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Year 11 - English

'The Great Gatsby': analysing a writer's craft

Fiction: books that changed my world

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils read extracts from some impactful books to inpsire their own writing. Within each of the five extracts, they identify and analyse a key technique before emulating it in their own piece of writing. At the end of the unit, they craft the opening to an impactful narrative.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to annotate a text and explain how the writer crafts a response from a reader.

Key Notes

  • Writers will make deliberate choices in their writing to achieve specific effects - this is known as writer's craft.
  • Writers will employ different word choices and language devices to create engaging characters and settings.
  • Personal responses to texts will take into account the writer's craft.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • opulence: extreme wealth and luxuriousness, often associated with lavish displays of extravagance
  • writer's craft: the techniques and tools a writer uses to create and develop their writing
  • supercilious: behaving or looking as though one thinks they are superior to others
  • elicit: to call forth or draw out

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • All opinions in response to written texts are equal.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

Writers will make deliberate choices in their writing to achieve specific effects - this is known as writer's craft. Writers will employ different word choices and language devices to create engaging characters and settings.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'opulence'

extreme wealth and luxuriousness, often associated with lavish displays of extravagance.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: All opinions in response to written texts are equal. Correction: The best personal responses to texts will evaluate the writer's craft in eliciting that opinion.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 11 English guide library.