a literary movement in which writers rejected traditional ideas about what poetry and other forms of literature should look like

applicable to all people regardless of circumstance

an important idea in a text, often this idea is universal, for example, love

Reading Katherine Mansfield’s short story, ‘The Fly’ (1922)

English

Understanding why people write about war

World War One: propaganda and trench warfare

Reading 'Propping Up the Line', a short story about World War One by Ian Beck

Analysing the presentation of the gas attack: Ian Beck's 'Propping Up the Line'

Ian Beck's ‘Propping Up The Line’: Alice’s experiences on the Home Front

The presentation of trauma in Ian Beck's short story, 'Propping Up the Line'

Symbolism and motif in Ian Beck's short story, ‘Propping Up The Line’

Vivid descriptive writing using Ian Beck's ‘Propping Up The Line’ as stimulus

Using sentence structure to create rhythm in writing about World War One

Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly' (1922): exploring character foils and symbolism

Exploring the presentation of the boss in 'The Fly' by Katherine Mansfield

Debating different interpretations of Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’

Creative writing in the third person inspired by Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly'

Skim reading and close reading: Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter to his mother

Letter writing: planning, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter as stimulus

Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One

Improving the style of a letter: sentence structure and rhythm

Skim reading and close reading: 'Testament of Youth' by Vera Brittain

Letter writing: planning, using Vera Brittain’s ‘Testament of Youth’ as stimulus

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

Improving a letter: deliberate verbs and precise adjectives

Comparing texts about World War One using comparative topic sentences

Comparing texts about World War One in comparative analytical paragraphs

In 'A World at War: Short Stories', pupils explore the reasons for writing war literature and how it seeks to convey the suffering of soldiers and civilians, in times of conflict. In 'Power and Conflict Poetry', students explore the many types of conflict that arise through war, with themes including patriotism, propaganda, fear, guilt and duty.

In 'The Tempest', pupils are encouraged to write from the viewpoint of Caliban and Ariel, adopting character voices in creative writing. In 'A World at War', pupils emulate the writing styles of the authors that they encounter, to create an authentic voice in their writing. 

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.

Literary perspectives from the First World War

Historic or outdated representations of people that may portray inequality or injustice.

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Subjects which particular individuals may be sensitive to, eg, adoption, migration, bereavement or death, divorce, poverty, deprivation.

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Depiction of war, threats of war, death or the aftermath of war.

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

The boss enjoys Woodifield admiring his office.

The office is described as including a photo of a young man, the boss's son.

Woodifield tells the boss his girls saw the boss's son's grave in Belgium.

The boss reflects on the loss of his son.

The boss sees a fly covered in ink recover itself; he drops ink on it again.

After the boss drops ink on it the third time, the fly dies.

The boss can't remember what he was thinking before the incident with the fly.

Starting with the first, put these plot points about Katherine Mansfield's short story, 'The Fly' in chronological order.

Katherine Mansfield wrote 'The Fly'. What is true of Katherine Mansfield?

He despairs about a future without his son.

What is true of the boss in Katherine Mansfield's short story, 'The Fly'?

What is true of Mr. Woodifield in Katherine Mansfield's short story, 'The Fly'?

In Katherine Mansfield's short story, 'The Fly', we are told that, for the boss, "{{ }} itself had come to have no other meaning" since the loss of his son.

In Katherine Mansfield's story, 'The Fly', Mr. Woodifield tells the boss about seeing his son's grave. Mansfield writes "Only a {{ }} in his eyelids showed that he heard.

writing about yourself using pronouns like "I", "me", "mine" and "we"

a narrator talks directly to a reader using pronouns like  "you"

a narrator tells the story but isn't in it; uses "he", "she", "they"

In 'Literary perspectives from the First World War', the texts you read are written from different perspectives. Match the perspectives to their definitions.

Here is one of the first lines of 'The Fly' by Katherine Mansfield. "His talk was over; it was time for him to be off." What perspective is the short story written in?

a story that is often designed to be read in one sitting

All of these words are important to Katherine Mansfield's short story 'The Fly'. Match each word to their definition.

to explain the definitions of individual words

to offer an argument about a particular text

to identify certain methods a writer has used

Inferring is an important skill when reading any text. What does it mean to infer?

they were public so anyone could read them

you had to pay to collect them from the post office

they were always written in code and needed to be deciphered

they often brought news of casualty or death

Telegrams feature in much of the literature about World War One (Literary perspectives from the First World War). Why were telegrams dreaded by those on the home front?

In Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly', one of the characters is described as a "broken man". What language technique is being used?

Exit Quiz

Starting with the first, put these plot points about Katherine Mansfield's short story, 'The Fly' in chronological order.