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

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. 

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Historic or outdated representations of people that may portray inequality or injustice.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

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?

Content guidance

Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Adult supervision required

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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

Lesson outcome

Content guidance

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.