Write these words in your books

under the heading “Diary Writing”

Diary Personal tone
Example Rhetorical question
Exclamation mark Self reflection
Extract Short sentence
Features Soldier
Paragraph Technique
Past tense Traumatic
Diary Writing
In groups, can you write five
reasons which make people keep
writing diaries.

Think about the features of diary

writing, or what type of writing and
words you would expect to see in a
diary.
Read the extract from “The
Diary of a Young Soldier in
World War 1”.
 14 April 1915

I’m home on leave. It’s good to be back and

seeing everyone.
I haven’t written anything for a long time
because I haven’t had the heart to. We’re
hearing bad things from the Front in France.
Terrible battles with thousands killed and no
land gained. Poison gas used. Jack’s letters to
Mam and Dad don’t say much except that he’s
keeping as well as can be expected, whatever
that means. When I read them, I feel a
shiver. It’s mostly fun with my mates in the
army now, but will it always be like this?
15 April 1915

Jack turned up on leave today. He’s only

here for a few days, because though his
leave is nine days long, it took him three days
to get here. He brought his rifle and pack
with him, but he wouldn’t let me look at the
rifle.
“Leave it alone,” he shouted. “I didn’t
bring it here for fun.” I only wanted to see
what a really good new one was like. He looks
twenty years older.
20 April 1915

He left yesterday. Seeing him go was the

worst moment of our lives. He looked so
unhappy. I wish I knew what he was feeling. I
didn’t sleep all night for thinking about him.
I’m going back to Llandudno today. Jack not
talking hasn’t made me feel very happy about
it.
In groups, check your five resons
for writing diaries:

Is there anything you want to

change or add?
 Diary Writing
Features Checklist
Date –Shows which day the diary entry is
about.
First person - Writer is writing about
himself.
Past tense - Writer writes about what has
happened.
Personal tone - We can almost hear the
writer speaking.
Self-reflection - Writer writes about
their feelings, thoughts, hopes and
fears.
Rhetorical question - The writer asks
questions about what is happening.

Short sentence - Used to emphasise the

writer’s words.

Exclamation mark - Used to emphasise

the writer’s words.

Paragraphs - Used when a new time,

place, person or topic is written about.
In groups, fold a sheet of A4 paper
in half.

In the first column, make a list of

the features of diary writing.
 Diary features
Date
First person
Past tense
Personal tone
Self reflection
Rhetorical question
Short sentence
Exclamation mark
Paragraphs
In the second column, find an example of
each diary writing technique in the text.
Diary features Example from the text

Date
First person
Past tense
Personal tone
Self reflection
Rhetorical question
Short sentence
Exclamation mark
Paragraphs
Date – 14th April 1915
First person - I haven’t written
anything for a long
time.
Past tense - Sergeant Pickering told
us.
Personal tone - It’s mostly fun with my
mates in the army.

Self-reflection - He looked so unhappy. I

wish I knew what he
was feeling.
Rhetorical Will it always be like this?
question –

Short He left yesterday.

sentence –
Exclamation Ah well!
mark –
Paragraphs - …… It’s good to be back and
seeing everyone.
I haven’t written
anything for a long time ……
What does the word traumatic mean?

Shocking, Hurtful,

Disturbing, Harrowing,

Upsetting, Painful,

Distressing,
Task
Go and write your diary entry for
the Hay Cart Journey.
Include the date of the day,
Write in the first person,
Write in the past tense,
Use a personal tone,
Include self reflection,
Include a rhetorical question,
Include a short sentence,
Include an exclamation mark,
Aim to write five paragraphs.
November 24th 2009

Dear Diary,
Today was awful! Let me tell you about it.
It started when ………
By then I was feeling ………
Can you guess what happened next? Well, I
was ………
I thought that ………
I’m hoping tomorrow will be better for me.
Goodnight!
Homework
Diary Writing by : TUESDAY 17th on
Google Classroom.