Benjamin Bradford's History Of Halloween

Halloween In Benjamin Bradford’s History of Halloween, he explains how Halloween or “All Hallows Eve” came about. The intentions of “trick or treat” and the influences behind Halloween. Halloween is thought to be influenced from a celtic festival called “Samhain” (pronounced “sah win”), meaning “summers end.” “Samhain ‘also thought to have been a time of communing with the dead,” according to John Santino, folklorist. Santino also stated "There was a belief that it was a day when spirits of the dead would cross over into the other world. Nicholas Rogers, a history professor at York University states “Though a direct connection between Halloween and Samhain has never been proven, many scholars believe that because All Saints' Day (or All …show more content…
His use of old and new reference also makes the article well kept and not plain. By having it outlined this way, it is also simple to read and follow along with. Radford’s article had some very interesting thoughts and then some very odd thoughts. I think he had a well written article over all. I agreed with his reference going back to “Samhain” because without stating any of that history, there wouldn’t really be any type of article to write. I also agreed with all of the resources he used to write his article. I didn’t really agree with his point about a game that was played by “looking into a mirror at midnight, for a future husband’s face was said to appear.” I feel like that didn’t have a whole lot to do with the article. This article over all was well thought of. Radford used a good outline as far as the order the points went. It made sense and transitioned well into the next paragraph. I liked the idea of learning how Halloween was influenced. It makes you think about the history a little more than just kids dressing up in costumes and “begging” for treats. Halloween is such an exciting time of year, and I am so glad we are able to celebrate