the narrator is not a character in the story, and uses pronouns like 'she', 'he', 'they' rather than 'I'

absorbent paper that soaks up excess ink from a pen

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

English

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Historic or outdated representations of people that may portray inequality or injustice.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 narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’

the narrator is ‘all-knowing’ about the events and characters

Katherine Mansfield uses a third person omniscient narrative voice in ‘The Fly’. Match each part of this phrase to its meaning.

Which adjective best describes how Macey feels towards his boss in ‘The Fly’? 

In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, Macey is described as “the {{ }} office manager”.

In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, Mansfield writes Macey “dodged in and out of his cubby hole like a {{ }} that expects to be taken for a run”.

In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, the boss orders Macey to get him more blotting paper. Mansfield writes: “the {{ }} dog padded away”.

Macey was proud of his desk in his own way.

The boss was proud of my desk, in his own way.

I was proud of Macey’s desk, in my own way.

Katherine Mansfield writes ‘The Fly’ in the third person. Which of these sentences uses the third person?

Match each character from Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’ to what we know about them.

The character of Macey is in Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’. What best would define the type of character Macey is?

the narrator is, or pretends to be, a person in the story using ‘I’

the narrator talks directly to the reader using ‘you’, ‘your’

In Literary perspectives from the First World War, the texts we read use a range of narrative perspectives. Match the narrative perspective to its definition.

Macey sees the boss staring into nothingness after Mr. Woodifield leaves.

The boss orders Macey to keep everyone out of his office.

Macey makes sure no-one disturbs the boss.

The boss rings the bell to order Macey to come to him.

The boss orders Macey to get him more blotting paper.

Starting with the first, put these plot points all relating to the character of Macey in Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’ in chronological order.

He didn’t like his attitude when he worked for the boss.

He felt he was “spoilt” but didn’t mind working with him.

In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, how did Macey feel towards the boss’s son?

In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, what is Macey, the boss’s employee, compared to?

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Adult supervision required

Introduction

What will you need for this lesson?

Are you ready to learn?

Equipment

Content guidance

Supervision

Worksheet