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Montserrat Reynosa

Professor Barri Brennan

Comm 1

23 October 2022

Día de los muertos

TOPIC: Introducing the days of which día de los muertos are held and the importance and

meaning of leaving these two days in honor of our loved ones

SPECIFIC PURPOSE:

After informing my peers about day of the dead I hope they understand the culture behind it and

why things that happen on those two days specifically happen and the importance of it

INTRODUCTION:

Death isn’t seen in a positive light here in America and is really never celebrated as people tend

to grieve for their lost loved ones, In Mexicoe it’s rather different as we’ve learned to accept the

fact that those we love will pass away and will see them once more every year as we hold two

days during the year to celebrate and honor our loved ones as families come together to dance

and rejoice as we know they’re home for the day

CENTRAL IDEA:

Día de los Muertos acknowledges the symbiotic between life and death as it’s celebrated

on November 1st and November 2nd in which the spirits of the dead are believed to return home
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and spend time with relatives on these two days and the Day of the Dead Altars are meant to

honor our returning loved ones as well

PREVIEW:

Today I’ll be starting off with the origin behind Día de los Muertos and just where the tradition

might’ve started from, In Mexico death rites date from pre-hispanic rituals represented in murals,

painted pottery, monuments, and artifacts which shows how the Day of the Dead has its origins

practiced by the indigenous people of America. It’s precedents date to more than 3000 years ago

when the Olmecs and subsequent Toltecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Maya and Aztecs honored death

BODY:

A. Día de los Muertos is perhaps the most popular holiday in Mexico as

families come together to honer their ancestors

1. Instead of seeing death in a negative light, the inevitability of death is

accepted rather than feared and is why families celebrate on these two days

2. El día de los Muertos dates back to the aztecs who had not just a few days but

an entire month dedicated to the dead as festivities were presided over by the

goddess Mictecacihual

3. The annual rite features skeleton, altars and trappings of death, but the ancient

holiday celebrates life in its embrace of death as flowers, fruit and candy are

used to decorate altars or “ofrendas”. In a way Deaths morbid side is buried

under music and remembrances

I. Going further into Día de los Muertos

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A. In the Aztec calendar this ritual fell roughly at the end of the Gregorian month of

July and in the beginning of August

1. In the post conquest era it was moved by Spanish priests so that it coincided

with the christian holiday of All Hallows eve

2. Afterwards the result of that is that Mexicans now celebrate the day of the

dead during the first two days of November which is where the kids come

back on the first and the adults come back on the 2nd, there is another rumor

that pets who have passed away also come to visit on October 28th

3. El día de los Muertos has evolved in Mexico and other Central American

countries to include visits to graveyards, where families spruce up sites of

deceased loved ones constructing ofrendas which are offerings set out for the

returning souls

4. The spirits may not partake of the altars many confections but there are plenty

of those among the life that devour the sugar skeletons and sweet pan de

muerto (bread of the dead) and the altars are also decorated in yellow

marigolds known as “the flower of the dead”, some families even make paths

from the petals which are used to aid the souls in finding their way home

B. The importance of decorations and the meaning behind so

1. Cálalas (skeletons figures) are especially popular as they usually show an

active and joyful afterlife and the skull imagery is deeply influenced by

Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada’s famous etchings and Illustrations of

the Calavera Catrina- a female skeleton attired with a plum hat

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2. Posada’s calaveras were a critique of the society that surrounded the artists

life (from 1852 to 1913)

3. His illustrations were political satirizarions of the Mexican society of his time,

where the artist caricatured be exposed class habits through his skull drawings

and etchings. After posadas death in 1913, his calaveras became a symbol for

Día de los Muertos

“These literary calaveras or calaveras literarias are octavillas or eight

octosyllabic verses that satirize the living styles of different social

classes while highlighting death as the common destiny for the rich and

the poor.”

C. U.S altar making rituals

1. In the united states the altar making rituals have been a cultural practice

beyond the individual space, where museums, art galleries, community centers

and schools make their own altars for the Day of the Dead

2. The chicano Movement introduced this celebration where it’s original

elements went beyond the common family household and became a

community expression of cultural heritage that commemorates the ancestors

of the americas where public altars were built to honor important personalities

of Chicanos and Mexican artists that have been influential to the Latino

communities in California

3. After all Día de los Muertos is now seen as an urban artistic phenomenon

which bonds communities, In san francisco the first documented Day of the
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Dead activities happened in the early 70’s and have been gaining presence to

this day

D. My connection with Dia de los Muertos

1. My ofrenda and oferrings made to family

a. I’ve had several family members pass away and it have began to see our

ofrenda growing, it might be seen as a bad thing but it makes me happy

seeing my family members once more even if they’re not physically here

b. Here we have my uncles who were twins along with both of my grandmas

and both of my grandmas, my grandma in particular loved eating these

green candies as she didn’t have no teeth and would always buy them so

we always offer them to her, we have serveral other food that we know

our family members would’ve enjoyed

c. Instead of grieving over my family members, Dia de los Muertos has

made me learn to accept death and know that it is inevitable which is why

I take the day to honor and cherish my loved ones who have passed away

CONCLUSION:

So I hope after going over what I’ve informed you all about you now know more about Dia de

los Muertos and understand the meaning behind some of the decorations which are used to

decorate the ofrendas and just why we offer our loved ones the things we do!