Dear Diary,
All hope is lost. My mother and father are dead and now my
sister has passed away as well. I have no other family, so I am forced to live
with strangers in the village. I appreciate them taking me in and caring for
me, but I’m weak and so they tease me because I have no strength. Now I’m an
orphan AND have no strength. It’s no wonder everyone picks on me.
Dear Diary,
Today everyone went hunting, leaving me alone in the house…
again. I was feeling very lonesome, since I am always excluded and left alone, when I heard a
noise. I got scared and decided to hide in case someone was coming to hurt me. I
was hiding and the noise happened again and again and then all of a sudden a ghost
came in! It went over to our water tub and drank some of the water, and then it
left. I guess ghosts get thirsty too. I tried telling the people I live with
about it but they didn’t really believe me. Here’s hoping that more ghosts show
up tomorrow.
Dear Diary,
It happened again! I was all alone in the house when the
walls and frames began to shake and the next thing I knew a whole bunch of
ghost came tumbling into the house! It was so exciting because one of the
ghosts was my sister! I missed her so much. They invited me to sit with them on
the floor while they played wrestling games and told stories. They told me if I
kept their stories a secret that they would make me strong! I’m so excited!
Dear Diary,
Well, I accidentally told the people that I was going to be
strong and as soon as I did, all my strength was gone. It was not fun. To prove my strength, the villagers tied me to a post and told me to escape from the ropes and hit a drum that was on the other side of the room. But all my strength was
gone and I was not able to escape, so I just looked like a dummy. Eventually they untied me and left to go to
a singing contest without me. So here I am, alone in the house again, wallowing in my shame.
Dear Diary,
You will never believe what happened! My Mom and Dad, as
ghosts, came in to visit me!!! Once I told them how I am always being picked on
by the others and how I am always excluded from activities, Mom and Dad told me
that I should come with them and become a ghost! I am so excited! So here’s
hoping being a ghost is better than being human!
 |
| Ghost (Source) |
Author's Note. This is based on the Eskimo Tale Qalaganguase, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts. It is about a boy whose entire family is dead and he is forced to live with strangers in the village. Because he is weak they exclude him from everything and leave him alone in the house all day. While they were gone, ghosts would come and visit the boy. The ghosts told the boy if he did not tell the villagers about them, then they would give him strength, but the boy did not follow their instructions and as soon as he told the villagers of his strength, it began to leave his body. The ghosts then came back again to take the boy with them to the land of the ghosts and he left with them and became a ghost.
I felt it best to write this in diary form because the diary would have been used as a form of comfort for the boy since he was continuously left alone and had no family or friends. I did not include what happened after he became a ghost because I felt as though him leaving his diary would have been his way of letting go of the past and going on to a brighter future. Leaving the diary also would have allowed the villagers to read about the boy and make it into a story.
I felt it best to write this in diary form because the diary would have been used as a form of comfort for the boy since he was continuously left alone and had no family or friends. I did not include what happened after he became a ghost because I felt as though him leaving his diary would have been his way of letting go of the past and going on to a brighter future. Leaving the diary also would have allowed the villagers to read about the boy and make it into a story.
Bibliography. Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).
I think your idea to write this story as a diary was very smart. As you said in the Author's note, it would seem very logical the boy would keep a diary so he could express himself, since he was often left alone. I wondered if in the original story if the ghosts were his parents as well. Or did you make the ghosts in your story his sister and parents to change it up a little bit? I also like how you mentioned that by leaving the diary behind it would provide a vessel for the story to become one of the Eskimo myths. It was interesting that the boy bragged about his strength to come, and instead he lost strength. It was as if his strength withered away until nothing was left so he died and became a ghost. I could see this story being told for the purpose of teaching children the importance of listening to instructions, as the boy did NOT do in this story. Great job keeping the myth's integrity and making it into a diary to give it a new twist that really fits into the ideas presented in the myth.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica! I actually did this unit too and I really liked how you changed the story into a series of diary entries. It is really creative and it makes it easy to understand what the main character is thinking and feeling. Your story is well written and fun to read, plus I loved your picture! I think you did a great job re telling the story and keeping the same theme and story line!
ReplyDeleteHello Jessica!
ReplyDeleteFirst off I really like the diary post style. It really adds depth to a story and makes it more relatable to the reader. The first diary post is so sad. I wonder what happened to her parents and sister. I’m sure it was something tragic. By the tone of the diary I’m assuming that the narrator is a little girl? I think you did a good job portraying that. She’s a very brave little girl, I don’t know many who would be brave enough to interact with ghost. I’m not quite following the story? They tied her to a post and started drumming. So I’m guessing it was some sort of ritual? It’s nice to know she was reunited with her parents but now she’s a ghost too. After reading the author note I get a better feel for the story. I like how you kept the original plot of the story and only tweaked some parts. Ending where you did with the story was a good idea. It leaves the readers the option of imagining what happened to her in the afterlife. Good job on this retelling it was a short and easy read!
I actually read this unit too! I started to figure out what story it was and got very excited that you were retelling it! It was one of my more favorite stories in the unit. I like the diary format, I've seen it many times and I don't think I would ever do it, but I like reading others stories in that style! I was so happy when the boy's parents told him to join them. I know it meant that the boy died, but at least he wouldn't be picked on anymore! And he would get to be with his family again! Great job!
ReplyDelete