Year 9 - English
Creative writing in the third person inspired by Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly'
Literary perspectives from the First World War
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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 rewrite two paragraphs of Katherine Mansfield's short story 'The Fly' (1922) shifting the focus from the boss to the character of Macey, the boss's employee.
Key Notes
- Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' is written using a third person omniscient narrator.
- A third person narrator uses 'she', 'he' and 'they' rather than 'I'.
- A third person narrator might focus more on one or more character's experiences.
- Using third person means that the reader often has to interpret why a character does something rather being told why.
- We learn little about the character of Macey, but there are suggestions of his devotion to the boss.
Vocabulary To Learn
- devotion: love, loyalty
- internal: inside
- omniscient: all-knowing
- third person narrative: the narrator is not a character in the story, and uses pronouns like 'she', 'he', 'they' rather than 'I'
- blotting paper: absorbent paper that soaks up excess ink from a pen
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- If you are writing in third person, then you can't know the internal feelings of characters because you are not inside their head.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' is written using a third person omniscient narrator. A third person narrator uses 'she', 'he' and 'they' rather than 'I'.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'devotion'
love, loyalty.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: If you are writing in third person, then you can't know the internal feelings of characters because you are not inside their head. Correction: Writers that use a third person narrative voice can still explore and present the internal thoughts and feelings of one or more of their characters. You can develop their psychology without having to use the pronoun 'I'.
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
- 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
- Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose Study Guide
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