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.
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.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Katherine Mansfield’s 'The Fly' is written using a third person omniscient narrator.
- A third person narrator uses 'she', 'he' and 'they' rather than 'I'.
- A third person narrator might focus more on one or more character’s experiences.
- Using third person means that the reader often has to interpret why a character does something rather being told why.
- We learn little about the character of Macey, but there are suggestions of his devotion to the boss.
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
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'.
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Creative writing in the third person inspired by Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Creative writing in the third person inspired by Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly', 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.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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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 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
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
a successful businessman in the City
a retired and frail gentleman
care for Mr. Woodifield
the boss’s son, deceased
Mr. Woodifield’s son, deceased
an office employee
the narrator is, or pretends to be, a person in the story using ‘I’
the narrator talks directly to the reader using ‘you’, ‘your’
the narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’
Exit quiz
6 Questions
the narrator isn’t a character in the story; uses ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’
the narrator is ‘all-knowing’ about the events and characters
the person telling the story