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'.
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).
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