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Year 10
Eduqas

Considering and analysing attitude in non-fiction writing

I can make predictions about a writer's attitude through contextual information and then identify and analyse their attitude.

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Year 10
Eduqas

Considering and analysing attitude in non-fiction writing

I can make predictions about a writer's attitude through contextual information and then identify and analyse their attitude.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The writer's attitude is the way that they feel towards a subject.
  2. We might make predictions about a writer's attitude by considering contextual information around the text.
  3. We might analyse the writer's attitude by considering the connotations of their word choices.
  4. We also might analyse the writer's attitude by considering language techniques such as semantic fields.

Keywords

  • Attitude - the way someone thinks or feels about a particular thing

  • Context - background information that can help us understand a text further (e.g. when it was written)

  • Sensational - causing great public interest and excitement

  • Candid - truthful and straightforward; frank

  • Sceptical - not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations

Common misconception

A writer's attitude will remain the same throughout a non-fiction text.

If a writer is recounting an experience then their attitude may change from the beginning to the end of their text.


To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: Considering and analysing attitude in non-fiction writing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

It would be useful for pupils to share their predictions about the two texts to see how contextual information can be helpful in approaching a text.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

You will need access to Dickens' 'Greenwich Fair' and Day's 'Are we having fun yet?'. There are copies available in the additional materials.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Charles Dickens wrote his account of Greenwich Fair in 1839, as such it is an example of ...
Correct answer: Victorian literature
Elizabethan literature
Jacobean literature
Shakespearean literature
Q2.
'The way someone thinks or feels about a particular thing' is the definition of which word beginning with 'a'?
Correct Answer: attitude
Q3.
Which of the following is the definition of 'pathetic fallacy'?
Correct answer: attribution of human emotions to non-human things
attribution of human characteristics to non-human things
the use of images, words or nouns to represent abstract ideas or qualities
Q4.
What is being described here: 'the words, ideas, feelings or concepts we associate with a word or symbol.'?
Correct Answer: connotations, connotation, a connotation
Q5.
Which of the following might be connotations of the colour pink?
Correct answer: happiness
anger
disgust
Correct answer: warmth
Q6.
Which of the options below could be useful synonyms for 'this suggests'?
Correct answer: this implies
Correct answer: this illustrates
this confirms
this concludes
Correct answer: this hints at

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In Dickens' 'Greenwich Fair', Dickens' attitude might be described as which of the following?
sceptical
Correct answer: excited
hesitant
Correct answer: overwhelmed
Q2.
'Causing great public interest and excitement' is the definition of which word beginning with 's'?
Correct Answer: sensational
Q3.
The contextual information we have about Day's 'Are we having fun yet?' is that it's a journalist’s account of attending the Glastonbury festival in 2005. What inferences might we make from this?
Correct answer: Day is attending for work rather than pleasure.
Day is extremely excited to attend the festival.
Correct answer: Day's account could be sensational in nature.
The title suggests an informative article.
Q4.
By opening 'Are we having fun yet?' with repeated references to the colour 'brown', Day arguably creates atmosphere.
Correct answer: an unappealing
a joyous
Correct answer: an off-putting
an energising
Q5.
'Truthful and straightforward; frank' is the definition of which word beginning with 'c'?
Correct Answer: candid
Q6.
'Not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations' is the definition of which word beginning with 's'?
Correct Answer: sceptical

Additional material

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