Writing Prompts from History for Teens

Take your writing – and knowledge of history – a step further with these writing prompts from history.

1. You journey with James Cook on the ship the Endeavour to Tahiti in 1768 to observe an astronomical phenomenon. Record what happens and your time in Tahiti and the nearby islands.
2. You just completed reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine for the first time, days after it was published. Do you agree with the arguments the author made? Why or why not?
3. You are with Napoleon’s men outside the city of Rosetta, Egypt. One of the men spots something in the mud. What is it, and what happens to it?
4. You take part in the Castle Hill Rising on March 4, 1804. Why are you rising up, what are you fighting for, and what is the end result?
5. Imagine you are Laura Ingersoll Secord on June 22, 1813. You have just overheard the Americans planning a surprise attack on the British. You must walk all night through the wilderness to report this information. Recount your experiences in the form of a journal entry.

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