The Civic of Christmas
When most people think of Christmastime, they picture Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Nutcracker, and snow-covered hills perfect for sledding. At face value, these age-old holiday observances are just ways of celebrating the holiday season, or traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. However, upon further examination, aspects of the holiday season have had deep-rooted impacts on our society. During the turn-of-the-twentieth-century Progressive Era, practiced rhetoricians took strategic advantage of the opportunity to connect the emotional appeals of the holiday season with the widespread social activism that unfurled across the nation. The landmark Yes, Virginia… editorial was printed by the New York Sun in 1897 during this movement, while the Macy’s Million Reasons to Believe Campaign began less than ten years ago. Both based on the commonplace of the “Christmas spirit” and the ideology of service to others, the editorial presents a timeless and compelling response to then 8-year-old Virginia by comparing the minds of men to
…show more content…
The chief goal of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is to grant the final wishes of these terminally ill children, which could be anything like traveling to a theme park like Disney World or seeing The Lion King on Broadway. Each wish, just like each child, is unique, yet they all have something in common—the family would not normally be able to afford this once-in-a-lifetime experience because of the child’s medical