Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can 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 learning points
- To write convincingly, you must have a secure understanding of tone, audience and purpose.
- Tone is created through carefully crafted methods.
Keywords
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 misconception
Working out the tone, audience and purpose is an unnecessary step in planning. These things are always really obvious.
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.
Teacher tip
Learning cycle 2 will require the most time. Consider how long you wish your pupils to write during this learning cycle's independent task, and work out the rest of the timings from there.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Before writing any text, it can be useful to consider its tone, audience and purpose. Match these key words to their definitions.
the attitude and emotion of your voice - written or verbal
the person or people you intend your text to be read or seen by
the reason something is done; the motivation behind doing it
Q2.Vera Brittain wrote 'Testament of Youth' in 1933. Match 'Testament of Youth' to its tone, audience and purpose.
angry, anxious, despairing, formal, reflective
the wider public
to present the experiences of those on the home front
Q3.Letters were an important method of communication during World War One. Letters start with a greeting. Which greeting is correctly punctuated?
Q4.During WW1, soldiers fought on the front line. However, civilians experienced war on what is called the home front. Match the aspect of the home front to its impact.
fear their loved ones would never return to them
feeing powerless to help the war effort
there were food shortages and rationing was introduced in 1917
many women were employed in industries traditionally worked by men
of bombs and invasion
Q5.Vera Brittain wrote 'Testament of Youth' in 1933. In Chapter 4, why does she express anger at her mother's friends?
Q6.Starting with the first, order these events from an extract of Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth' in chronological order.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Letters were an important method of communication during World War One. Letters end with a sign off. Which sign off is correctly punctuated?
Q2.Wilfred Owen was a British poet and soldier, most famous for his poems about World War One. How might you characterise the overall tone of his poems?
Q3.Match each quotation from Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth' to its tone.
I had little patience [...] for my mother's middle-aged acquaintances
life would seem so utterly empty and purposeless without him
fear that the War would come between us
I began to look carefully through his letters
Q4.In Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth', Brittain recalls how " telephone call" filled her with worry, in case it should bring bad news.
Q5.In Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth', Brittain recalls how the household clock marked off each "hour of " during World War One.
Q6.In 'Testament of Youth', Brittain recalls her anger at older people who she felt were not affected by war in the same way as the young. She says they " " her.
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Writing a letter from the British home front: tone, audience and purpose, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 English lessons from the Literary perspectives from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.