Jane K. Marshall
The oral short ghost story exhibits the structure inherent in the narrative tradition. At this point in the unit, students will be encouraged to dabble in creative writing endeavors based on what they’ve learned through the ghost story models. Such an activity can only bridge the gap between student imagination and the arts. One hopes that this will encourage students to begin to put away their prejudices toward the written word.
The art of story-telling should be considered at this point as well. Time spent on student presentations of ghost stories may reinforce the understanding of story-structure as well as provide a communicative activity for students.
Writing Plan for Short Ghost Stories (theme: justice)
1.
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Provide a chart of a typical plot outline (wrongdoing/murder—ghostly appearance—justice
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2.
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Note details to be filled in
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a.
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description of principal characters before “crime”
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b.
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motivation for crime
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c.
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behavior of ghost
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d.
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denouements outcome of ghostly appearance/behavior
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e.
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change in perpetrator of crime?
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(Students must provide notes for a through e above.)
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3.
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Write rough draft: using charts and notes paying special attention to chronology in writing
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4.
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Write second draft: possibly involving changes in organization and/or the deletion or addition of details
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(Final results presumably a coherent piece of writing illustrative of a single theme.)
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Tips for Oral Readings
1.
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Promote reading of favorite story. Student choice is a must.
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2.
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Allow time for practice reading. Discuss/practices
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a.
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voice modulation
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b.
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dramatic gesture
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Discuss/practice dialectical reading
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3.
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Allow student manipulation of audience through setting
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a.
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seating arrangement
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b.
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lighting
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The second portion of this section of the unit begins the transition from oral folk tales to ghost literature. It seems to me that the short tales mentioned previously, though involved with dark or unknowable questions, are for the most part comforting. In many cases, justice prevails. More importantly, acceptance of the unknowable seems to have been/ be the usual response to such stories. On the other hand, ghost stories conceived by individuals for publication have an entirely different feel. They are indeed metaphors for the dark diabolical side of life which haunt reader and author alike.
It is interesting to note, as M.R. James points out in the introduction of
Ghosts and Marvels
, that ghost stories appear to be popular at times just prior to upheaval. During the years leading to World War I, for example, such tales were very much in evidence. “The tale of terror was symptomatic of a cultural malaise which some historians view as a premonition of the war.”
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Jack Sullivan in
Elegant Nightmares
notes: “The recent American interest in all things occult and horrible may possibly grow out of a similar fetish for disaster occasioned initially by the escalation of Vietnam and Watergate: when things appear to be falling apart, supernatural horror stories provide their authors and readers with a masochistic, but relatively safe, means of fantasizing the worst.”
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Sullivan also believes that the ghost story exemplifies trends of modern literature. So authors such as Conrad, Woolf, Lawrence, and Joyce deal with darkness and irrationality, chaos, and visions.
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It is also interesting to learn that such notables as Yeats, Eliot, Kipling, Hardy, etc. at various points in time became involved with supernatural tales. But, all of this is an aside. The point is, such work (ghost stories) should be viewed as complex and serious.
Dorothy Sayers feels such literature has a power in and of itself. Unlike detective fiction, it provides no answers. It forever poses questions which cannot be answered.
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For modern man, whose environment at times appears to be beyond control, the unanswerable questions are haunting, and acceptance of the unknowable may be fleeting.
Students should be introduced to published ghost stories soon after studying the short oral tales. They will initially be able to discern differences between the two. They will note, for example, that characters are far more carefully delineated in these works. They may also articulate a more complex response to the published stories. The teacher may wish to broach the subject of metaphorical horror at this point. An example of a published work follows in summary form:
“Calling Miss Marker” by Joy Burnett
Plot Summary: A bare-bones summary of this ghost story is reminiscent of those previously mentioned tales in the oral tradition. Motifs: justice/infanticide.
A woman who lived alone was time and again plagued by doorbell ringing in the middle of the night. The bell would ring at 4:12 A.M. She would answer the door only to find no one was there. The woman became increasingly upset and, at times, was close to hysteria.
During the course of the story, the reader learns that the woman was afraid of doctors for “they can deduce from the past”, and was equally reluctant to involve the police in anyway.
Eventually the woman recalled a night some years prior when she was awake at 4:12 A.M. In a state of great trepidation, she had brought a small bundle outside and buried it quite deep in the garden.
The remembrance of this incident mysteriously resulted in the woman’s death. She was found lying in the hallway. Around the entrance were cloven hoof prints in patches of mud.
Criticism:
“Calling Miss Marker” is ambiguous, and it is this ambiguity which makes it powerful, if not horrific. The ambiguity lies not in the final sentence of the story which poses the question: Did the devil kill the woman? Miss Marker, or was it the work of her own conscience? Ambiguity is present in the story’s first word “you”. The story is told from the second person point of view. It is unclear who the audience is meant to be. Is it Miss Marker? Is it solely the reader?
The voice of the narrator is indeterminate. It is someone who knows everything about Miss Marker’s thoughts, remembrances and reactions. Yet, it is not an omniscient narrator in the usual sense.
Who is the narrator? Is it the ghost of the dead infant? Is the bundle buried in the garden, in fact, the body of a dead child? Ambiguity is added to ambiguity. Is Miss Marker insane? Is Miss Marker the narrator, looking schizophrenically at her own story?
The story was written in 1975. Is this the dream of a woman in reaction to a scheduled abortion? Is this a dream where dreamer can take two roles; one who has committed a crime-and one who can see the outcome of such a crime?
Question leads to question. Answers are not forthcoming, and the questions get stranger and stranger. Is this story an allegory of nonbelief? Is this a picture of an immoral world where there is little reality or framework to hold on to? It is a horrific story for its unanswerable questions. It is one that reminds us of inner and outer worlds, of illusion/reality, and of chaos.