Amidst widespread conversation about the effectiveness and challenges of teaching about fictionalised Holocaust texts in the classroom, this lesson aims to work with students in an English context to explore and discuss conventions of genre, audience and form and their impact on writing about the Holocaust. This is done in reference to two texts, the non-fiction historical writing of Martin Gilbert’s The Boys, and the historical fiction work After the War by Tom Palmer. This lesson will enable students to approach a diversity of texts with greater criticality and close-reading skills, and it is intended for students in Years 7 or 8. Although possible extension tasks are suggested, the lesson is intended to take an hour.
Lesson materials