Study Guides

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 show a thorough understanding of an extract from Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth', a memoir which recounts experiences on the British Home Front during World War One .

Key Notes

• Vera Brittain (1893-1970) was a British writer and nurse.
• Brittain is best known for her 1933 memoir 'Testament of Youth'.
• 'Testament of Youth' recounts Brittain's personal experiences of loneliness and loss during World War One.
• Skimming and scanning a text involves quickly reading something, and gathering its main ideas and overall tone.
• Close reading involves carefully considering a writer's methods and their effects.

Vocabulary To Learn

• testament: truthful account
• memoir: a nonfiction account of something written from a person's memories
• close reading: carefully, thoughtfully and slowly examining a text and considering the choices the writer made
• gist: the main idea or essence of something, often brief and in a simplified form
• home front: civilians of a country that is at war who feel its impact in their daily lives

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• 'Testament of Youth' is fictional.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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: 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
• Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose Study Guide