The Party Where the Dead Are Guests
Grammar: Culture class
A Level 4 English lesson exploring culture.
What's in this lesson
A Level 4 (upper intermediate) ESL culture class on culture. The worksheet has a reading and discussion questions.
From the reading: Dancing With the Dead
Every autumn, Mexican cemeteries stop being quiet places. Families arrive with guitars, blankets and baskets of food, then settle down for the night beside the graves of their relatives. Candles flicker between thousands of orange flowers, children chase one another past the headstones, and somewhere a trumpet plays a grandfather's favourite song. To visitors from cultures where death is whispered about, the scene can seem startling. For the people living it, Día de los Muertos, celebrated on 1 and 2 November, is simply the warmest reunion of the year.
Discussion questions
- Which objects would your family place on an altar to remember you?
- How does your culture treat death compared with this joyful Mexican approach?
- Imagine your country invented a festival where the dead returned. What changes?
The Party Where the Dead Are Guests
Grammar: Culture class
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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