AP® Spanish Language and Culture review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/spanish/units/2/2-1)
Unit 2 · Topic 2.1
2.1 Customs and Celebrations (Costumbres y celebraciones)
Celebrations pass a culture's values from one generation to the next, and many in the Spanish-speaking world blend Indigenous, African and Catholic traditions. Know the major ones well enough to explain what people make, what they do and what it shows about what they value.
Key terms
- el Día de Muertos
- la ofrenda
- los Reyes Magos
- la quinceañera
- el carnaval
- las Fallas
Products, practices and perspectives
The course describes culture in three layers. Products are things people make, like an altar or a special bread. Practices are what people do, like visiting a cemetery or dancing in a parade. Perspectives are the beliefs and values behind them, like the idea that the dead are still part of the family.
Strong answers move from the first two layers to the third. Saying “families put food on the altar” describes a practice; adding “because they believe the souls return to enjoy it, so remembering them is a family duty” explains the perspective.
Día de Muertos
In Mexico, Día de Muertos is celebrated on November 1 and 2. Many families remember children who have died on the 1st and adults on the 2nd. They build an ofrenda (an altar) with photos, candles, the person's favorite food and drink, pan de muerto (a sweet bread), sugar skulls (calaveras de azúcar), cut-paper banners (papel picado) and orange cempasúchil marigolds, whose color and scent are said to guide the souls home. Many families clean and decorate graves and keep company with their dead in the cemetery overnight.
The celebration blends Indigenous rites for honoring the dead with the Catholic feasts of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. This mixing of traditions is called el sincretismo. UNESCO added it to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008.
La Catrina, the elegant skeleton lady, began as a satirical print by José Guadalupe Posada in the early 1900s; Diego Rivera gave her the name Catrina in a 1947 mural. The festival keeps changing: Mexico City's big Day of the Dead parade started only in 2016, inspired by the opening scene of a 2015 James Bond film. The mood is remembrance and celebration, not fear, so it isn't “Mexican Halloween.”
Other celebrations to know
| Celebration | Where and when | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Los Reyes Magos | Spain and much of Latin America; January 6 | Children get gifts from the Three Kings; in Spain, parades (cabalgatas) fill the streets on the evening of January 5; and people share a ring-shaped cake (roscón in Spain, rosca de reyes in Mexico) with a small figure hidden inside |
| Las Fallas | Valencia, Spain; mid-March, ending March 19 | Neighborhood groups put up giant satirical figures made by local artists, then burn them on the last night (la cremà) |
| La quinceañera | Latin America and US Latino communities | A girl's fifteenth birthday marks her move toward adulthood, often with a Mass, a party, a waltz and godparents who sponsor parts of the day |
| El Carnaval de Oruro | Bolivia; the days before Lent | Dancers in elaborate devil masks perform la diablada in a procession honoring the Virgin of Socavón, mixing Andean and Catholic traditions |
| Semana Santa | Spain and Latin America; the week before Easter | Religious processions, like those of Seville, and carpets of colored sawdust and flowers in Antigua, Guatemala |
| Inti Raymi | Cusco, Peru; June 24 | A revival of the Inca festival of the sun at the time of the winter solstice |
Change, debate and point of view
Traditions change with tourism, migration and commerce. Día de Muertos and quinceañeras are now part of life in many US communities, and some people worry that shops and tourism turn rituals into products. Some traditions spark real debate. Bullfighting is part of many Spanish festivals; supporters see it as heritage and art, while opponents see animal cruelty. Catalonia banned it in 2010, and Spain's Constitutional Court overturned the ban in 2016.
Because celebrations stir feelings, articles about them often have a clear point of view. Learn the tone words that appear in answer choices: nostálgico (nostalgic), crítico (critical), entusiasta (enthusiastic), irónico (ironic), objetivo (objective), preocupado (worried) and orgulloso (proud).
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Identifying an author's attitude
Texto escrito para esta práctica. «Cada noviembre, las tiendas se llenan de calaveras de plástico fabricadas en el extranjero y de disfraces que poco tienen que ver con nuestras ofrendas. Mi abuela, que preparaba el pan de muerto con sus propias manos, no reconocería la fiesta que hoy se vende en los centros comerciales. No se trata de rechazar los cambios, sino de no olvidar por qué ponemos la ofrenda: para recordar a quienes ya no están.» ¿Cuál es la actitud del autor hacia la manera actual de celebrar? (A) Entusiasta, porque celebra la llegada de nuevos productos. (B) Indiferente, porque no le importa cómo se celebra. (C) Crítica, aunque acepta que las tradiciones pueden cambiar. (D) Hostil, porque quiere prohibir los disfraces.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Mark the loaded phrases. «Poco tienen que ver con nuestras ofrendas» (have little to do with our altars) and «la fiesta que hoy se vende» (the festival that's sold today) show disapproval of commercialization.
- Step 2: The grandmother who made bread «con sus propias manos» sets up a contrast between then and now, which adds nostalgia.
- Step 3: The last sentence matters most: «No se trata de rechazar los cambios, sino de…» (It's not about rejecting change, but about…). The author accepts change while warning about forgetting the purpose.
- Step 4: (A) and (B) contradict the loaded language. (D) goes too far: nothing says the author wants to ban anything. (C) captures both the criticism and the concession.
Answer: (C) Crítica, aunque acepta que las tradiciones pueden cambiar.
Common mistakes
- Calling Día de Muertos “Mexican Halloween” or describing it as sad. It's a celebration of remembrance with its own roots and meaning.
- Mixing up Spanish festivals: Las Fallas is in Valencia in March; the Running of the Bulls (San Fermín) is in Pamplona in July.
- Picking an extreme tone (hostil, furioso) when the author only shows concern. Answer choices often differ by degree, so match the strength of the language.
- Describing what people do without explaining the perspective behind it.
On the exam
- Celebrations show up in articles, audio reports and promotional material, such as an ad for a festival. Expect questions on the purpose, the intended audience and the author's attitude.
- When an essay prompt touches on a tradition (for example, whether a festival should change to protect animals or the environment), use the sources to show both sides before you argue yours.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
5 questions on 2.1 Customs and Celebrations (Costumbres y celebraciones). Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Texto escrito para esta práctica
¿Cuál es el propósito del artículo?
Según el párrafo 2, ¿por qué se pone agua en la ofrenda?
Según el párrafo 3, ¿cuál es el origen del Día de Muertos?
¿Qué quiere decir el artesano con la frase «no celebramos la muerte, celebramos a nuestros muertos»?
Según el último párrafo, ¿qué preocupa a algunas personas?
0 of 5 answered