How to Write a Journal Entry
The Trail of Tears
Imagine you are a Cherokee child in the year 1838. White men have discovered gold on your tribe's land. you and your family have been told that you must leave your home. Soldiers are forcing your people off their land and marching them to "Indian Territory" 800 miles away. Your house and all of your things are destroyed. How would you feel?
The "Indian Removal Act" was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1830. This act allowed President Andrew Jackson to force Native American people off their land. Jackson wanted the land to be given to white settlers and mined for gold. He told U.S. soldiers to move all the Native Americans west to "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma. The land where they were sent was not good for growing crops. It was land that no one else wanted.
A Cherokee child whose family was forced from his or her home might write about the experience in a journal. A journal is a place for a person to write about daily events in his or her life. A journal entry may cover a day, part of a day, or an event lasting several days. Historians can learn important details about events in the past by reading journals written by people long ago.
Historical fiction is a realistic story set in the past. Historical fiction stories are often written about real people and events in history. The writer sometimes makes up characters, dialogue, thoughts, and feelings. Writers of historical fiction sometimes tell a story in the form of a fictional journal entry. Journal entries help writers make the historical events seem more personal and realistic.
This journal entry might have been written by a Cherokee child in 1838. Think about how it helps the reader understand the child's experience and feelings.
November 21, 1838
The white soldiers pushed my family onto a wagon. There was not enough room for all of us, and my father and uncle had to walk. My sister said, "We will never see these mountains or our homes again." As we left our world behind, we all waved goodbye. Through my tears, I saw our things being thrown out of our house and taken by other people. I did not understand why we had to leave. I did not know where we were going.
STEPS IN Writing a Journal Entry
1. Choose a Topic or Time Period
Decide what you would like to write about. You could write about the life of someone in the future or from the past. You might imagine you are an American living in the 1800s. For example, you could choose to write as a person affected by the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
2. Choose Your Writer
Decide what point of view you would like to show in your journal entry. You could imagine being a famous person in history or a historical character that you invent yourself. For example, you might choose to write as one of the following characters:
0 Andrew Jackson, who ordered the removal of native Americans from their lands.
0 A soldier who forced the Native Americans from their lands.
0 A settler who wanted the Native Americans' land.
0 A Native American who was forced to go to Indian Territory.
3. List the Details
What information do you want to include? Think about the time, places, and people that you have chosen to write about. Use details from history to help readers understand your character's world.
The forced march of Native Americans to the west was a sad time in American history. Four thousands of the 15,000 Cherokees on the forced march died on the way from Georgia to Oklahoma. The route they traveled came to be known as "The trail of Tears."
4. Think Like Your Character
Try to imagine the thoughts that your character might have had. Close your eyes and picture how living in their place and time would have been. Your reader should be able to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel that world through your words. Use thoughts and feelings to bring your character to life for the reader.
Our first farm at last! I am so excited! We won one of the Indian's farms in the land lottery! I ran my fingers through the rich, dark earth, smelled the delicate wild roses, and walked through the canopy of trees in the forest. Father says we will cut down the trees to build a new house. I can't wait to help chop wood, plant the crops, and harvest.
I'm a little worried, though. I heard that the Cherokee are refusing to leave. My family needs this farmland. I hope there is no trouble when we move in.
Where you can, use some dialogue. Dialogue makes the events and characters seem more real and interesting. It can show the reader the thoughts and feelings of other characters involved in te incidents.
My daughter sobbed and screamed at a soldier in English, "No! Don't let them take our belongings!"
The soldier said roughly, "There aren't your belongings any more!"
TIP: When using a direct quote, use quotation marks before and after what was said.