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

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What is unusual about what Isaac is?

2. What is the name of Isaac’s dog?

3. Who comes home for lunch while Mother and Father discuss the treaty?

4. Who bursts into flames in Isaac’s first vision?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Isaac’s father come home without meat from the hunting trip?

2. Why do the men of the Choctaw cut their backs on trees and sit in their blood?

3. Why do the Choctaws consider their homes to be dirt, trees, and the river?

4. Why do the Choctaw women jump into the river to cut their feet?

Paired Resource

“Early Choctaw History”

• This article provides a history of the Choctaw people before and after the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
• Where were the Choctaw lands located? How did the Choctaws live? What were some reactions to the Indian Removal Act? What was it intended to do? How many people died on the march on the Trail of Tears? How is this article related to White Violence Versus Choctaw Pacifism and Community and Connection to Nature as a Source of Strength?

Chapters 4-7

Reading Check

1. Who causes the fire on the night of the Treaty Talk?

2. Where do the Choctaws go after the fire?

3. What do the Nahullos bring the Choctaws?

4. What does Father disguise himself as to scare the boys?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Jonah suspect Mister and Missus Jonah will not make it out of their burning house?

2. What is the significance of Father’s snow monster game with Isaac and Luke?

3. Why do the people choose to live in the swamp?

Paired Resource

“Removals of the Choctaw”

• This article describes the removal of the Choctaws by the American government in 1830.
• Why do the Choctaws prefer not to call their removal from their homeland The Trail of Tears? When did the Choctaws fight with the American government before their removal? Which idea proposed by the US government promoted the idea of taking more land? What suffering did the Choctaws face during their removal? What steps have the Choctaws taken to heal from their forced removal from their homes? How is this article related to the novel’s theme of White Violence Versus Choctaw Pacifism and Community Connection to Nature as a Source of Strength?

Chapters 8-11

Reading Check

1. What event forces the family to leave the swamp?

2. What does Isaac agree to be for Nita?

3. What does Isaac put on Nita’s feet?

4. What does Isaac have a vision of after he injures his feet?

5. What happens to Nita while she is sleeping in the snow?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Jumper concerned about seeing ghosts?

2. How do the soldiers react when the others console Ruth, and what does it reveal about them?

Paired Resource

Infected Blankets

• This article describes the history behind infected blankets given to Indigenous people.
• What disease did infected blankets attempt to inflict on Indigenous people? When was this tactic used? What effects does the disease have on the body? How many documented cases of infected blankets have been reported in history? Did the attempts to give infected blankets cause a smallpox outbreak? How is this article related to the novel’s theme of White Violence Versus Choctaw Pacifism?

Chapters 12-17

Reading Check

1. What does Nita tell Isaac to look for to make her family happy again?

2. What is the name of Ruth’s other daughter?

3. What did Joseph turn into to scare the soldiers?

4. Who is the leader of the councilmen Isaac helps?

5. Who does Isaac’s mother invite to live with them when they reach their new home?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Isaac know it will be difficult to rescue Ruth’s daughter?

2. Why do the soldiers allow Joseph to live?

Chapters 18-27

Reading Check

1. What kills Isaac?

2. Where does Isaac go after he becomes a ghost?

3. What do the soldiers do to Naomi when they hear her talking?

4. How does Joseph free Naomi?

5. Where does Naomi hide when she is with the bonepickers?

6. What do the bonepickers weave to aid in Naomi’s disguise?

7. What do the soldiers demand from Naomi’s family after her disappearance?

8. Who protects the councilmen from the soldiers?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Jumper believe there will be trouble at the Choctaw camp?

2. What can be inferred about the leader of the soldiers based on his actions and statement, “Someone will die today”?

Chapters 28-29

Reading Check

1. Who kills the wolf?

2. Who does the wolf try to attack?

3. What famous ghost is among the other ghosts who appear to Isaac and his friends?

4. What do the soldiers bring to the Choctaws?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What gesture changes the leader of the soldiers’ mind about attacking the camp?

2. What do you think is the moral of the novel?

Paired Resource

General Pushmataha

• This article describes the life of General Pushmataha.
• Why was General Pushmataha influential in advocating for the Choctaw people? What were General Pushmataha’s skills? What was Pushmataha’s reaction to the forcible removal of the Choctaw people? How did Pushmataha die? How is this article related to the novel’s themes of White Violence Versus Choctaw Pacifism and The Aid of Supernatural Influences and Choctaw Spiritualism?

Recommended Next Reads

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese

• This book tells the perspective of hundreds of Indigenous nations as they resist elimination by European settlers.
• Shared topics include survival and Indigenous peoples.
• Shared themes include White Violence Versus Indigenous Pacifism.
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People on SuperSummary

Sing Down the Moon by Scott O’Dell

• This historical fiction novel is about a Navajo teen girl kidnapped from her home and sold into slavery.
• Shared topics include injustices by the US government, forcible removal from homes, and strength in times of adversity.
• Shared themes include White Violence and Indigenous Pacifism and Community and Connection to Nature as a Source of Strength.
• Sing Down the Moon on SuperSummary