week 7 story: why dead people are buried

It's October 3rd  2017, and my Papa just passed away. When I asked my mom why people are putting him into the ground, she told me he is super old and ready to go to heaven. I don't think she understood my question...

Sometimes people give me silly answers to my questions because I am "only 6." I think 6 is pretty old though. I mean I am already in first grade! Papa used to tell me that I am an "old soul," and I think I am because Papa was always right.

Anyway, I really am curious as to why people decided to put other dead things into big holes in the ground. It just doesn't seem to make sense to me. I want to be able to see my Papa even if his soul is up in heaven. 

"Mom look, there's a dog!" I shout. She seems too sad to walk away from my Papa's hole, so I am just going to go by myself to pet the dog. His tail is wagging so much that I know he is going to be a nice one!

As I got closer, the dog said, "I heard you asking your mom why your Papa is being put into the ground earlier...you weren't too content with her answer, were you?" WOW! This is THE coolest dog ever! I always ask my dog to talk to me and he ignores me, but this one is talking and treating me like an old person!

"You're exactly right, Mr. Dog!" I replied. 

He sat down with me and we talked for almost 30 minutes. I asked him if he knew the real reason why people get buried into the ground and he knew so much information about it!

He told me that a long time ago, when our creator was still around, a dog was commanded to go share with the people of a village that if you bury someone in the ground and sprinkle wood ashes over them, they will come back to life.  

The dog went on his was to tell his people, but he got distracted along the way and could not remember all of what his creator told him. He just sat down waiting to see if he would remember because he didn't want to walk all the way back to the creator to ask him again.

In the meantime, the creator was curious as to why he hadn't heard back from the dog. He insisted on letting the people know this information and tried to send a sheep their way instead this time. 

The sheep int the long way to the village and confidently told them that the creator commands the people to bury the dead in the ground. Unfortunately, the sheep forgot to mention the part about sprinkling wood ashes over them in order to bring them back to life. 

After 2 days had passed, the dog finally remembered the command and sprinted into the village to spread the word. By this time, they had already heard from the sheep and did not believe anything coming out of the dog's mouth.

So, that's why people that have passed away are buried in the ground and never come back to life.

(Photo from Wikipedia.)

Author's Note:

The original story just included the portion about the creator sending the dog and then the sheep to spread the news about spreading wood ash over the bodies after burying them to bring them back to life. I just thought it would be interested to have a little girl telling the story because I feel like that's a perfect question from a curious child.

Nigeria Unit. "Why Dead People are Buried" by Elphinstone Dayrell.

more reading notes: down the rabbit-hole

This week will be my first week doing extra reading. I feel like this is a great opportunity to seek out topics that interest me in my extra time. 

I chose to read a story from the Alice in Wonderland Unit titled, "Down the Rabbit-Hole," by Lewis Carroll.

I honestly haven't seen Alice in Wonderland in forever and can't quite remember all of the details. But, seeing this unit, made me want to go back and rewatch the movie. 

I forgot how Alice was introduced to the rabbit. After reading the start to this story, I see myself in Alice. I was always very curious and would run off after anything that caught my eye when I was little. I'm sure movies like this only inspired me when I was younger.

I forgot how slowly the time passes as she falls into the well. I truly wonder whether she was falling slowly or just delirious from the heat. I'm sure I will go and research more about the theories behind this story once I am done reading it. 

(Photo by Public Domain Pictures)

I feel like this would have been a very fun unit to do my storybook over as it would give me the opportunity to relive my childhood and break it into more specific details. I may look to see if anyone else in the class did theirs over this unit because I am intrigued and find myself wanting to read on! 

I may continue reading this for my extra credit each week from here on out. Unless I browse through again and something new changes my mind. That's my favorite thing about this course -- we are given the opportunity to continue digging through new topics and learning what peaks out interest.

Well, enough rambling! I just got very excited about this unit and am glad I finally decided to do some extra readings!

Alice in Wonderland Unit: "Down the Rabbit-Hole" by Lewis Carroll.

tech tip: shine motivation

Photo from Automotivator.

reading notes: why dead people are buried, part b

This is my second reading from the Nigeria Unit which I really have enjoyed so much. This story is, "Why Dead People are Buried" by Elphinstone Dayrell. 

As you can see, both of the stories have to do with very complex thoughts. I picture them being the perfect questions coming out of a curious four-year-old's mouth. Maybe I will start my own story with something along those line for this week...we'll see!

I found it to be interesting that the story started out with the creator commanding a dog to tell others about burying. This was strange to me because the same creator created man and woman. I would think that they would be told since they are one of the few creatures with opposable thumbs and a large enough brain capacity...but, that's just me thinking realistically and I understand that this is just a story. 

By the end of the story, I realized why he used a dog and sheep in the story. Each could only remember half of the creators commands and they just happened to contradict each other by the time it got back to the people. 

I love how one detail in the story is forgotten and it changes the whole outlook on dogs. Also, it changes the outcome of deaths because the one detail that was left out is the one that was supposed to bring humans back to life. 

I think it would be fun to make the full command get back to the humans and see the outcome of humans never dying. Then, maybe the sheep could come into play with a new story that causes those buried to stay dead and the sheep will be hater instead...simply because I love dogs!

 

(Photo from Wikipedia.)

Nigeria Unit. "Why Dead People are Buried" by Elphinstone Dayrell.

reading notes: why the sun and the moon live in the sky, part a

This week, I chose to read a story from the Nigeria Unit. The story is by Elphinstone Darrell and it is called, "Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky."

I really enjoyed how this story personified different elements of the Earth. I feel as though this makes the story a lot more relatable as I could see this story happening between humans. I also did not expect for the sun and moon to start out on the ground. I feel like I could make this story start in the sky and explain why the sun and moon can't be out at the same time.

The sun and the moon are husband and wife in the story while the water is friends with the sun. The sun wants the water to come to his home, but the water warns him that he will drive him out of his house if we does not make a large enough compound for his visit. 

Essentially, the water kept flowing into the sun and moon's home until they were pinned up against the ceiling and forced to move up into the sun. This is why the sun and the moon have been in the sky.

I can see myself twisting the story in many ways. I can either make it to where the sun tells the water to stop entering and it change the whole earth. I can make it so that only the sun or moon has to leave. I can also trade out the elements for humans and make it a more realistic story where one person gets kicked out of their house somehow.

I am not sure what spin I will take on this one yet or if I will use it for my story. But, we'll see after I read the next story!

(Photo from Pixabay.)

Nigeria Unit: "Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky," by Elphinstone Darrell.