War of the Ghosts!

When analyzing my three recalls from the story read, War of the Ghosts, I was surprised out how similar each of the recalls were. After being recalled weeks apart, I thought there would definitely be a more drastic variation in the recalls. It is very obvious the role semantic memory played in the recall.

Key points in the story were definitely recalled. Some examples include:

• two young men
• Eugloc (close enough spelling I think)
• hunting for seals
• calm, foggy night
• war cries, war
• canoes, 5 men in canoe
• young men did not have weapons, but men in canoe had arrows
• one young man did not join because he didn't want to worry relatives who didn't know where he was
• house, fire
• ghosts

While the recalls were definitely not exact, it is very obvious when I read the story that I took it all in as a whole and stored it conceptually. I made the story comprehendible to myself...it was permanently stored within my semantic memory. As our reading pointed out, time is also a factor to be considered. The first recall was definitely more thorough with key points and examples versus the second and last recalls

It is very obvious in my recalls that the beginning of the story is much more clearly recalled than the end. I never did grasp the concept of what happened in the other town, because only once did I mention another town. I also did not ever recall anything specific about the ghosts or one of the original two young men dying in the end of the story. My short-term memory must have been so jumbled and confused by the time I reached the end of the story that when I went to recall the story, I had nothing to work from. The end of the story never made it from my short-term memory into my long-term memory. Also, because I took the story in as a whole and disected it conceptually, I didn't remember the specific details. Several key concepts mentioned above in the bulleted list, however, were commonly recalled throughout all three recalls.

Overall, I think everyone who would be asked to read the story and recall it weeks apart would find a similar outcome...key concepts were recalled, but not specific details. I think everyone is taught to read a story and find the context or conceptual meaning to the reading, and then it is stored in their semantic memories. Thus, remembering specific details would be challenging...getting the "gist of it" is more like it.