- Year 9
Understanding why people write about war
I can explain why people might choose to write about war, exploring the viewpoints of different writers who have chosen to write about war themselves.
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- Year 9
Understanding why people write about war
I can explain why people might choose to write about war, exploring the viewpoints of different writers who have chosen to write about war themselves.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- War literature can be impactful because it has the power to tell individual stories.
- War literature can be impactful because it tries to explain the experiences of war to those who have not experienced it.
- War literature can be used to expose the reality of war and serve as a warning to future generations.
- Arguably, war literature helps humans empathise with the pain of others.
Keywords
War literature - a text which focuses on and explores war and conflict
Profound - deep or meaningful
Specific - particular, precise, exact
Empathise - to share the feelings of another person; a stronger feeling than sympathy
Annotate - to make short notes commenting on something of interest in a text
Common misconception
It isn't important to consider the ethics of writing about war. It is a topic just like any other.
There are important questions to be asked when considering writing about any harrowing experience, particularly war.
To help you plan your year 9 English lesson on: Understanding why people write about war, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 English lesson on: Understanding why people write about war, 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.
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.
Equipment
You need access to a copy of the story ‘Propping Up the Line’ by Ian Beck from the 2014 Orchard Books collection ‘Stories of World War One’ edited by Tom Bradman.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
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