Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 9

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

I can explain what happens in ‘Propping Up The Line’, including commenting on some of the choices Beck made.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 9

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

I can explain what happens in ‘Propping Up The Line’, including commenting on some of the choices Beck made.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘Propping Up The Line’ is a short story by Ian Beck written using a third person narrative voice.
  2. Beck was inspired to write the story to “honour” his grandfather who was gassed in the trenches during World War One.
  3. Gas attacks killed about three percent of people immediately.
  4. There were long term physical and psychological effects for those who survived gas attacks.
  5. Many people who write about World War One try to convey the horrors of gas attacks in their work.

Common misconception

Anyone who breathed in gas died immediately.

Gas attacks killed about three percent of people immediately, but there were long term physical and psychological effects for those who experienced gas attacks.

Keywords

  • Third person narrative - when the person telling the story isn’t a character in the story and tells us about the characters using their names, or ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’

  • Short story - a fictional text which is shorter than a novel and can often be read in one sitting; a writer might focus on one event, or linked events, and evoke a particular tone or mood

  • Wilfred Owen - a British soldier and poet (1893-1918) best known for his poems about World War One

  • Simile - a language technique whereby a writer describes something by comparing it to something else using 'like' or 'as'

This lesson is all about reading, engaging with and understanding Beck's short story. Consider focusing your planning on your own reading of the story, annotating it with questions, quick definitions for words your pupils might not know and any other prompts which will support their reading.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of the 2014 edition of Stories of World War One, edited by Tony Bradman to read 'Propping Up the Line' by Ian Beck.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Skip video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
In the unit 'Literary perspectives from the First World War', one of the texts is Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line'. What type of text is this?
a narrative poem
a book
a novella
Correct answer: a short story
a play
Q2.
In the unit 'Literary perspectives from the First World War', one of the texts is Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line'. Which war does this story focus on?
the Cold war
the Boer war
the Iraq war
Correct answer: World War One
World War Two
Q3.
In the unit 'Literary perspectives from the First World War', one of the texts is Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line'. The story opens in a particular setting. What is it?
Alfred's home in England
Alfred's home in France
Correct answer: a trench in France
a trench in England
a trench in Germany
Q4.
The story 'Propping Up the Line' opens explaining some of the emotions Alfred feels in the trench. What are these emotions?
Correct answer: pain
Correct answer: boredom
Correct answer: anger
Correct answer: loss
relief
Q5.
A is a language technique whereby a writer describes something by comparing it to something else using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Correct Answer: simile
Q6.
Ian Beck uses a third person narrative in his story, 'Propping Up The Line' ('Literary perspectives from the First World War'). Which of the following are examples of third person?
Correct answer: he/she/they
you/your
I/me/my

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Starting with the first, order these plot points from Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line' in chronological order.
1 - Alfred kills a rat in anger in the trenches.
2 - Alfred and Jonesey are asked to cut some barbed wire in no man's land.
3 - Jonesey is killed in a gas attack. Alfred breathes in gas but survives.
4 - Alfred returns home to England.
5 - Alfred realises he can no longer work in the winter because of lung damage.
6 - Alfred sees someone who reminds him of Jonesey at a cricket match.
7 - We learn Alfred dies owing to complications brought on by the gas attack.
Q2.
Ian Beck wrote 'Propping Up The Line'. This story is written using a third person narrative voice. What does this mean?
the writer adopts the voice of a character in the story using "I" and "me"
there are three narrators over the course of the story
Correct answer: the writer is 'outside' of the story - an all knowing narrator
Correct answer: the writer uses names, and the pronouns 'she', 'he' and 'they' throughout
Q3.
Which word from Beck's 'Propping Up The Line' tells us the story is written in the third person?
sounds
stumbled
had
Correct answer: Alfred
Q4.
In Ian Beck's 'Propping Up The Line', how does the main character, Alfred, die?
in a gas attack
in World War One
Correct answer: heart failure
of old age (96)
when propping up the washing line
Q5.
In Beck's 'Propping Up The Line', the main character describes corpses he sees in the trenches. What kind of shop does he compare them to?
Correct Answer: butcher's, a butcher's
Q6.
In Beck's 'Propping Up The Line', the main character describes corpses he sees in the trenches to clothes. What kind of line does he describe?
Correct Answer: washing