present moment.
Finally, the days and holidays that follow Thanksgiving tend to come before it in people’s minds. Weeks before the holiday, families are already thinking about the best shopping deals on Black Friday or what presents Christmas will bring. While Thanksgiving tries to get us to appreciate what we have and not what we will get or what we believe we deserve, the days of shopping that will follow constantly cloud appreciation. People even skip sleeping on Thanksgiving g to go wait in a cold, dark parking lot to be the first one in a store. (Source F) The want we have for what comes next pushes past the opportunity to appreciate the things we already have, whether it is our family, or an old book, or even a brand new toy, it all deserves appreciation. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday that gives us an opportunity to just step back and realize that what we have is enough. That although we want new toys, and new computers, and new clothes, we have plenty. It is a holiday that encourages humility by asking us to appreciate the simple things or the little things that get overlooked. We must remember this as the holiday nears.
ReplyDeleteWith all these things in mind, there are many ways Thanksgiving could be celebrated differently, less stress or no technology, but having these occurrences only reminds us to be thankful for the other things we have. So while Thanksgiving today is being overshadowed, we must try to remember that there is so much more to the holiday than what is on the surface.
Wonderful synthesis Audrey! I loved how you recognized that Thanksgiving is being overshadowed and that the holiday is an opportunity to realize that we should be thankful for what we have and not what we could be buying.
DeleteThanksgiving is a holiday that is unique to America. It is a day of remembering the pilgrims who sacrificed their lives to settle in America. Not only are we to remember on Thanksgiving, we are supposed to express our gratitude towards the many different opportunities we are granted. This innocent holiday has sadly turned into a day full of anxiety to try and get the best deals on Black Friday and making sure to wish the insignificant number of followers on social media a lighthearted happy thanksgiving. This unpatriotic attitude towards the holiday has led to a decrease in national gratitude.
ReplyDeleteSocial media has undoubtedly changed the way that Americans celebrate holidays. Many people rush to their devices to write a paragraph or two about what they are thankful for. The cartoon from Source A pictures a family that is sitting at the dinner table. A man raises a glass and instead of giving a toast, he asks his family to describe what they are thankful for in 140 characters or less. This character limit refers to how words on posts can be limited. Gratitude should not be limited to the maximum amount of characters. Gratitude should be expressed all year round and shown in many more ways than a 140 character summary.
Black Friday is a duo of words that fills the hearts of bargain shoppers in America. Black Friday is the annual event that occurs the Friday after Thanksgiving. Almost every store has big deals to save money. The intelligent planning of this event is to entice shoppers to save money buying Christmas gifts. Thanksgiving is overlooked due to this event. Traffic is packed like in Source D. People used to drive hours away instead of going to thanksgiving dinner. People camp outside of stores on thanksgiving day just to be the first ones in the store the next day. Source F is an example of a family eating a Thanksgiving dinner of fried chicken while waiting to get into a store. This is labeled as the new American tradition. This practice has evolved into waiting on a computer to click fast enough to get the desired items in your cart. Nonetheless, Thanksgiving has not been treated with the correct attitude. Giving thanks has been overshadowed by the pressure of saving the most money on Christmas shopping.
The American Tradition of Thanksgiving has evolved into a tradition of shopping and making sure we look good on social media. There are so many things to be thankful for. This thanksgiving we should extend the list of things we’re thankful for from friends and family to include our freedoms and our opportunities, not the great bargains or likes on social media.
Great take on the topic Hope! I love how you pointed out the attitude of Thanksgiving and how shopping and Black Friday have overshadowed the celebration. Great job!
DeleteAwesome work, Hope! I was intrigued by your opening paragraph, and the rest of your essay did not disappoint. I really agree with what you said about not limiting gratitude to a character limit.
DeleteYou did a really good job Hope. I liked how you talked about the true meaning of Thanksgiving. I also liked how you talked about Black Friday.
DeleteThe American holiday of Thanksgiving is not what it is meant to be. Originally, the purpose of Thanksgiving was to be grateful for the blessings that we have and celebrate these blessings with family and friends. Modern life has turned a time of celebration and gratitude into a time of impatience, greed, and a social media focus.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving used to be known as the time to celebrate and be grateful but it has turned into impatience. When the topic of the holiday is brought up, many dread it due to long traveling. It has become a time of stress and long distances. As shown in source D (Granlud), the cartoon shows many people stuck in traffic, complaining about the wait. This represents the stress brought on by Thanksgiving. People are more focused on the wait of traveling than spending time celebrating with family and friends and being grateful for what they have. Another example of impatience during the holiday is the wait for the food. All day there are constant questions about when it will be done when people should be thankful they have any at all. Thanksgiving has been hyper focused on how long it will take.
Thanksgiving has also been overshadowed by greed. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when stores begin to sell things for a significant discount. People want more than they have and they want it for cheap. Many people skip the holiday all together and wait in line for stores as Black Friday starts earlier and earlier every year. Source F (Horsey) shows a great example of how greed has ruined the holiday. In the picture, there is a family on thanksgiving, eating take out turkey and waiting for stores to open. This greatly represents the situation now as people care less and less about appreciating what they have and care more and more about what they don’t have. The greed of Black Friday contradicts the meaning of Thanksgiving.
Finally, Thanksgiving has also been corrupted by social media. People are now concerned about what they will post on social media about how thankful they are rather than truly enjoying thanksgiving. It is a time of celebration, not popularity. Social media distracts people from spending time with family and friends. The cartoon of Source A (Fritz) pictures the distraction of social media with up the participants wondering about what they will post and not about Thanksgiving.
The celebration of Thanksgiving has been overshadowed by the lack of patience, materialistic needs, and social media. It is supposed to be a celebration of what we have, instead of what we can get. It is important to forget about the things we could buy, the stress of traveling and what the public thinks and to spend time celebrating and spending time together.
Good work, Elena! I especially enjoyed the part that focused on how buying more things goes against appreciating what you have. I thought it was a great contrast that helped solidify your point.
DeleteThanksgiving has strayed from its purpose. Within the last two decades, it has shifted from a dinner to celebrate blessings to an opportunity to argue over politics, a race into the stores, and a social media event to make people look better. As a nation, most Americans have lost the true sense of Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of family arguments around holidays has always been prevalent. Thanksgiving, although meant to serve as a reminder of blessings, was overshadowed by fights in the same ways the other holidays often were. However, in recent years fights concerning politics have become the topic of interest (Source E). A large part of this is social media. It presents the ability to see what your family likes or shares with the world in an environment that encourages people to take a political stance. These topics are fueled by passion and spark fights that seem to divide the country. Nothing strays further from thankfulness than discussing everything wrong with the world or someone’s opinions.
The only thing worse about modern Thanksgiving than the arguments that occur is when people don’t celebrate it at all. Many Americans have recently forgone the traditional dinners to begin Black Friday shopping. As the deals began to start earlier each year, more and more Americans were cutting short their celebration. At some times, they were even canceling it altogether. As shown in the comic, a little girl asks why they have to eat their dinner in line for a store to open, and the parent responds to “just be thankful.” (Source F) While seemingly a dramatization, it is scarily accurate how many people have been brainwashed to think that getting a deal is more important than being with the people they're thankful for. Because of this, the true spirit of Thanksgiving has been lost.
Another issue that is helping to eliminate the purpose of Thanksgiving is the social media hoax it causes. On Thanksgiving day, people, especially the younger generations, spend time curating the perfect post for their account to show off how thankful they are. This is all done in hopes of earning admiration from their followers. Often, after the pictures or message is up, they go right back to being ungrateful or fighting with their family. It’s a narcissistic pattern to fall into, pretending to care for attention only to go against the statement moments later (Source A). Overall, social media has transformed a holiday of being thankful into another way for people to either pretend to be perfect or be upset that they aren’t perfect.
Americans have failed to honor Thanksgiving. The holiday has shifted from a traditional break for a feast of gladness to a dreaded, exhausting event. The true thankful spirit has been trampled over by excessive shopping, social media, and political agendas.
Good work Gina! I enjoyed your viewpoint about how it’s all Americans, and just not one group, that has lost what Thanksgiving is supposed to be all about. I enjoyed reading this!
DeleteThanksgiving is a holiday where we show thankfulness for the good things we have been given. It is right in the name of the holiday: “thanks,” and “giving.” How could someone forget something so simple? Yet, it seems America has forgotten that. Today, Thanksgiving is plagued with the usage of technology, selfish desires, and Americans forgetting what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is. If America continues to treat Thanksgiving the way it is now, Black Friday will be considered more important.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is about the sacrifice of the pilgrims, who sailed to America to live a free life, and being thankful for the few things we have. As time has passed; however, America has forgotten that. In source D, the voyage of the pilgrims is compared to a busy highway packed with cars. This is meant to depict the general perception of what Americans think of when they think of Thanksgiving. The pilgrims, though they were sick and tired of being on the sea for months, were optimistic as they were happy to just be alive and be with people. Most Americans today are spoiled. They have a car, nice food, and a loving family. Even with all of that, they still complain just as much as the pilgrims. America is a rich nation, and its people live in prosperity. Americans are spoiled with luxuries, and get annoyed when one thing goes wrong. For example, at a Thanksgiving dinner, a family member may complain about Turkey, and throw their serving away, even though by the standards of the rest of the world, they are lucky to even have food. Americans have forgotten to be thankful for what they have because they are spoiled, and as a result, the value of Thanksgiving has been lost.
Technology has played a major role in everyday life, and now it affects a national holiday. In source C, a turkey brags he is invited to dinner because he has a lot of followers on Twitter, which shows how America has forgotten what Thanksgiving means. Social media, which arrived from technology, has distracted America from what it means to be thankful. They care more for a digital number than what they actually have infront of them. America is not thankful for the food they get to eat, because they are too busy posting it on Twitter to eat it. They can not be thankful for their family, because they are too distracted on their phones to see them. The luxuries of life has made America forget that spending time with family, and enjoying what we have, and appreciating it, is the essence of being thankful. In source F, a family is seen having Thanksgiving in a parking lot so they can get the best Black Friday deals. This comic showcases how thankfulness has been lost. The girl complains about having thanksgiving in a parking lot. She is dressed warm and has a family beside her. The pilgrims lost many loved ones, and were lucky to even be eating in the first place. The pilgrims had to eat in the freezing cold, while this girl at least gets clothes. The man says “Just be thankful,” to which the boy responds with, “For what?” The comic shows that the lack of care for such an important holiday has led people to forget how to be thankful. People like that boy do not realize how fortunate they are to be able to live a calm and happy life. People like that boy complain about standing in a line, while someone else dies of starvation. The idea of being thankful has been destroyed because people only focus on what they want, and not what they have.
ReplyDeleteToday, Thanksgiving is seen as everything but a time to be grateful. In source F, the sign for the Black Friday deal shows a picture of Santa’s head, with people also wearing Santa hats. Thanksgiving has been forgotten entirely, and has been replaced as a time to just prepare for Christmas. Today, America feels Black Friday is more important because they can get discounts on products. They sacrifice important and rare family time so they can be at the front of the line. People can buy products, but not family. If Thanksgiving is the “thankful,” part of the holiday, then Christmas is the “giving,” part of it. The two holidays should be synchronous with each other, but instead America only cares about Christmas. On Thanksgiving, nobody gains anything. That is because it is meant to be a time to look back and be appreciative of what we have, not what we could have. Christmas, people are given gifts and gain something, and thus Thanksgiving has been left in the dust. The point of Thanksgiving has been forgotten because of the material desires of spoiled Americans.
The America of today has forgotten what Thanksgiving is. America’s prosperity is Thanksgiving’s fall. America has so many things; we think nothing needs to be sacrificed, and as a result Americans do not realize they should be grateful for what they have, because in reality it could be lost at any point. America is too focused on their own personal desires to spend time with loved ones, and as a result the value of appreciating what we have has been lost. Finally, Thanksgiving is being ignored entirely. It is like ignoring Veterans Day. The pilgrims sacrificed everything to be free of religious discrimination. In WWII, veterans fought for freedom from communism. If someone ignores the work of a pilgrim, they ignore the work of the veterans America says they love. Everyone should be thankful for what they have, because anything can be lost at any point.
This was really good Tanner! I enjoyed your comparison between us today and the Pilgrims throughout the essay. I think it really tied the whole argument together really well. Great job!
DeleteThis was really well written tanner!! I think you did a great job talking about the topic!! Good job!!
DeleteVery well written Tanner. I like the connection between Christmas shopping being designated to the day after Thanksgiving.
DeleteWhat is one of the best ways to share in a meal together? The breaking of bread is as simple as it sounds. When you break bread with someone there is a sense of brotherhood and acceptance that you gain from it. With all of the hate and anger going on today it is often hard to sit down and break bread with others. We live now in a world where we cannot accept people for who they are or what they believe in. Many people often forget when they are at thanksgiving that they are all friends and family. Thankfully, I often do not have a problem with arguments and political talks at Thanksgiving and most of our conversations are civil. Sometimes however, there are heated discussions about who is the best presidential candidate or what this person did or what that person did. Thanksgiving is not solely supposed to be about just gratitude and giving thanks; it's also about love for one another as the Gospel of Matthew states, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Lately Thanksgiving has veered away from what we are thankful for and has come to what we want because of “Black Friday” the day after thanksgiving. Black Friday is all about how fast we can get what we want and get it at any cost. Proverbs 19:22 says, “What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.” These Black Friday deals have been extended to the night of Thanksgiving and people leave Thanksgiving dinner early so they can get deals on certain items. For my entire life we have eaten the same thing at Thanksgiving which consists of turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole. We are blessed to not have anyone with any special food needs so that conversation does not come up. Thanksgiving has become a battleground for arguing but with the grace of God we can be saved and love one another again.
ReplyDeleteUnknown, I really like your essay! I think it is well-written and really gets the point across. I like how you mentioned breaking bread and sharing things. I also love how you tied the Bible into this, it really brings your idea home!
DeleteThanksgiving, a family gathering each year were there is a lot of food and is supposed to be about being thankful for each other, the past few years has shifted to being just about politics, Black Friday, and technology.
ReplyDeleteWith Thanksgiving being at the end of November, politics are always a huge argument, especially in years of presidential elections. Everyone has different views and belief and this can often cause blowouts during family events. This is shown in Source E where everyone is shown getting upset over the fact that not everyone is agreeing with them. One point in the political cartoon in Source E that really stuck out to me was the two men arguing with the Bible and the paper (Anderson, Kirk). This was a key part of the drawing because the argument of Bible vs. science is something that is ongoing today because science doesn’t always line up with what the Church teaches. It also, ironically, is titled “The Last Thanksgiving” and this is ironic because to this family and their inability to get along, this may truly be their last Thanksgiving together.
Black Friday, which falls the day after Thanksgiving is another of the conflict of Thanksgiving. Back when Black Friday began, the deals did not begin until later on Black Friday afternoon and only lasted a short time. However, now, the deals will often began on Thanksgiving evening, causing many families to miss out on what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about in order to just get a deal on something. A great example of this is in Source F, where you see a family sitting outside a store waiting for the deals to start, which might be normal, right? If one looks closer, you can see that the family is eating Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot while waiting for the deals (Horsey, David). This just shows that to the family, excluding the little girl who is saying that she doesn’t want to have Thanksgiving in the parking lot, deals are more important than being grateful and spending time with family. However, while deals may be nice, they don’t last forever like the love of a family does.
Technology is also something that has rapidly developed over the past decade, leading to more people having it. Naturally, this technology is going to show up at family dinners, such as Thanksgiving. However, it’s not always a good thing because technology has altered how we interact with each other in day-to-day conversations. For example, in Source A, the family gathered for Thanksgiving is going around saying what they are thankful for, like every family does. Theirs, however, has a little twist - they are only using 140 “characters” just like you would in a social media post, showing that technology changed their ability to keep everything at a short length (Fritz). Technology can tear Thanksgiving dinners apart and cause families to not be able to interact with each other, so it should not be present at dinner.
With all these in mind, Thanksgiving should still be all about the thanks and being grateful for your family. So, how will you spend Thanksgiving this year? Will you be one who starts arguments or will you be the one that makes the holiday be what it’s supposed to be?
I liked you essay! I think you did a great job breaching the topic!
DeleteThis is a very interesting essay Jackie! I agree about your point of views about politics and technology in thanksgiving. You made some really good points. This was very well written!
DeleteThanksgiving is a time for celebration and family. Although the season can be a hectic one it is important for families to take a break and remember what brough them together. Too many people have lost sight of the true meaning of thanksgiving events like black fiday, super saurday, and cyber monday have overshowed the holiday as a whole. People have lost precious family time instead they spend there hours at the mall searching for the next big deal. Source F depictsthis this situation perfectly. A family braves the cold to wait in line for a deal on Black Friday. They have taken their tnakgiving meal to go and they eat it while they wait. The little girl voices her disdain of having her thanksgiving dinner out in a parking lot. Her father response is a simple “Be thankful.” For what exactly? For a missed opportunity to bond with family? For a waisted night out? Or for the sales which their mother seems intent on getting. Dinners are being downsisided into tv meals and fewer and fewer family members are being invited due to squabbles in the family or out of fear a fight would blow up if someone said something another thought was out of line. As depected in Source E a family seems to be in the mist of a civil war between sides. One batch of family members seeming playing the religious card, a male memebr screaming over the table while brandishing a bble. The other side counters by pulling out what seems to be newspaper and yells right back. All the while children are running ramput, other family members are screaming vile things and at the head of the table are the father and mother who look like theyer trying to pray the chaos away. All in all its a very eye opening image that depicts to a family how divided theyer table could really be. The final inage Source A depicts how thanksgiving has become a more online experience. Instead of being there in person people send out greeting that often times have no real meaning behind them. Thanks giving has lost its true meaning and without the effort put in by all members of the family the problem will not get fixed.
ReplyDeleteI really like your essay Tiff. I liked how you mentioned that Thanksgiving can sometimes be hectic. I also agree that this holiday has lost the real meaning.
DeleteLovely essay Tiff! I liked how you wrote why the little girl in the comic was unhappy eating dinner in the parking lot and how Thanksgiving dinner is not just about eating food, but eating food and spending quality time with your family.
ReplyDeleteFor generations, the Thanksgiving season has been a time for Americans to reflect on the things in their lives that they are grateful for. However, as the years progress, less emphasis seems to be put on the things people care about, and placed on anything else. What used to be a holiday dedicated to food, family, and filled with gratitude, has become a battlefield. Planning who will make every dish, strategically placing family members at different tables to avoid a political debate, and posing it all perfectly to make sure everyone on the internet can see that the family had a wonderful time. (Source E) Thanksgiving has become a confusing minefield that has left many Americans wondering if it is even worth it. Much of the blame for this moral shift during this season is placed on the infamous Black Friday. (Source F) This day of shopping and sales comes the day after Thanksgiving, and for serious customers, requires a lot of preparation. One might argue that the entire holiday season has shifted to please the average consumer. Black Friday shifted into Cyber Monday and it all shifts the meaning of the season to buying things. It seems as though the country has forgotten what they are thankful for and just thinks about what they want. Another problem that has cause the meaning of Thanksgiving to change is social media. (Source A) Social media has undoubtedly grown substantially over the past few years. It has affected the school systems, healthcare, and the daily lives of every American citizen. Therefore, it is bound to affect the holidays as well. The constant need to stay connected to people, the need to keep up appearances on Facebook, and the judgment of others has torn many people from reality. What used to be know as the most thankful holiday has become a battleground for modern society.
ReplyDeleteWell done Eddie! I really like how you wrote about Black Friday changing the way people think of thanksgiving. I agree how it distracts people of the true meaning of thanksgiving. Good job!
DeleteEddie, I really like your essay! I think you really nailed the idea of how the holiday is changing in response to black Friday. I like how you mentioned Cyber Monday and the other ways it affects life.
DeleteThanksgiving is a holiday in which families gather together to celebrate their gratitude for everything in their lives and, most importantly, eat lots of good and delicious food with their loved ones. In every thanksgiving, gratitude plays an important role on what people talk about during time with their families. Without gratitude, there wouldn’t be anything to be thankful for or talk about, and that is what’s currently happening. Thanksgiving is being shifted from sharing gratitude towards others to now talking about what is wrong with our country and all the problems around the world like the technology, politics, and most importantly Black Friday.
ReplyDeleteThough Thanksgiving is only celebrated in November, it is being hidden by the election which also takes place in November. When it’s an election year, politics can sometimes ruin thanksgiving as everyone only talks about politics instead of being thankful for being around the people that love them. Even though it’s not just politics that can ruin thanksgiving, it could many other beliefs like religion. As shown in Source E, there is total chaos (Anderson, Kirk). You can see people arguing back and forth about certain topics. What sticks out to me the most is the two guys arguing about religious beliefs as there is a bible involved. This cartoon is not what thanksgiving is about. It is showing how politics can hide the gratitude towards people and make them become enemies.
Black Friday is the most looked forward to shopping event in the country. It occurs on the following day after thanksgiving. Because the value of products are dramatically changed and are cheaper to buy, people look more forward to buying these items rather than celebrating thanksgiving. In some stores, Black Friday begins on Thanksgiving which can distract people from gratitude. Some people even skip the thanksgiving meal so they can wait in lines at stores to get in as fast as they can. In source F, the cartoon shows people waiting in line for a Black Friday sale at a store. The one guy is eating his thanksgiving meal while sitting in the line (Horsey, David). This is not how thanksgiving is supposed to be celebrated.
The way people use technology is also effecting the way they interact with someone. In source C, the cartoon shows a turkey telling another turkey that he has a lot of followers on social media and that they all want the turkey to eat at their thanksgiving meal (Nickel, Scott). This whole idea of just getting invited to people houses for thanksgiving that you don’t even know defeats the purpose of why we celebrate thanksgiving. It’s a shame that they don’t want to celebrate with their family. The whole idea about thanksgiving is to be able to appreciate your close family members and by not going, you show that you don’t care about them.
Thanksgiving is being forgotten. The use of politics, the sales on Black Friday, and the way technology can influence people to not celebrate with their family all shadow over the true meaning of thanksgiving, which is to show gratitude toward your family. By everyone realizing and appreciating what they have, maybe thanksgiving will go back to it meaning of true gratitude toward the ones close.
Good essay. I liked how you explained how politics can turn family members into enemies, even at an event like Thanksgiving.
DeleteThanksgiving is meant to be a time of thanks and gratitude. Even though this
ReplyDeleteis the main point, it has not been this for the past couple of years. We get distracted by our phones, all of the shopping they have to do, the Black Friday shopping deals, and so much more. This is not the way that Thanksgiving should be. It should be about giving thanks and being together with family and friends.
During Thanksgiving, all people want to do is post on social media. Instead of
enjoying the holiday with their families, people tend to be on their phones the whole time. They want to make sure that they share their experience of Thanksgiving with the people of social media (Fritz). We need to get off of our phones, and be thankful for the things that we have. We need to celebrate with our family and friends face to face. If people do this, it could lead to a great Thanksgiving celebration.
During thanksgiving, people are talking about and getting ready for Balck
ReplyDeleteFriday (Horsey, David). People are more worried about sales than the true meaning of this wonderful holiday. In the cartoon instead of gathering together the table and saying what they are thankful for, they are waiting in line for the sales. These people are missing the true point of the holiday. It is also titled the New American Thanksgiving (Horsey, David). This is a perfect title because this is what society is turning to this holiday into.
We are making Thanksgiving more complicated than it should be. Colin
Stokes represents this issue in the picture. During Thanksgiving we should all just come together and be thankful for all that we have. We should let go all of our troubles and enjoy all of the things that God has given us.
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a holiday in which many Americans celebrated things that they were grateful for and thankful to have. It originated from the encounters the Pilgrims had with the Native Americans during their first year in the new world. Today, thanksgiving has been skewed, and it is being replaced by the “holiday” that takes place the day after it- Black Friday. Black Friday is a day when many stores hold huge sales and have prices marked down really low in order to attract consumers during the Christmas shopping season. Today’s consumer culture is changing what thanksgiving is about and how it is perceived. In order to bring back what is truly important and things that can actually make people happy, which is family and friends, this must be stopped.
ReplyDeleteBlack Friday’s crazed shopping lines to enter the store got so out of hand that many stores started to open their doors on thanksgiving in order to deal with the large crowds and space things out more. This; however, has had many negative consequences from people completely ignoring their families to spending thanksgiving in a parking lot, waiting to enter a store (Source F). Families are more concerned about saving money and buying new things that they cannot even sit down with their families and express thanks for everything they have. Stores themselves and the media and popular culture do not help. They make the shopping idea sound necessary and make things sound so convincing and appealing. Their ideas are corrupting the idea of the holiday entirely, and in many cases abridging it so that everyone can make it to Target by 5pm (Source A).
It is important to keep family and important things in mind, as well as in perspective. Nevertheless, differentiations in viewpoints can make conversations with family unpleasant and uncomfortable. Many people say to avoid talking about politics and religion to avoid arguments (Source E). Many things have been taken too far in society, and it is getting to the point where people cannot even be civil about their opinions, perspectives, and viewpoints. Life is not a competition, and an individual should not feel the need to dominate and “win” every conversation. This mindset ruins many dinnertime conversations.
The hustle and bustle of the thanksgiving season is crazy. People travel to see family, as well as shop on black friday. Many people flock to stores and cities, making traffic unbearable and trip durations significantly longer (Source D). People need to take time to sit and think about their lives and all the wonderful things and blessings that they have. If people would slow down, all the anxiety of life would seem less significant and people wouldn't lose sight of what’s important.
Therefore, it is important for an individual to slow down and keep family and friends close to heart during the holiday season. It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, but it is even more important to keep the important things close to heart, and to give them high priority in life.
Great essay Alex, I liked how you mentioned the consumer culture playing a role in changing Thanksgiving.
DeleteThanksgiving has taken on a completely new form in the American household over recent years. A time previously set aside for giving thanks and expressing gratitude has now turned into one of the most controversial events of the year. At its face value, Thanksgiving seems like a great time to sit down with family, exchange stories, and enjoy a nice meal. However, these base values that make up this great tradition have been completely disregarded. Quality time with loved ones during Thanksgiving is now diluted with extreme political stances, clashing personalities, and the people involved giving no thought to the meaning of the event itself (Source E). Sitting down with family has become more of a chore than something to look forward to. Thanksgiving is a time to express gratitude and to be thankful for the people involved in your life. There seems to be much more energy put into winning a political argument than there is for someone to say something as simple as “I am thankful for you.” It is almost embarrassing that not even one day can be aside to be compliant with one another. A second reason for the dramatic change in Thanksgiving in the influence of the internet. People find themselves more worried about their presence on the internet, rather than their social presence. This can cause people to be thankful for all the wrong reasons, once again, completely ruining the meaning of Thanksgiving (Source C). Black Friday Shopping also plays a huge role in the recent fall of this historical holiday. It is widely accepted for people to buy unnecessary things, only hours after claiming they were thankful for what they already have. The Black Friday tradition has caused most Americans to forget about Thanksgiving all together (Source F). Instead of planning a thanksgiving dinner, some families strategically plan out how to get to all of the stores in time to beat everyone else to the good deals. This is completely backwards in terms of the concept of Thanksgiving. Modern tradition and ideas have ruined the historical significance, and moral meaning behind Thanksgiving. The idea that Thanksgiving, in today’s society, is about being grateful and appreciative is hysterical, for it is the exact opposite. The average thanksgiving dinner in 2020 would probably seem like a sarcastic skit to someone attending from 2000. America is changing the direction in which Thanksgiving is headed, and it is not for the better.
ReplyDeleteThis is Eddie's
ReplyDeleteFor generations, the Thanksgiving season has been a time for Americans to reflect on the things in their lives that they are grateful for. However, as the years progress, less emphasis seems to be put on the things people care about, and placed on anything else. What used to be a holiday dedicated to food, family, and filled with gratitude, has become a battlefield. Planning who will make every dish, strategically placing family members at different tables to avoid a political debate, and posing it all perfectly to make sure everyone on the internet can see that the family had a wonderful time. (Source E) Thanksgiving has become a confusing minefield that has left many Americans wondering if it is even worth it. Much of the blame for this moral shift during this season is placed on the infamous Black Friday. (Source F) This day of shopping and sales comes the day after Thanksgiving, and for serious customers, requires a lot of preparation. One might argue that the entire holiday season has shifted to please the average consumer. Black Friday shifted into Cyber Monday and it all shifts the meaning of the season to buying things. It seems as though the country has forgotten what they are thankful for and just thinks about what they want. Another problem that has cause the meaning of Thanksgiving to change is social media. (Source A) Social media has undoubtedly grown substantially over the past few years. It has affected the school systems, healthcare, and the daily lives of every American citizen. Therefore, it is bound to affect the holidays as well. The constant need to stay connected to people, the need to keep up appearances on Facebook, and the judgment of others has torn many people from reality. What used to be know as the most thankful holiday has become a battleground for modern society.