Starter quiz
- Wilfred Owen's 'Mental Cases' describes soldiers with PTSD. He says in their minds they are "Wading sloughs [swamps] of flesh". Which is the verb in this phrase?
- wading ✓
- sloughs
- of
- flesh
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- A pupil wrote a sentence inspired by poetry and short stories about WW1: "The weather is bitterly cold." Match each word of the sentence to its word class.
- weather⇔noun ✓
- is⇔verb ✓
- bitterly⇔adverb ✓
- cold⇔adjective ✓
- A pupil wrote a sentence inspired by poetry and short stories about WW1: "I survey the empty town and desolate shops." Match each word of the sentence to its word class.
- I⇔subject ✓
- survey⇔verb ✓
- empty⇔adjective ✓
- town⇔noun ✓
- desolate⇔adjective ✓
- shops⇔plural noun ✓
- Which option below is accurate about Vera Brittain's 'Testament of Youth'?
- it is a selection of her diary entries from WW1
- it is a memoir of her experiences on the home front of WW1 ✓
- it is a memoir of her experiences on the home front of WW2
- it is a selection of letters from her and her husband Roland from WW1
- it is an imaginative memoir about her experiences on the front line of WW1
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- What is accurate about both Wilfred Owen and Vera Brittain, two writers from the unit 'Literary perspectives from the First World War'?
- they both died during WW1
- they are best remembered for their poetry about WW1
- they were born in the same year ✓
- they are best remembered for their writings about WW1 ✓
- they both used the years after the war to write and publish their work
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- One of Wilfred Owen's most famous poems, 'Dulce et Decorum Est', describes a gas attack. Owen uses the first stanza to describe the soldiers in the trenches, writing "we ______ through sludge."
- 'cursed' ✓
Exit quiz
- A pupil wrote a sentence inspired by poetry and short stories about WW1: "I stumble fitfully, cold and alone." Match each word of the sentence to its word class.
- I⇔subject ✓
- stumble⇔verb ✓
- fitfully⇔adverb ✓
- cold⇔adjective ✓
- alone⇔adjective ✓
- A pupil wrote a sentence inspired by poetry and short stories about WW1: "Nightly, I feel desolate." Match each word of the sentence to its word class.
- nightly⇔adverb ✓
- I⇔subject ✓
- feel⇔verb ✓
- desolate⇔adjective ✓
- One of Wilfred Owen's most famous poems describes the weather in the trenches. Owen begins the poem, "Our brains ______".
- 'ache' ✓
- One of Wilfred Owen's most famous poems describes a gas attack. Owen uses the first stanza to describe the soldiers in the trenches: "______, coughing like hags".
- 'knock-kneed' ✓
- One of Wilfred Owen's most famous poems describes the weather in the trenches. Owen describes "the merciless iced east winds that ______ us."
- 'knive' ✓
- In one of his most famous poems, Wilfred Owen wrote about the "clawing" flares in the trenches. What did he later change this phrase to?
- "ghostly flares"
- "bright flares"
- "desperate flares"
- "distant flares"
- "haunting flares" ✓
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Worksheet
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Writers spend as long choosing deliberate verbs and precise adjectives as they do on other methods.
- Verbs tell us how an action is done, and so can give an insight into character, atmosphere and tone.
- Adjectives describe nouns and also impact tone.
Common misconception
It is important to focus on the creation of complex methods like metaphor or anaphora. Verbs don't matter.
Every sentence should contain a verb. As such, choosing them requires careful thought, and can dramatically impact the tone and pace of your writing.
Keywords
Vera brittain - a British writer (1893-1970) best known for her memoir ‘Testament of Youth’ about her experiences on the home front of World War One
Flare - a light used to attract attention
Wilfred owen - a British soldier and poet (1893-1918) best remembered for his poetry about World War One
Tone - the attitude and emotion of your voice - written or verbal
Ptsd - an acronym for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a mental health condition
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