Year 9 - English
Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose
Literary perspectives from the First World War
Study Hub
Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils explore and compare texts written about the First World War. They first read Beck's 'Propping up the line', Mansfield's 'The Fly' and Wilfred Owen's 1917 letter home to his mum. They finally read Brittain's 'Testament of Youth', and then plan and write a comparative response.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to write a letter detailing an imagined experience of the British home front during World War One, showing a deep understanding of tone, audience and purpose.
Key Notes
- To write convincingly, you must have a secure understanding of tone, audience and purpose.
- Tone is created through carefully crafted methods.
Vocabulary To Learn
- establish: begin, create, set up
- tone: the attitude and emotion of your voice - written or verbal
- purpose: the reason something is done; the motivation behind doing it
- memoir: a nonfiction account of something written from a person's memories
- methods: the tools a writer uses to create their work- structure and language choices are the most obvious examples
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Working out the tone, audience and purpose is an unnecessary step in planning. These things are always really obvious.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
To write convincingly, you must have a secure understanding of tone, audience and purpose. Tone is created through carefully crafted methods.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'establish'
begin, create, set up.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Working out the tone, audience and purpose is an unnecessary step in planning. These things are always really obvious. Correction: The foundations of convincing writing comes in the planning stage. This includes thinking carefully about tone, audience and purpose. Having a deep, rather than superficial, understanding of each will allow for a compelling piece of writing.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Analysing the presentation of the gas attack: Ian Beck's 'Propping Up the Line' Study Guide
- Comparing texts about World War One in comparative analytical paragraphs Study Guide
- Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences Study Guide
- Creative writing in the third person inspired by Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' Study Guide
- Debating different interpretations of Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' Study Guide
- Exploring the presentation of the boss in 'The Fly' by Katherine Mansfield Study Guide
- Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line': Alice's experiences on the Home Front Study Guide
- Improving a letter: deliberate verbs and precise adjectives Study Guide
- Improving the style of a letter: sentence structure and rhythm Study Guide
- Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' (1922): exploring character foils and symbolism Study Guide
- Letter writing: planning, using Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth' as stimulus Study Guide
- Letter writing: planning, using Wilfred Owen's 1917 letter as stimulus Study Guide
- Reading 'Propping Up the Line', a short story about World War One by Ian Beck Study Guide
- Reading Katherine Mansfield's short story, 'The Fly' (1922) Study Guide
- Skim reading and close reading: 'Testament of Youth' by Vera Brittain Study Guide
- Skim reading and close reading: Wilfred Owen's 1917 letter to his mother Study Guide
- Symbolism and motif in Ian Beck's short story, 'Propping Up The Line' Study Guide
- The presentation of trauma in Ian Beck's short story, 'Propping Up the Line' Study Guide
- Understanding why people write about war Study Guide
- Using sentence structure to create rhythm in writing about World War One Study Guide
- Vivid descriptive writing using Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line' as stimulus Study Guide
- World War One: propaganda and trench warfare Study Guide
- Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 9 English guide library.