Name: ________________________________

Valentine’s Day Main Idea and Text Structure Review

Directions: Read each passage and on a separate sheet of paper…
1.  Write a sentence explaining the main idea of the text
2.  Create a title for the passage related to the main idea.
3.  Put information from the passage into a graphic organizer representing the text structure.

Structures: cause and effect, chronological, compare and contrast, sequence / process writing, problem and solution, or spatial /descriptive writing.	

1.  There are many thoughtful ways to express your love for another person without spending money: you could write a song or cook a meal, but perhaps the best way to express yourself is to create a card.  Creating a card is easy if you have the proper materials.  Get yourself some nice, thick resume paper or cardstock and fold it in half.  Draw some imagery of love on the front of the card; if you're not good at drawing, you can clip out pictures.  If you decide to use markers, be careful not to let them bleed through the paper and ruin the other side.  Lastly, write a poem or heartfelt statement on the inside to your beloved and you're done.  Now isn't that a much better way to express your love than a rose from the gas station?  

2.  Some people think that some holidays celebrating love are nothing but clever ploys by marketers to get consumers to buy candy, flowers, and stuffed animals, but who cares?  In America, we celebrate two love themed holidays: Valentine's Day and Sweetest Day.  Valentine's Day is celebrated in the winter, while Sweetest Day is celebrated in the fall.  Valentine's Day is more focused on bringing lovers together, while Sweetest Day is for all of the friends, relatives, and associates whose kindness we've enjoyed.  Both occasions, however, are great times to remember what's most important: the people about whom we care.  

3.  Money moves most things in our world.  For example the National Confectioners Association, a collection of over seventy major candy manufacturers, wanted to sell more candy.  Apparently, when people buy candy, they make money.  Anyway, they wanted to make more money; so in 1921 they created a "holiday" called Sweetest Day.  They've since spent millions of dollars trying to convince consumers that this holiday exists and that consumers should celebrate this very real and meaningful occasion by purchasing candy.  Card dealer Hallmark has also heavily promoted this specter of commercial interest, prompting the notion that Sweetest Day is a "Hallmark Holiday."  That reminds me: have you ever heard of Give Me a Dollar Day?   

4. Every Valentine's Day millions of school children slip each other cards: some sloppily assembled for classmates and friends, others more heartfelt and carefully composed, but most students have no idea how far back this practice dates.  The earliest Valentine's Day card dates back to the 1400s.  When postage rates dropped in the early 1800s, mailing them grew in popularity. Then, in the 1840s, the first Valentine's cards were mass produced.  Today, the Valentine's Day card continues to evolve.  In 2010, an estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent.  But some things never change: Will you be mine? Click "Y" or "N."   

5. Some people have a hard time remembering to get their loved ones appropriate gifts on Valentine's Day.  This can lead to painfully long talks about "where the relationship stands."  Perhaps the best way to avoid these talks is by taking the moral highroad.  Instead of forgetting these holidays, choose not to celebrate them.  Inform your loved one that you don't want to buy into the materialism and commercialism of these manufactured holidays.  Tell that person that you want to have a relationship with them, not the marketers, and that you want to celebrate your love everyday, not just one day a year.  It's a tough pitch, but if you can make the sale then you'll be in the clear for life.    

6.  Jimmy didn't have any money, but he wanted to show Jane that she meant a lot to him, so he decided to make her a Valentine's Day card.  He got some nice, thick cardstock paper and folded it in half. He cut it into the shape of a heart and drew a cherub on the front of it.  Then, he wrote a thoughtful message on the inside.  When he gave it to Jane, she was so touched that she cried and her tears stained the front of the card.  Thinking the card ruined, Jimmy was so offended that he broke up with her calling her a "crybaby" as he left.  The moral of the story is that young people shouldn't date.