Family History Challenge - Day Eight

Mapping the story.

The 3-Act Story

The majority of good stories that you have read in your life follow the time-tested components of  a 3-act structure.  The three act structure is also a reliable structure for composing your family history story.  Those 3 acts are very simple, Act 1, 2 and 3. We will refer to them as the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Act 1- The beginning – Introduces us to the protagonist ancestor. It sets up the story question, and the motivation for your ancestor to take action.

Act 2- The middle – This is where we watch our ancestor overcome all the obstacles they faced in pursuit of their goal. It is usually the longest section and where most of the action will take place.

Act 3 – The end – It starts at the climax and concludes with the resolution. It is usually the shortest and begins immediately at or after the climax.  We will talk more about these two elements in the upcoming days.

I have a chart to use for this. Thanks, Lynn.

Family History Writin Challenge - Day Seven

The antagonist.

The major antagonist I will choose will be the people of the town who, in disregard of the law, would not let the women vote on the one major case I know of that Grace represented. These could be men and women, old school thoughts and values, status quo.

Minor antogonists might have been her law partner who gave up her practice, other lawyers, etc. But I'm not so sure about them. I'd be making stuff up. Her case came up after she'd been an independent lawyer for some time, going by memory, seven or eight years. What happened after she won the case with the supreme court? Would anyone else with money to pay ask her to represent them? Would the men and women of the town run her out? Why did she leave DesMoines and go to Idaho Falls to work, along with her sisters and brother? Where in the world could I find that out?

Family History Writing Challenge - Day Six

Conflict.

Without it, there is no story. What was Grace's conflict? Reader must understand this challenge and how she overcame the obstacle.

Understand the goal.

Figure out what stands in the way of meeting that goal.

Find an inciting incident. What does she decide to do to change the path and meet that plot goal.

What is the first turning point?

What are the obstacles? Obstacles block the path to achieving goals. They are also called plot points. Three types of obstacles:

ancestor vs. another person
ancestor vs. circumstance
ancestor vs. self


Conflict is the overall idea. Obstacle is the roadblock(s) that stands between meeting the goal.

What obstacles did Grace face in realizing her goal?

Times were changing in the early 1900s, and Iowa was not too shabby on the change chart, but still, women could not vote on a particular civic issue, even though the law said they could. Women were incensed, and tried to block the path of the issue. They finally hired a lawyer, Grace: a woman. A determined woman.

Obstacles: the local townspeople would not recognize the law, which pitted men against women. Even tho' the law was on the books, it was not recognized by the powers that be.

I don't know of the obstacles, but a little freewrite might enlighten me. Grace was older than most when she graduated. She was a long way from home, but had grown up in Iowa, moved to Maine, and moved back. He father, according to his biography, wrote long letters to his children who were away. He died in the early 1890's, so Grace and perhaps Winafred must had moved back to Iowa before his death. So, she and Winafred were single women, alone in a big city. Winafred worked, Grace went to school. I can't find them in the directory before 1898. Their uncle and aunt, James and Fanny Ballantyne, lived in Brooklyn, Iowa. Fanny died in 1902 and James in 1906, but they had obstacles and conflicts of their own. Later, their daughter Charlotte lived with them for a while. So, one conflict was living far from family, and having only each other. They were single and needed to make a living. It would appear that Winafred did the work whilst Grace went to school.

It was a man's world, although inroads were being made. Iowa was more liberal in its ideas about racism and women's rights. Drake University, where Grace earned her law degree, was founded on the acceptance of people of any race, religion or sex. So, that was good. Her classmates, whom I can only find to the letter M, seemed to be all male, although one was named Winny so could be either. But, for the most part, they were male. Did this create issues?

I feel that the daughters of the Ballantynes (James and Fanny; Robert and Louisa), must have been strong women. They made their own way in the world and were independant, although they stuck together for quite some time. Did this make them socially unacceptable at the time?

I have no idea what they looked like, and if that was a drawback.

Anyway, Grace represented the women of DesMoines and lost the case. She took it to the Supreme Court and won her case. That is the only case I can find. It was written up in newspapers across the country.

Her first law career was a partnership with another lady lawyer, but that did not last too long. Soon she was independent, but perhaps worked in a law office. That I can't figure out from the directories. Eventually, when she was older and moved to Idaho Falls, she managed an office.

Why?

Toller

On February 7, shortly after midnight, our beloved Toller went peacefully to his rest at the Riverview Animal Hospital. He only had enough strength to occasionally raise his head and look at us - not puzzled, not really pained, just eyes full of trust. I have taken care of you for thirteen years, and now you are taking care of me. Miss me, but let me go.

It started a week ago; Friday, January 30, 2015. When Bill rubbed his head to say goodbye on his way out the door for work, he found a hematoma on Toller's ear. We are familiar with these, as our cat Fred had one. We could have lived with a cauliflower ear, but I decided to take him to see Dr. Cook anyway. As he examined Toller and made his ear recommendations - four to six treatments of removing blood and giving him anti-inflamatories and steroids and the like, I mentioned that I didn't like the way he was breathing, and that he was coughing and hacking a lot. He seemed to be catching his breath, and Dr. Cook listened to his chest for a good long while.

He recommended that we deal with the ear and then discuss the much increased heart murmer. We agreed to that, and made an appointment to have his ear drained on Monday, February 2. Dr. Dooer was well experienced in draining ears, he said. She decided to do it in the front room. Big mistake. Toller, it seems, was a head-shaker. He shook blood all over the room. I think he missed the ceiling but not much else. He stayed for an extra hour, as his blood didn't clot. We made an appointment for Thursday. That night, he drank a lot of water, and after every drink, threw it up. I followed him around with paper towels for several hours.

On Wednesday, they called me from the office and asked if I wanted to reschedule because of the impending storm. I said no, but I'd call early if I needed to change the time. I told her that Toller's breathing was more labored, and about all the vomiting. She said she would write it down. I was supposed to go to church to volunteer, but Toller appeared weak and tired. I decided that I'd better stay home. I didn't want him to die alone in his kennel. He rallied, and we went for a walk, two times up and down the street. He enjoyed sniffing, marking, and getting out, I do believe.

The storm was not too bad, so I kept my morning appointment. I thought Dr. Dooer might have read my concerns, but I don't think she had. Before the procedure, I explained my concerns again, and said that all he had for breakfast was a few mini-wheats. She proceded to give him some sample dental kibble which Toller gobbled up like a good boy. He had no bleeding issues, and she thought one more visit would take care of his ear. I told her again that he would not eat his food, and she told me to get him some new food. I knew better. I guess we just know our dogs. I bought him some canned dog food and mixed his kibble in it and he ate some - not his normal amount, but some. He seemed happier. We felt better.

In the morning, he was just not himself. He ate bits of canned food with kibble in it, a wee bit every hour or so, until mid-afternoon. The last time, he did not finish it. He did not want his pill or a piece of cheese. He did lick up the bit of ice cream in the bottom of Bill's dish. He continued to drink. He went outside for a while in the afternoon. His bowels were very loose. Late afternoon, he laid down in the grey room, and they he stayed, on the bare floor. Bill said that he didn't think he could get up. After a while, I asked if we could at least get him on his blanket on his couch. Bill carried him. He felt cold to me. I covered his back end up with the blanket I had over me. By this time, we decided that he should not come home tomorrow. I recommended that we call the Riverview Animal Hospital, but Bill wanted to sit vigil with him and wait so he could have it done at the Moncton Clinic. At 10:30, he lifted his head and coughed and couldn't get his breath well at all. His third eyelids were showing. His chest was rising and falling, rising and falling. I called the Riverview Hospital and they told me to bring him in. The vet on call, Dr. Coleman, said that he probably had heart disease or cancer, maybe both. His lungs were full of fluid. He was uncomfortable.

He never complained about anything. Bill had to carry him everywhere. We held him across our laps as the doctor inserted first something white to relax him, and then something blue to euthanise him. While he was still alive, he still trusted us with his big, brown cataract eyes. His chest stopped rising and falling and he was gone.

But not forgotten.

Update February 22. Yesterday I brought Toller home. We both shed more tears; me, at the clinic and Bill, when he unwrapped his wee coffin. But he is home, at the only home he ever knew, the home he  managed to manouver with his very limited eyesight. In the spring, we will place his coffin with Raleigh's and Fred's. But for now, we sit and glance at him every now and then. I try to remember him, sitting in his familiar places, cosy and trusting with his family. I could not wish him back, knowing how every breath was a struggle and every step became more difficult ~ that is my head. My heart, oh how my heart longs to see him again.

Rest peacefully, my doggie. 

Family History Writing Challenge - Day Five

Lynn says we need Goals, Motivations and Stakes.

The goal is the heart of the story. It is motivated by something in the protagonist's life that had a significant impact on them. If they didn't make their goal, they feared a loss.

Goal - what does ancestor want?

Motivation - why does she want it?

Stakes - what happens if she fails to achieve it?

Lots of ideas. I wish I knew Grace. But I do know some of the things she did, and I have a few newspaper writeups about her. She has one big success that I know of. But, first she needed a goal. She was not a young chickie when she graduated from Law School; I think she was 31. I wonder how she made it. Did they have scholarships back then? Did she receive an inheritance? Did her sister support her while she went to school?

Why did Grace want to be a lawyer? I think she wanted to change the world for women. At least, going by what she accomplished, that is what she did.

What happened if she failed? I'm sure we all wondered about that sometimes. I figure, in a law office, as in any business, most days, most clients would be pretty routine. Did she get many clients? Male clients? As most of the time she appears to be on her own, it was either drum up business or not be able to pay the bills. Did she fail, when later in life she was a secretary-treasurer for a business, or was she using her legal skills at the same time, or did she just choose to give up some responsibilites as she grew older. That I do not know the answer to.

However, she did have her epiphany - her great accomplishment - her day in the sun. That is the big thing in my story, the other things will build up the story and the setting, and conclude it. And her sisters and cousin will figure prominently, as well as the courts.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day Four

Today's assignment is to begin the story, and how to do it. I have written my initial paragraph, at least in rough draft stage. But, lets have a look at Lynn's ideas.

The beginning is the start of the story until the first plot point. I don't think I've come to that stage yet. I need a hook. That can be a question, a crucial moment, an interesting picture, an intriguing character, an unusual situation.  I think I put all of the above in my initial paragraph. Question: Would she be able to make it in a man's world? The crucial moment: commencement. The intriguing character: Grace with a B. An unusual situation: I don't know that a graduation is so unusual, but not so many women graduated from Law School in that era.

Each sentence builds on the previous sentence. The last sentence of a paragraph is the catalyst to the next.

What else?
~ introduce the protagonist. That is Grace.
~ establish the setting. Law school graduation
~ introduce the antagonist. That will be, I think, the status quo.
~ introduce a story question. Well, after graduation, will she find a job? That's a typical question.
~ introduce the theme. Independent women!

What to avoid.
~ back story or flashbacks. Stay in the present.
~ too much description. Use Unique and specific details.
~ introducing too many characters.
~ differing points of view of different characters.
~ changing locations
~ spoon feeding the reader. Don't tell everything in the first chapter.

Paragraph #2.

We know that Grace is graduating. Could talk about Drake University and why Grace went there. Is she worried about facing opposition from the status quo? (Man's world, old ideas?) Will anyone hire her? Father raised his daughters to be independent women. (REREAD book chapter about Robert Ballantyne.) Take her home afterwards and have her discuss this with Winafred. Stay in DesMoines for now.

Family History Writing Challenge - A First Paragraph Freewrite

Grace trapised across campus to the auditorium with her classmates. They walked purposefully, proudly, in single file, in alphabetical order; Grace with a B led the line of men in their robes, hoods of purple, and mortarboards.  Grace glanced at the sky, wishing her father was here; how proud he would have been. She lifted her arm in its unfamiliar garb, and wiped a tear away. She and Winafred lived so far from their home in Maine; and yet, Iowa was as much a home to them as Maine. Her mother's congratulatory letter sat on her dresser. Grace had read it so many times. Proud families watched the 1899 graduating class of Drake University School of Law file by. Winafred, sister, roommate and friend, gave Grace a smile and nod as she passed. Her classmates lauded her as she accepted her diploma. "What will life hold for me in a man's world?" she wondered.  Graduation and commencement. An ending and a beginning. She squelched her fear, knowing that Robert and Louisa Ballantyne's daughter could do anything she wanted to do.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day Three

Focus

How to focus the story:

~ Ask questions

     What do I want my readers to know about Grace?

     What legacy did she leave?

     What lesson can we learn from her?

     What interests ME about her? What intrigues me about her?

     What do I find fascinating about her?

~ Understand my audience

     Who am I writing for?

     What is my purpose?

~ Identify a specific time in her life. I do not need to include everything about her. Narrow the scope.

~ Sift through the abundance of information I have about Grace. Hold on to all the supporting facts of the focus and let the rest go.

~ Exercise: Convey what I want to say about Grace in six words.

In case you wonder where I get these ideas - I follow the Family History Writing Challenge by Lynn. If you are interested let me know and I'll point you in her direction.

My thoughts on these ideas:

I want my readers to know that Grace, two of her sisters and her cousin were well-educated, focused, full of dreams young ladies who didn't let their gender get in their way of living their dreams. And how they got to be that way. 

Grace, Winifred, Alice and their cousin Charlotte never married - unless Charlotte did - I lose her, and as far as I know, left no children. I hope they left the legacy to their friends, neighbors, peers and co-workers that they left to me - a woman, whether she be a woman who had to struggle in life just to let the world know that a woman is every bit as much a person as a man, with equal rights, or a woman of today, who is recognized as being such but still sometimes feels she has to prove herself, or can prove herself if she wants to. A woman, just like a man, can be whoever she sets her mind to be, if she sets her dreams and goals high and works toward achieving them. And, in the end, like Grace, she wishes to downgrade her dreams, she's entitled to that as well. What I don't know is why. What happened? 

What lesson did she teach me? Dream big. Even though I'm retired and in my early 60's, I can still dream big.

What interests and intrigues me about Grace, and also Winafred and Alice and Charlotte? Well, I wonder what they looked like. Why did none of them marry? Were they not interested? Lesbians? Not desirable because they were activists? Nowadays, women can be independant and single if they like and its no big deal, but in the early 1900's, many women married and let themselves be looked after while they took care of household responsibilities. It makes me think back to their upbringing, so therefore, that must be a bit of my focus.

I think, in that era, women were becoming more independant, more vocal, especially on the east coast in the big cities. In studying history of Iowa, this state was revolutionary in their opinions and treatments of people of color and women. Drake University was founded with the principle that students could attend irregardless of race, religion and sex. Perhaps, since Grace grew up in Iowa and moved to Maine, she wanted to go back to Iowa so she could attend school and become a lawyer. I'm not sure if she could have done this in Maine. Massachusetts maybe, but her home was in Lincoln, Maine.

Whom am I writing for? This is for my family newsletter. I am going to let my family know that I took a few liberties. Did Grace receive a congratulatory letter from her mother? I don't know, but I do know that when her father was alive, he wrote her long, newsy letters. So I'm taking a few liberties like that. I didn't do much of that in my book, but I'm going to start now. Just little things with some basis on facts that make sense. Otherwise, I won't have too much of interest to say. If a tear runs down her cheek when she thinks of her father as she marches in a graduation processional, what difference does it make. But it lets you know that her father is no longer alive, without saying that Robert Ballantyne was born in 18xx and died in 18xx.

Narrow the scope. I'll have to work on this. The story is really about Grace, but I did want to include Winafred, Alice, Frank and Charlotte. 

What can I say about Grace in six words?

Grace changed her corner for women.

Family History Writing Challenge - Day Two

I am supposed to choose a protagonist ancestor for my story. I have chosen Miss Grace Ballantyne Holmes. She is to be
~ the central character
~ the focal character
~ someone through whose eyes the story is revealed
~ an emotional guide
~ one who demonstrates action in her life - acted, not reacted, to the world
~ a decision maker
~ a person with personal conflicts and/or fear
~ she must be crucial to plot
~ she must move the story forward
~ she must create empathy in the reader - she is a real person with real problems and real dreams, and a few flaws and blemishes, and somewhat likeable
~ she must change, or her world must change, or she must change the world

I feel that Grace meets this criteria. Paula called her "Amazing Grace." I think that title has been used, but it appears to describe her. I don't know too much about her personality but I know some of the things she did. I know she changed her world, and she changed careers. Personally, I like her and so does Paula. I know what the house she built in 1920 looked like. I know who she lived with from the late 1890's until her death, generally. 

Family History Writing Challenge - Day One

Today I have to choose whether to write a "narrative using third person" or a "memoir using first person."

This will probably be the easiest post of the month. I know who I am writing about and it is not me. It is Miss Grace Holmes Ballantyne. So I am writing a narrative using third person.

First thing I want to know is: what was a graduation ceremony like in 1899. I know that Pomp and Circumstance was not yet written. Did they march step by proper step in sync or did they shuffle and jive. I suspect the former, but I really have no clue. I don't even know if they marched. Did they keep their hats on their head or toss them in the air with a message inside at the close of the ceremony? What did we ever do without google?

I visited the website for Drake University and found the following:

~  It was started by Disciples of Christ in Iowa and first known as Oskaloosa College. It was moved to Des Moines in 1881 and became known as Drake University. It was named after Francis Marion Drake, a benefactor, who was a former Civil War General, a former Iowa governor, banker, railroad builder and attorney.

~ It was co-educational from the start.

~ In 1891 there were 8 departments, 53 teachers and oer 800 students.

~ Its founders dream was that the school be broad-based and liberally nonsectarian. They issued the following statement -
     "This University has been designed upon a broad, liberal and modern basis. The articles of incorporation provided that all of its departments shall be open to all without distinction of sex, religion or race. In its management and influence, it will aim at being Christian, without being sectarian."

Drake University's School of Law traces its history to 1865.

I found this at http://www.drake.edu/

Grace graduated from Drake University School of Law in 1899.

History of Graduations:

~ Wearing of a gown or long robe with hood started in 12th century and soon became official attire of accademics.
~ Wearing of a cap or morterboard began in the 14th or 15th century.
~ Tossing the cap started in 1912
~ Turning the tassel started in last 40 - 50 years.

http://cnynews.com/graduation-ceremony-traditions-and-history/

Therefore: Grace wore a gown, hood and morterboard. School colors are blue and white. Not sure if that was the color she wore though. She did not toss her cap or turn her tassel.

Did she march? All I could find was a history of William and Mary. It says they gathered together and walked into . . .  and out of . . .

http://scdb.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Commencement


Also looked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_regalia_in_the_United_States