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Year 9

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

I can rewrite two paragraphs of Katherine Mansfield's short story 'The Fly' (1922) shifting the focus from the boss to the character of Macey, the boss's employee.

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New
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Year 9

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

I can rewrite two paragraphs of Katherine Mansfield's short story 'The Fly' (1922) shifting the focus from the boss to the character of Macey, the boss's employee.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Katherine Mansfield’s 'The Fly' is written using a third person omniscient narrator.
  2. A third person narrator uses 'she', 'he' and 'they' rather than 'I'.
  3. A third person narrator might focus more on one or more character’s experiences.
  4. Using third person means that the reader often has to interpret why a character does something rather being told why.
  5. We learn little about the character of Macey, but there are suggestions of his devotion to the boss.

Common misconception

If you are writing in third person, then you can't know the internal feelings of characters because you are not inside their head.

Writers that use a third person narrative voice can still explore and present the internal thoughts and feelings of one or more of their characters. You can develop their psychology without having to use the pronoun 'I'.

Keywords

  • Devotion - love, loyalty

  • Internal - inside

  • Omniscient - all-knowing

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

  • Blotting paper - absorbent paper that soaks up excess ink from a pen

Consider how long your pupils will require to write their paragraphs in learning cycle 2, and work out the timings of the other aspects of the lesson from there.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of Katherine Mansfield's short story 'The Fly', which can be found in the additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • 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).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match each character from Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’ to what we know about them.
Correct Answer:the boss,a successful businessman in the City

a successful businessman in the City

Correct Answer:Mr. Woodifield ,a retired and frail gentleman

a retired and frail gentleman

Correct Answer:Mr. Woodifield’s wife and daughters ,care for Mr. Woodifield

care for Mr. Woodifield

Correct Answer:unnamed son,the boss’s son, deceased

the boss’s son, deceased

Correct Answer:Reggie,Mr. Woodifield’s son, deceased

Mr. Woodifield’s son, deceased

Correct Answer:Macey,an office employee

an office employee

Q2.
The character of Macey is in Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’. What best would define the type of character Macey is?
a main character
an insignificant character
Correct answer: a minor character
a third person character
an omniscient character
Q3.
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.
Correct Answer:First person ,the narrator is, or pretends to be, a person in the story using ‘I’

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

Correct Answer:Second person,the narrator talks directly to the reader using ‘you’, ‘your’

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

Correct Answer:Third person,the narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’

the narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’

Q4.
Starting with the first, put these plot points all relating to the character of Macey in Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’ in chronological order.
1 - Macey sees the boss staring into nothingness after Mr. Woodifield leaves.
2 - The boss orders Macey to keep everyone out of his office.
3 - Macey makes sure no-one disturbs the boss.
4 - The boss rings the bell to order Macey to come to him.
5 - The boss orders Macey to get him more blotting paper.
Q5.
In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, how did Macey feel towards the boss’s son?
He didn’t like his attitude when he worked for the boss.
He preferred him to the boss.
He resented his popularity.
Correct answer: He admired him.
He felt he was “spoilt” but didn’t mind working with him.
Q6.
In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, what is Macey, the boss’s employee, compared to?
to a “baby”
to a “fly”
Correct answer: to a “dog”
to a “soldier”
to “Mr. Woodifield”

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Katherine Mansfield uses a third person omniscient narrative voice in ‘The Fly’. Match each part of this phrase to its meaning.
Correct Answer:third person ,the narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’

the narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’

Correct Answer:omniscient,the narrator is ‘all-knowing’ about the events and characters

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

Correct Answer:narrator,the person telling the story

the person telling the story

Q2.
Which adjective best describes how Macey feels towards his boss in ‘The Fly’?
Correct answer: devoted
resentful
indebted
Q3.
In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, Macey is described as “the office manager”.
Correct Answer: grey-haired, grey haired
Q4.
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”.
Correct Answer: dog
Q5.
In Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Fly’, the boss orders Macey to get him more blotting paper. Mansfield writes: “the dog padded away”.
Correct Answer: old
Q6.
Katherine Mansfield writes ‘The Fly’ in the third person. Which of these sentences uses the third person?
Correct answer: Macey was proud of his desk in his own way.
I was proud of my desk, in my own way.
The boss was proud of my desk, in his own way.
I was proud of Macey’s desk, in my own way.

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