Skip to content

Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Year 7 - English

Identifying and emulating Baum's use of pathetic fallacy in 'The Wizard of Oz'

Step into the unknown: fiction reading and creative writing

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils develop their fiction reading and creative writing by reading extracts from famous fiction and then emulating key techniques in their own writing. They start by securing and extending their knowledge of key sentence grammar, before reading and emulating the extracts.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to confidently understand and use pathetic fallacy.

Key Notes

  • Pathetic fallacy is a literary technique in which emotions are ascribed to non-human objects and things.
  • Pathetic fallacy helps to show the mood of a piece of writing.
  • Pathetic fallacy helps the reader visualise the scene and reflects the character's emotion.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • mood: the emotional response the story creates within the reader
  • represent: to serve as a sign or symbol of something
  • literary device: a tool used by writers to hint at larger themes, ideas, and meaning in a story or piece of writing
  • descriptive: describing something in an interesting and detailed way

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • That pathetic fallacy can only be used to give emotion to the weather.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Pathetic fallacy is a literary technique in which emotions are ascribed to non-human objects and things. Pathetic fallacy helps to show the mood of a piece of writing.

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

the emotional response the story creates within the reader.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: That pathetic fallacy can only be used to give emotion to the weather. Correction: Pathetic fallacy is where human emotions are given to any non-human object or thing.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 7 English guide library.