Dennis A. Parker's Blog (19)

The appendix for Jefferson’s Masterpiece has been edited and is now ready.

I am still trying to find a descriptive title for the appendix. I have one…

Last week I concluded the preparation of the appendix by compiling significance facts about the Declaration of Independence.

In an 1819 letter to Samuel Adams Wells, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The Declaration of Independence ... [is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and of the rights of man.”…

“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” With this pledge, fifty-six men unhesitatingly signed the Declaration of Independence.

They were immediately branded…

As I worked last week on Thomas Jefferson’s biographical sketch for the appendix of Jefferson’s Masterpiece, I learned some facts about his life that I didn’t know. Most everyone can recite Jefferson’s major accomplishments – author of the Declaration of…

Last week was very productive. I spent most of the week editing Jefferson’s Masterpiece. One afternoon I visited an independent bookstore in a nearby town. I also spent time with a friend looking at new locations where I might be able to sell Nick & Sadie.

During the…

I enjoy editing.

As expected, I was not able to complete the first full edit of Jefferson’s Masterpiece…

The historical fiction story of Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence – Jefferson’s Masterpiece – is almost finished. All I have left to write is what took place on August 2, 1776, the iconic day the delegates signed the…

Thursday, July 4, 1776, promised to be a pretty day in Philadelphia with temperatures in the mid-seventies and a slight breeze from the North. Inside the Pennsylvania State House, however, it would be much hotter. The temperature would rise inside the closed meeting room, plus, emotions would run high due to the controversial subjects that would be…

My writing assignment for last week was more difficult than I expected – writing about the activities of July 2 and July 3, 1776, in the Second Continental Congress. These were the days when the Virginia Resolution was adopted that granted independence to the thirteen colonies, and when the delegates began a line-by-line evaluation of the declaration statement that Thomas Jefferson wrote.

My objective, as it has been…

In addition to providing historical information about what happened on the three days I wrote about last week, I also provided some insights into Thomas Jefferson and the peripheral events that were taking place in the Second Continental Congress. As you will see, Congress did not spend all of its time dealing with lofty questions of how to conduct a war with a ragtag army of farmers and tradesmen or how to achieve independence from Great Britain. The congressmen spent time…

During the three days I wrote about last week, Jefferson showed his draft of the declaration to three of his fellow committee members. They had requested to see it before it was submitted to Congress. I also provided information about a developing military situation in South Carolina that the members of Congress learned about on June 27.…

This was a challenging week of writing. My goal was to create three “fill-in days” (see February 22nd Blog) in order to advance the story of Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence. These days gave me the opportunity to share information about Jefferson and how he worked. They also gave me the opportunity to describe some “outside” events that were important to Jefferson and to the independence…

The second week of writing Jefferson’s Masterpiece went very well. I was able to accomplish more than I had expected. The story will cover 22 days. However, I was able to complete four days in just one week. My goal is to finish three days a week. It…

Retyping the unpublished Thomas Jefferson Writes the Declaration of Independence, written in 1972 for children, was a good exercise. Even though I’ve read the story several times over the past two months, I was able to get a better look at every aspect…

Developing the outline for Jefferson’s Masterpiece was easier than I had expected. The fact that I had taken care to prepare and organize the notes I made during the research process and to categorize the resource material – sometimes under multiple…

Writing an historical fiction story for children (8-12 year olds) about the events and people involved in writing the Declaration of Independence should be based on sound…