St John’s Grammar School
Year 8 English
Natasha’s Will
Topic: Obituary Audience: Newspaper readers
Length: 400 words Purpose: To show knowledge of text,
to interest readers
Task:
An Obituary is a factual piece of writing. Its purpose is to set out the facts of a person’s life and provide some explanation or commentary about his/her special achievements. It is also a way to praise someone who has recently died and commemorate the contribution he/she made during their lifetime.
You are now going to write an Obituary for Natasha Fleming (nee Denisov), focussing on what happened when she had to flee Russia after the revolution and how she came to settle in Scotland. Use the facts you know and add to them with your imagination. Try to include information about her childhood and teenage years, family life and her personality.
Word process your article and present it in columns. Include a photo, a caption and perhaps highlight some of the text. Use the information in ‘Model of an Obituary’ to organise and write your article.
Planning
You will need to set yourself some questions that you could have asked Mrs McKinnon. For example, where did she go to school, where did she meet her husband, did she ever go back to Russia after her escape….
You could divide your information into sections. For example, Early Childhood, Escape from Russia, Family Life, The Later Years.
Remember the readers of a newspaper may like some pictures. For example, a map showing her escape route, a family photo, her home in Russia…
Your story will be formal but it will also be emotive and personal.
Assessment Criteria
- appropriate structure for an obituary
- includes all of the elements of a newspaper article
- imaginative, creative and original ideas
- logical development of ideas
- appropriate use of punctuation and paragraphing
- vivid and descriptive language used
- suitable length
- interesting presentation