Writing about historic events

Does this mask look familiar to you?

Black Death

Well, the image refers to a mask that doctors wore when thousands of people were dying in Europe due to the Black Death. The Black Death was the popular name given to the bubonic plague that sailors brought to Europe from Asia in the mid 1300’s. The name referred to the gangrenous blackening and death of body parts of the infected people.

However, it was during the 17th century that the first plague doctors appeared. In that time there were lots of superstitions, and people believed that the pandemic outbreak was a divine punishment. “Plague doctors” were not physicians, but volunteers or very young medicine students without experience. So, they had ancient and medieval beliefs to explain diseases. As a result, while thousands of people were dying, plague doctors claimed that the Black Death corrupted the humor of the person who had it, and they also thought the pestilent plague was spread by air, so they encouraged people to wear those masks.

Something interesting about the masks was that the long beak was holding sweet substances, or even flowers or spices that the plague doctors believed helped people purify their own humors and prevented them from breathing the polluted air.

The plague masks represented the times in which science didn’t rule the theories of diseases origins and treatment. In fact, mysticism played an important and decisive role in medieval beliefs.

Interesting, isn’t it?

To narrate historic events, we need to use past simple and past continuous to mention the situations that happened to a person, nation, or even the entire world.

If you want to write about historic events, you can definitely do it little by little. It’s not necessary to write a complex and long text from the beginning, you can start writing simple sentences, and then use linkers to join them in order to have a more complete and elaborate text.

For example:

You can join all those sentences like this, adding words to spice up the story:

In the first picture, while John Lennon and Yoko Ono were waiting, a maid made their bed. In 1969, they held a protest in bed against Vietnam War. Unsurprisingly, the media covered the protest in Amsterdam while people in Vietnam were dying. As a result, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were filmed during two weeks and the scenes turned into the documentary Bed Peace.

It’s important that you have a good dictionary to look up words you don’t know, or to check the spelling of some difficult ones. On the other hand, grammar is also important, so be careful with that aspect of the language, try to check the sense of your sentences all the time and the correct order of words, also known as syntax. Finally, the use of punctuation is essential if you want to write well!

Let’s try!

Click on the following link to find out more about punctuation rules: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/punctuation/

Does the next image look familiar to you?

Well, it’s about the moments after the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima and Nagashaki back in the 1940’s.

Now, you are going to write about this important historic event!

Atomic bomb
Writing exercise

Unscramble the words to write sentences.

1. So / the use of the / on Japanese territory / the USA President Harry S. Truman / first atomic bomb / to end the war / authorized
So, the USA President Harry S. Truman authorized the use of the first atomic bomb on Japanese territory to end the war.
2. a five-ton bomb / to only one destiny: / The next step / nicknamed “Little boy” / the city of Hiroshima, / was to send / the headquarters of the Japanese army
The next step was to send a five-ton bomb nicknamed “Little boy” to only one destiny: the city of Hiroshima, the headquarters of the Japanese army.
3. was a conflict / a lot of countries / were fighting for the Axis power, / World War II / that involved / France, Great Britain, the USA, the Soviet Union, and China / the Allies were represented by: / While Germany, Italy and Japan / on two different fronts
World War II was a conflict that involved a lot of countries on two different fronts. While Germany, Italy and Japan were fighting for the Axis power, the Allies were represented by: France, Great Britain, the USA, the Soviet Union, and China.
4. had to test / to evaluate / the USA / and in July, 1945 / detonated the weapon / its power and scope / However, / nuclear weapon/ in the New Mexico desert / the engineering of the bomb
However, the USA had to test the engineering of the bomb, and in July, 1945 detonated the weapon in the New Mexico desert to evaluate its power and scope.
5. was dropped / on the city of Nagasaki / Three days later, / another bomb
Three days later, another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.
6. 80,000 died instantly in Hiroshima, / Japan surrendered / and another 10,000 more died / Finally, / At least / from wounds and radiation poisoning / a few days later, / 40,000 in Nagashaki
At least 80,000 died instantly in Hiroshima, 40,000 in Nagasaki, and another 10,000 more died from wounds and radiation poisoning. Finally, a few days later, Japan surrendered.
7. Germany / the attacks / while / After years / in the Pacific / lost while / Japan was trying /in battle, / to survive
After years in battle, Germany lost while Japan was trying to survive the attacks in the Pacific.
Well done! Now that you have the sentences ready, organize them in a logical way to write a long paragraph.
Writing exercise

Using the sentences of the previous exercise, organize them to write about World War II. You have the first and the last parts of the paragraph as examples.

World War II was a conflict that involved a lot of countries on two different fronts. While Germany, Italy and Japan were fighting for the Axis power, the Allies were represented by: France, Great Britain, the USA, the Soviet Union, and China.

At least 80,000 died instantly in Hiroshima, 40,000 in Nagasaki, and another 10,000 more died from wounds and radiation poisoning. Finally, a few days later, Japan surrendered.

After years in battle, Germany lost while Japan was trying to survive the attacks in the Pacific. So, the USA President Harry S. Truman authorized the use of the first atomic bomb on Japanese territory to end the war. However, the USA had to test the engineering of the bomb, and in July, 1945 detonated the weapon in the New Mexico desert to evaluate its power and scope. The next step was to send a five-ton bomb nicknamed “Little boy” to only one destiny: the city of Hiroshima, the headquarters of the Japanese army. Three days later, another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

Practice exercise

After you order the sentences into a more complex text, look at the following chart and tick the things you did in this writing exercise to evaluate your own work. Do not forget that writing is a process and it needs practice, so keep on!

Yes, I did it! Oops! No, I didn’t do it!
1. I unscrambled the words to write short sentences paying attention to the correct syntax of the words.
2. I used a dictionary to check the meaning of some words.
3. I could identify the clue words that help me order the sentences into a longer text.
4. Before writing the complete text, I read and reread my work to find the logical order of events.
5. I checked my grammar, spelling and punctuation before I finished the long paragraph.
6. My paragraph was very similar to the suggested answer.
  • Checking my work:
  • 5-6 ticks: Well done, you are becoming very good at writing!
  • 3-4 ticks: Nice, but you need to work a little harder!
  • 1-2 ticks: Oops, you should practice writing much more and follow the tips in this section!