Writing Exercise: Choose a character from history. Do a little research and then write a personal narrative as that figure. Bring the character to life! My response is below.
Ben Franklin, age 16
by Dawn M. Hamsher
My brother James is very irksome and tiresome. At every chance, he tries to squelch any attempt at wittiness or advance out of me. He refuses to let me write for the paper, though he knows my writing is good. He only publishes the opinions of his friends. I am merely a type-setter and I shall be nothing more, if I continue to work for him.I will have his goat though! I have anonymously submitted several articles under the pen name Silence Dogood (excellent name don't you think?) and I have to stifle my laughter every time he finds one of "her" submissions, for he and his friends are wild about them. They have published every one of them and the town is mad to find out who this woman is.
I fabricated a whole life for my dear Ms. Dogood and have had her poke fun at most everything from hoop skirts to Harvard. Perhaps one day, I'll confess to James that I am the writer. I secretly hope that he would approve and accept my writing as mine, but knowing his countenance, I fear he would be very cross. For now though, I'll have my fun.
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Along this same line on historical characters, you might also like to read Pocketful of Playdough's Bible Blogger Series, which features characters and what their blogs might be like (the 26 characters were a part of the A-Z Challenge).
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What historical character would you like to write about?
Wow! I think your post by B.F. is so cool! I learned a lot of things I didn't know about him.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know! I learned a lot too. There is some good stuff out on the internet. It is nice to be able to look stuff up quickly and then write about it.
ReplyDeleteI really like Ben Franklin. Wow, what a character!
A witty way to let us know something about a historical person.
ReplyDeleteI love the voice and the character. It's fun too to imagine Ben as a rebellious teen.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently working on a YA involving The Apache Kid so this exercise is quite timely. :-)
Happy 4th, Dawn!
Hey, this is fun! Saw your link that Pam left on Geoff's Blogs. Gets the old wheels turning, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteShelly, Yes, wouldn't this be a great way to tell children stories about history?!
ReplyDeleteLiz, I'm so glad you liked it! It was a fun exercise to do.
Joy, So glad you stopped by! It is fun to meet new blogging friends. I love your blog and left some comments.