Tuck Everlasting
During this project you will be researching a culture to learn how they mourn their dead. You will then use the factual information you learn to write a work of fiction. Authors do this kind of research when writing fiction, especially historical fiction. The selection below uses factual information in a fiction letter, much like your finished project will. While reading the letter below, underline any facts you come across, and circle any emotions you come across.
Fiction writing research process video (Margaret Peterson Haddix)
Adding fictional characters to a real time period (Alan Gratz)
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As you EXPLORE the possible topics you can choose from, do not take notes. This is the time to find a topic that captures your interest and that you want to know more about. Use these links to get a preview of the different traditions.
Japan has two spiritual traditions. There is Shinto, which governs the clean and positive aspects of Japanese life: luck, weddings, childbirth, birthdays, careers and fortunes. But for guidance in darker times, people turn to Buddhism. Nearly 85 percent of Japanese funerals are Buddhist.
Funeral practices become clearer if you consider the mourners a support team for a traveling spirit. The funeral is a Buddhist farewell ceremony. The spirit embarks on a pilgrimage to “The Pure Land” where they will begin life again to refine themselves far from the distractions of human existence, until they reach a state of nirvana.
From On Japanese Funerals
As you EXPLORE the possible topics you can choose from, do not take notes. This is the time to find a topic that captures your interest and that you want to know more about. Use these links to get a preview of the different traditions.
The Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, takes place over the first two days of November. Its origins are a mixture of Native American traditions and a set of Catholic holidays.
While the holiday's observances include spending time in cemeteries, making shrines to the dead, and displaying artistic representations of skulls and skeletons, the occasion is festive, rather than morbid. Death isn't seen as the end of one's life, but as a natural part of the life cycle; the dead continue to exist much as they did in their lives, and come back to visit the living every year.
As you EXPLORE the possible topics you can choose from, do not take notes. This is the time to find a topic that captures your interest and that you want to know more about. Use these links to get a preview of the different traditions.
After the funeral ceremony, a funeral procession to the cemetery or crematorium is held. A hired band resembling a marching band typically leads the procession. The band plays loud music to frighten spirits and ghosts. The family wears mourning clothes and walks behind the band and a hearse or sedan containing the coffin and adorned with a large portrait of the decreased hanging on the windshield follows behind. Friends and associates complete the procession.
The size of the procession depends on the wealth of the deceased and his or her family. The sons and daughters wear black and white mourning clothes and walk in the front row of the procession. Daughters-in-law come next and also wear black and white clothes. Grandsons and granddaughters wear blue mourning clothes. Professional mourners who are paid to wail and cry are often hired to fill up the procession.
As you EXPLORE the possible topics you can choose from, do not take notes. This is the time to find a topic that captures your interest and that you want to know more about. Use these links to get a preview of the different traditions.
When a person dies, relatives perform funeral rites. They give the dead a fitting burial and later offer sacrifices of food and drink to the spirits of the dead. The dead on their part play an important role in the lives of their families. Their role is to guide and protect them. They also serve as the elders of the family in the spirit world. Wherever there is death there are carefully planned ceremonies and rituals. For example, there are rituals for the burial, funeral, and the living dead. The traditional Ghanaian believes that unless the proper rites are performed the spirit of the dead will not be able to join the spirits of his ancestors. But if the proper rites are performed, then he would be welcomed.
When death comes, it concerns everybody in the community. Although there are differences in the ceremonies and the rituals performed for the dead, all communities in Ghana treat the corpse according to the sex, age, and status. For instance, among most communities, the funeral of a child is different from that of an adult. There are few rites and little weeping. Funerals of chiefs and queen mothers are different from those of ordinary people. Among some communities, when a person dies through an accident, child birth, or suicide, it is considered to be ‘a bad death.’ People who die in any of these ways are not given the usual burial and their funeral rites are not performed. When these are done, it is believed such incidents will occur again.
Now that you have explored different topics, it is time to identify one that you will research in depth. During this stage you will create research questions. Use the background knowledge you built during Step 1 to help you generate your research questions. Create research questions to guide you. (Group brainstorm)
What Makes a Good Research Question?
Using your research questions as your guide, read from a variety of sources to gather as much information as you can to deepen your understanding of your topic. In this step, you will need to determine which information is relevant and interesting for your research. You will also need to cite, quote,and paraphrase correctly in order to share your knowledge in an ethical way. Using several sources, take notes that will help you answer your research questions.
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Japan: Shinto & Buddhism Synonym: Shinto Funeral Beliefs and Rituals Shinto Article Encyclopedia Britannica (Sometimes this database is glitchy from home. You may need to go to the Britannica database linked near the top of this page and keyword search "Shinto") |
Ghana The Long Goodbye: Why Funerals Are Big Deals in Ghana (CNN) Ghana's Dancing Pallbearers Bring Funeral Joy |
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China: Taoism & Confucianism About.com: Chinese Funeral Traditions |
Mexico: Day of the Dead Banderas News |
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Now that you are becoming an expert on your topic, it's time to communicate what you've learned. During this phase it is important to go beyond just reporting the facts and summarizing content. Remember, you'll need to use NoodleTools to create a bibliography citing all the sources you used for your research.
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By engaging your classmates with the knowledge you have obtained and connections you have made, you will contribute to their learning. In turn, your classmates will enrich your learning by sharing their knowledge and connections with you.
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The last step in the research process is important because it is the time when you reflect on the entire process and evaluatewhether you have met your learning goals, determine what worked and did not work for you in the research process, and decide what changes you can make when using the research process next time.
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F.A. Day Middle School Library |