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| Paul Asman |
Graveyards and cemeteries can be spooky and sometimes a bit
creepy, but they can also be a place to remember loved ones who have passed on.
And there’s nothing creepy about that. In fact, we are approaching a Mexican
holiday where families actually hold picnics and parties in the graveyard to
honor the return of loved one’s spirits.
Do you know what Mexican holiday I am referring to? It happens to be our WEEKLY MUSE....
Dia De Los Muertos
(The Day of the Dead)!
The Day of the Dead could also be called the Days of the
Dead, since the people who celebrate it often spend several days in celebration.
November 1st and 2nd are the noted calendar days, which
coincide with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day.
And since the Day of the Dead occurs around the American
holiday we call Halloween, many times the festivals overlap and share some of
the same customs, especially since America is home to many Mexican Americans
and Mexican immigrants.
Those who celebrate the Day of the Dead believe that loved ones
who have died are able to return to Earth in spirit form. Families will often
place photographs and favorite foods of their dead loved ones on homemade
alters inside their homes. Families will also clean and decorate the graves of
these people.
At night, families will spend time in the graveyards and
welcome the spirits back to Earth. They eat, drink, and tell delightful stories
of the returning souls.
Like Halloween, children will dress up in costumes and beg
for candy. One very popular candy is sugar skulls. These are very fun to make.
If you would like to make some, check out this series of videos – you will needthe help of an adult.
Superstition is found around most holidays, and the Day of
the Dead is not left out. Some people participate in this holiday because they
feel that they have to. They think that if they do not clean the graves and
leave gifts to the dead, those souls will feel cheated and may HAUNT them. Now
that is CREEPY (wink).
The Day of the Dead rituals and celebrations go all the way
back to the ancient Aztecs. The Aztecs believed that marigold flowers have a
special scent that the dead can smell. This is why marigolds are still placed
on graves and alters today.
With this new knowledge, what kind of story could you write?
Maybe these WHAT IF questions will help you get started.
WHAT IF your main character was one of the souls that returned
to Earth on The Day of the Dead? Who was he/she, and who is he/she coming back
to see?
WHAT IF your main character made a batch of sugar skulls
that came to life and told funny skeleton jokes?
WHAT IF your main character was a dog or cat who
participated in the Day of the Dead celebrations?
The possibilities are endless, and please leave your own
what if questions in the comment section below. I’d love to see what you come
up with.
So, grab a cup of hot cocoa, a pencil and a piece of paper,
and let’s begin. With your imagination, we can go anywhere. I look forward to
seeing where you take us.
With Imagination,
Professor Watermelon
The word of the day is “superstition”. Here is the
definition: irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious.
what if the dead came alive.
ReplyDeletewhat if the dead thought pumkins were brains.
what if the dead made pizza.
what if the dead play minecraft.
what if the dead had tnt.
what if the dead went in a minecart.
what if the dead had a light inside its body.
what if the dead invading your house.
what if it rained the dead.
what if the dead were zombie pigman.
what if the dead was powed by diamond.
what if the dead had diamond swords.
what if the dead where gardeners.
what if the dead drank wine.
what if the dead got killed by professor watermelon.
what if the dead made cake.
James- what if the dead redied, what if the dead was really not, what if the dead was alive, what if the dead played games
ReplyDeletewhat if the dead had a heart-attack?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the dead made pasta?
what if the dead sang in the choir?
what if the dead knows how to knit?
what if the dead was the king of garbage?
what if the dead was murdered?
what if the dead's favorite author is Kate DiCamillo?
what if the dead loved dark chocolate?
what if the dead collected candles from bath and body works?
what if the dead memorized the encyclopedia?
what if the dead worked at amazon?
what if the dead was really a duck in the afterlife?
what if the dead had a beating heart?
what if the dead had 20 lives?
what if the dead was an Egyptian?
what if the dead was battery powered?
what if the dead had the best SAT scores in America?
what if the dead won the national spelling bee for college?
what if the dead hated bananas?
what if the dead dressed up as the dead for Halloween?
what if the dead's pathway to the earth was blocked?
what if the dead had to take vitamin tablets?
what if the dead celebrated its birthday?
what if the dead saw its pet dog when he visited earth?
what if the dead owned a mansion?
what if the dead ate the most m&m's in history?
what if Willy Wonka came back to life?
what if everyone died at the same time?
what if the world did end in 2012?
what if the dead could time travel?
what if the dead took high school math tutoring?
what if the dead had a limo?
what if the dead was dead?
what if the dead died alive?
what if the dead still slept with his teddy-bear?
what if the dead was really nice?
what if the dead was really mean?
what if the dead could breath?
what if the dead acted as a scarecrow?
what if the dead wanted a friend?
what if the dead owned Fred-Meyer's?
what if the dead robbed Safeway?
what if the dead went into a book?
what if the dead actually invented the lightbulb?
what if the dead was Shakespeare?
what if the dead was a great chef?
what if the dead loved apples?
what if the dead wanted to be loved?
what if the dead wrote an awesome song?
what if the dead was king tut?
what if the dead killed everyone else on the world?
what if the dead died when they were a 1,000,000 years old?
what if the dead never lived, they were born dead?
what if the dead liked fireworks?
-Shreya (6th)
You have some very cool ideas here, Shreya! I hope you create stories from some of them!!!
DeleteWhat if the dead was in costumes?What if the dead invade earth?What if the dead destroy all the computers in the world?What if the dead take over the U.S.A.?What if the dead try to write a story?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the dead ruled the world?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the dead could play sports?
What if the dead could play with kids?
What if the dead could draw, paint?
What if the dead could read?
What if the dead could do math?
What if the dead could write creative stories?
What if the dead could see with it’s eyes?
What if the dead could scream?
What if the dead could sit and standup?
What if the dead came alive?
What if the dead could walk and run?
What if the dead could operate computers?
What if the dead could breathe, fire, ice, sticks, bricks and straw?
What if the dead was laser-eyed?
What if the dead was always hungry and loved to eat?
What if the day of the dead was the day of the alive?
What if the dead could talk and tell you about what happens when you’re dead?
What if the dead always showed up wrapped as mummies?
What if the dead ended up in a different country?
What if the dead could dance?
What if the dead could smell?
What if the dead wanted to run for president?
What is a skeleton’s favorite thing to discover? A dead end.
What if the dead was poor – dead broke?
What do you call a duck that goes Quack, Quack, Oh no – a Dead Duck.
What does a dead man not work hard – because everything is dead easy for them
What if the dead never slept?
What if the dead came with a magic spoon?
What if the dead took over the world?
What if the dead had super-powers?
What if the dead built a nice town in the cemetery?
What if dead was invisible?
What if dead worked at night?
What if dead could climb?
What if dead could fly?
What if dead could type?
What if being dead made them really small?
What if being dead made them really big?
What if the dead ate candy?
What if the dead could laugh?
What if the day of the dead was a Chinese tradition?
What if the day of the dead was a French tradition?
What if the day of the dead was celebrated by having a big feast?
What if the day if the dead was celebrated by dancing and singing?
What if the day if the dead fell during Thanksgiving?
What if the day if the dead was the New Year?
What if skeletons could tell time?
What if the dead looked like humans so you couldn’t tell who was dead or alive?
What if the dead had their own language to communicate that we don’t understand?
What if the dead could exercise and eat well – would they come back to life?
What if the dead came to the Fall Festival?
What if the dead had their own schools and cities and houses – it’d be a dead world.
What if the dead could play at Chuck-y-Cheese?
What if the dead was very, very smart?
What if the dead could drive cars or airplanes?
What if the dead actually lived on another planet – Tyrra (from Stanley In Space)
What if the dead could dance Gangnam style?
- Amar
HOLY MOLY! That's A LOT of WHAT IF's! Great Job, Amar!
DeleteWhat if the day of the dead was not alive?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the day of the dead could not happen?
What if the day of the dead hade no celebrations?
What if the day of the dead was not true?
what if the dead can come to life?
ReplyDeletewhat if the dead haunts people who are mean?
what if the dead worked on computers?
what if the dead played with Lego?
what if the dead likes balloons?
what if the dead eat blueberries?
what if the dead played Soccer?
what if the dead played Basketball?
what if the dead played Baseball?
what if the dead have cellphones?
By Ethan B
Last year my friend David told me about what happened on the Day of the Dead. David is from Mexico and speaks fluent Spanish. Last year, he and his mom Mairbelle prepared his grandfathers favorite dishes on the day of the dead. Since their grandfather also had a cat, they bought some catfood from the pet store.
ReplyDeleteAt 1 o’clock at night, they heard some funny noises coming from downstairs, so they slowly walked down to see what was going on. They were so happy to see David’s grandfather sitting on the dining table eating his favorite dishes. He had brought a bottle of wine and some funny looking desert to share with the family. But they suddenly saw a number of cats running around the house – not just one. Grandad, said David, I though you just had one cat. Well David, Grandad replied, remember a cat has 9 lives – all of Emily’s ancestors decided to come since they heard what wonderful people you are. The only problem is they ran out of catfood – we should go and get some more.
They spent all night talking about what happens after you die and go to a different world. They talked about all of David’s friends and his school and all their relatives. It was a fun night and David would like for the Day of the Dead to be celebrated every month!
- Amar
What a fun story, Amar! I love that the cat's 9 lives showed up! (Smiling!)
Deleteonce there was a sugar skull. It rotted and died. Then lightning struck it. Then it was alive. then it became evil. He forsted every candy in the world to hail him. He had a army of candy.He planed to take over the world. But first he planed to kill all the sugar skulls because they killed him. He wanted to destory the whole planet. Until he got revgne on his whole family.
ReplyDelete