The Days
The first two days of the Ten Days of Repentance are on Rosh Hashanah. One of those days may occur on a Shabbat as well, making that day of Rosh Hashanah on which Shabbat occurs stricter in observance, meaning the observances of Shabbat are followed than a Rosh Hashanah that occurs on any other day but Shabbat (Saturday). When Rosh Hashanah occurs on a Shabbat a few additional prayers in the mahzor ("prayer book") are added as well as excluded in keeping with the combined theme of a Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat combination.
The third day is always Fast of Gedalia, it follows Rosh HaShanah. It is a half day fast, meaning it is only observed from dawn of the third day until dusk of that same day.
After Rosh Hashanah ends and before Yom Kippur starts the next notable day is the special Shabbat that has its own name Shabbat Shuvah ("Sabbath Return") meaning the Sabbath devoted to "teshuva" which means "repentance" in Judaism.
The tenth day is the last and it is always the serious Biblically mandated fast of Yom Kippur. Leviticus 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest and of fasting. Yom Kippur can also fall out (meaning be observed) on a Shabbat, one of the rare times when fasting is allowed on that day. Even when it is on a regular weekday, Yom Kippur is still observed as a "Shabbat" because in the Torah it is referred to as a שבת שבתון "Sabbath Sabbaths" Leviticus 23:32.
Read more about this topic: Ten Days Of Repentance
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“Every moment instructs, and every object: for wisdom is infused into every form. It has been poured into us as blood; it convulsed us as pain; it slid into us as pleasure; it enveloped us in dull, melancholy days, or in days of cheerful labor; we did not guess its essence, until after a long time.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)