New Year: two very similar and different celebrations
New
Year is the time at which a New Year calendar begins. Despite the fact that the
origin of this celebration is not Christian; most of people celebrate new
year´s day as it would be. The new year of the Gregorian calendar falls on 1°
January. Although, this is the most used all over the world there are many
places in which celebrate New Year at the time determined by many others
calendars. All around the world, the different cultures celebrate this event in
many particular ways. It is possible to compare two countries of different
continents such as America and Asia and find not only differences but also,
similarities.
In the
Asian continent, the Chinese use another calendar for cultural festivities than
the United States in the American continent. In the united states, as in many
other places in the world, New Year is celebrated on 1° January at 12 a.m.
while in China, spring festival (how is also named New year in China) is
celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar calendar, it falls on the
new moon between the 21 January and 20 February. However, similarly for both
countries, this is the major social holiday in which people meet to celebrate.
In China, traditionally families cleanse
minutely their house in order to sweep away any ill fortune and to make way for
good incoming luck. In the United States, people also clean the house but not
as minutely as people in china. This is because it is not a ritual for American
people, who are not as spiritual as Chinese ones. In both countries families
receive their friends and relatives to have dinner and exchange gifts, in china
friends and relative give each other little and common gifts such as
chocolates, biscuits and candies but in the U.S.A, people give their parents or
friends big presents.
In the united states, people is used to
decorating their houses with globes of different colours and with the
Christmas’ ornaments that are still at home at that date. In China, windows and
doors are decorated with red colour paper-cuts with popular wishes of good
fortune or happiness, health and longevity. Similarly, Americans have a
tradition in which every person makes promises and wishes for the New Year.in
both countries traditionally are used fireworks to celebrate the arrival of the
New Year, Chinese believe that the deafening explosions scare away evil
spirits.
In conclusion, although every culture has different
traditions and cultures, all over the world the departure of the old year and
the arrival of a new one is always considered a special time for celebration. it
is a very important day that is celebrated with bright and enthusiasm in every
single country around the world.
Lucia, Your work is very well organized, ideas are short and understandable. You can see the contrast between the two celebrations, which are from very different cultures, but it is also shown in this essay those little similarities between both despite the distance that separates them.
ResponderEliminarAs regards the activity of comparing two essays, I chose yours and THE MOST IMPORTANT HOLIDAYS OF EAST AND WEST by Marcelo Prini. I chose these two works because both develop specific celebrations, well known in the world. I can note that in both cases, the Point by Point structure was chosen to develop the essay. Another thing in common is the Chinese New Year, this is one of the festival that both chose to compare and develop the main characteristics.
On the other hand, I noticed that differences lie in the detailed development of the features that are exposed. When presenting the comparison between each celebration, one of the works is highlighted by a complex description in every paragraph. Also, the focus from which the works are presented, makes each work to have its own characteristic, so despite being very similar, you can see a clear difference in the approaches to develop them.