Tasks: The war on sleep by Matt Haig

Answer the questions as fully as you can.

1. What is the purpose of giving information about Thomas Edison at the start of the text?

2. What are circadian rhythms?

3. Do people today need less sleep than people did in the past?

4. How much sleep per night does the World Health Organisation recommend?

5. What are the reasons why people want to stay up late at night?

6. What physical and mental consequences can lack of sleep have?

7. How is sleep becoming commercialised?

8. What do you think the author means by the last sentence in the excerpt: "Something has to give"?

In the box below, there is a guide to how to write self-help literature. Study the guide.

Is Matt Haig's text written in accordance with the advice offered in this guide? What is included? What is left out? Explain using examples from the text.

Work with a partner and talk about the following questions.

1. The self-help genre is the best-selling genre in the world. Why do you think that is?

2. Have you read any self-help texts in the past? For example, articles, blogs, books, or videos. If so, what were they?

3. Have self-help texts helped you to overcome a problem?

4. If you were going to write a self-help book to help others overcome a problem what would your topic be?

Find information and statistics showing sleep patterns for teenagers.
Focus primarily on:

• how many hours a night most teenagers sleep

• the recommended hours of sleep

• the habit of using phones during the night or in bed before you go to sleep

• how lack of sleep affects teenagers in everyday life

• how lack of sleep can affect the mental and physical health of teenagers

• possible solutions to the problem of sleep deprivation

Discuss your findings in class. Are the numbers and information you have found descriptive of your own life?

Pick one of the tasks and write a longer text.

1. Write a self-help text in which you advise teenagers about how to get enough sleep.

2. Write a argumentative text in which you argue that the school day should begin later to ensure that teenagers get enough sleep.

3. Conduct an experiment where you cut yourself off from all electronic and digital distraction at bedtime and at night for a week. This means no TV, social media, streaming, radio, computer games. etc.
   
   The text should include:

• a description of your habits before the experiment

• references to research about the advantages of avoiding electronic and digital distractions at bedtime and at night

• a description of what it was like to be without digital entertainment and social media at bedtime and at night for a week

• a discussion about whether or not your sleep quality improved as a result of the experiment