How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text throughout your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The characters are closely connected to community ties throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Isaac introduces himself by describing his family members.

• How does Isaac’s description of his family portray how he views himself and his community? (topic sentence)
• Explain what Isaac’s introduction of his family in connection to his identity reveals about him as a person, how Isaac is connected to the Choctaw community, and how the members of Isaac’s family continue to grow throughout the novel.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why Tingle chose to portray the Choctaw people in relation to family and community.

2. Instead of saying goodbye, the Choctaws say, “Chi pisa lachike,” meaning “See you sometime in the future.