Leave Taking: The GCSE Study Guide E-Book

Lynette Carr Armstrong

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 244

Beschreibung

An essential resource for anyone studying Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock for GCSE English Literature – featuring a complete guide to the text, plus sample questions and answers to help you prepare for assessment. Get to grips with Leave Taking with expert, easy-to-follow breakdowns and analyses of key aspects of the play – including the characters, plot, structure, themes, setting and language – along with a clear explanation of the historical context. This guide also contains prompts for further reflection and research, to help you get the most out of your study and revision, whether at home or in the classroom. Featuring insights from playwright Winsome Pinnock, colour photographs of the play in performance, and extensive quotes and extracts from the text, this GCSE Study Guide will strengthen your understanding, build your confidence and boost your chances of success. It is also an invaluable resource for teachers approaching the play.

Leseprobe

Contents

Foreword by Winsome Pinnock

Introduction

Context

Plot

Close Analysis

Characters

Themes

Form, Structure and Language

Essay Questions and How to Answer Them

Glossary

Further Reading and Research

About the Authors

Copyright Information

Foreword

Winsome Pinnock

My mother migrated from Jamaica to the United Kingdom in 1959, following her husband-to-be who, like Enid’s spouse in Leave Taking, saved his salary for a whole year before he was able to afford the money to buy a ticket for her passage over. The shock and disappointment of those who migrated to the UK at that time is well documented. My parents’ generation had been indoctrinated by a colonialist education that lionised all things British. They celebrated Empire Day (24th May) when their schools distributed British flags and lollipops. Despite their disappointment on entering a country whose environment was often hostile (‘No blacks, no dogs, no Irish!’), they didn’t complain and rarely discussed the hardships. After all, they had grown up on plantation villages where the legacy of enslavement was still evident in the wretched poverty they endured. Jamaica achieved independence the year that my youngest sibling was born. My parents’ marriage disintegrated a few years later, and my mother became a single parent to four young children at a time when there was still stigma attached to divorce.

Writers are given their preoccupations at birth. I am the descendant of enslaved Africans who were forcibly denied the right to the written word, or to express themselves through art or song and yet held on to aspects of their African heritage in both. Traces of African spiritual rituals were preserved by clandestine practices like obeah, which was made illegal in Jamaica in 1898, a law that remains on the statute books. Despite its illegality, my mother and some of her peers retained an interest in obeah, consulting obeah men and women in times of crisis for advice and healing.

At university I was told that, although I was considered a talented actress, I probably wouldn’t be cast in many productions because I was black. I focused on my writing. I had started writing a play (a sketch really) about two girls getting ready to go out but never managing to leave their bedroom. I sent it to the Royal Court Young Writers’ Group and was invited to join. It was there that I wrote LeaveTaking,my first full-length play, when I was twenty-three years old. I wanted to

make Enid the heroine of the play because I couldn’t recall ever seeing such a character – a hospital cleaner – as the lead in a British play. I specifically wanted to write about the black British experience as distinct from African American culture because producers often seemed to think that they are interchangeable.

At the Royal Court Young Writers’ Group we were encouraged by workshop leaders Hanif Kureishi and Stephen Wakelam to ‘write what you know’. I now understand that you write what you come to know. Writing is an exploration, the pursuit of the answer to an unanswerable question. I started out wanting to write about the daughters – this new breed of black British woman – but ended up fascinated by Enid and the complexity of her relationship with England, her daughters, and herself, as well as her long-standing friendship with Brod whom she has known since childhood.

After the first performances of the play at the Liverpool Playhouse Studio women from different cultural backgrounds collared me to say: ‘That’s my story. I’m Enid,’ or ‘That’s my mam. She’s just like Enid.’ The young woman who wrote LeaveTaking had no idea that a generation who were very young children or who hadn’t been born when it was first produced would feel that the play still speaks to their experience. Some of the speeches feel as though they were written recently: Brod’s words about having to seek naturalisation after thinking of himself as a British citizen for his whole life echo words spoken thirty years later by victims of the 2018 Windrush scandal.

When I was a child my mother told me that she thought that I might have a gift for clairvoyance. I understand now that she had always instinctively known that I was a writer. It’s not that writers are necromancers, but when I read the play I raise again the spirits of those characters. I hear their voices very clearly; I see my younger self consulting with my mother, asking her how you make chocolate tea, and hear her ribbing me all over again about the royalties I owe her or joking that I should credit her as co-writer. I experience again the writing of the scene where Enid breaks down. I know what that feels like now because I have lived through it. I want to ask that young woman if, when she wrote the play, she would ever have imagined that she too would one day howl with grief into a rainy London night after witnessing her mother take her last breath just as Enid howls for a mother she will never hold again.

London, 2018

This is an edited version of Winsome Pinnock’s introduction in the 2018 playtextof Leave Taking , published by Nick Hern Books.

Introduction

How to use this study guide

This study guide for Winsome Pinnock’s Leave Taking has been created to provide you with additional material to support your learning of the text. Scenes, characters, context, language, structure and themes are explained in great detail to deepen your understanding. Sample essays and paragraphs, and guidance on how to write an essay, are provided throughout the guide and in a dedicated section. Your task is to combine what you have learned in class with ideas in this study guide by taking part in the writing and research activities to solidify your learning.

Words that appear in bold in this guide are explained in keyword boxes in the margin, or in the glossary which starts on page 171. You can also use the glossary to help with revision.

Why Leave Taking is such an important play to study

Winsome Pinnock was the first Black British woman to have a play produced at the National Theatre, when Leave Taking was revived there in 1995 – making this a monumental play of its time.

The play covers universal themes that were relevant to the audience of the 1980s, but are equally relevant to a contemporary audience watching the play today. It deals with issues around immigration, belonging, parent/child relationships, racism, family and cultural traditions. It is a British play from a Black British perspective and addresses some of the challenges of being Black and British in England in the second half of the twentieth century.

A message from your study guide authors

As two Black British women, we are incredibly excited to see this play added to the programme of study. When we were growing up, there were no plays by Black women on the curriculum for us to study. In this play, Pinnock touches upon so many key issues that are relevant today, and ideas that you will relate to in many ways. It is an accessible play with really rich context and themes. You will get a lot from this guide. So we really hope you enjoy reading and learning, and we wish you all the best in your GCSEs!

Your exam

Leave Taking is a set text on several different exam boards for English Literature GCSE. You might be studying it for an exam set by AQA, OCR or Eduqas.

Assessment Objectives

When your exam paper is marked, whichever exam board you are studying for, the examiners will be looking for four key things. In order to get the highest marks, you have to excel in these ‘Assessment Objectives’: AO1

AO1

AO2

Read, understand and respond to texts. You should be able to:

• maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response.

• use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.

The chapters called ‘Plot Summary’, ‘Close Analysis’, ‘Characters’ and ‘Themes’ will help you with this Assessment Objective.

Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant

AO3

AO4

subject terminology where appropriate.

The chapters called ‘Close Analysis’ and ‘Form, Language and Structure’ will help you with this Assessment Objective.

Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.

The chapter called ‘Context’ will help you with this Assessment Objective.

Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.

The chapter called ‘Essay Questions and How to Answer Them’ will help you with this Assessment Objective.

My exam board is AQA

Your exam on Leave Taking will be called Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry.

It’s a written exam, lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes.

The paper, which is worth 60% of your whole GCSE, is divided into Sections A, B and C, and only Section A is about Leave Taking. You should spend 45 minutes on this section.

You have to answer one essay question from a choice of two.

Your essay is worth 34 marks, and they are weighted like this: AO1 (12 marks), AO2 (12 marks), AO3 (6 marks), AO4 (4 marks).

My exam board is Eduqas

Your exam on Leave Taking will be called Component 2: Post-1914 Prose/Drama, 19th Century Prose and Unseen Poetry.

It’s a written exam, lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The paper, which is worth 60% of your whole GCSE, is divided into Sections A, B and C, and only Section A is about Leave Taking. You should spend 45 minutes on this section.

You have to answer one essay question and it will be based on an extract from the play, however you have to refer to the whole play in your answer.

Your essay is worth 40 marks, with 5 of the available marks specifically for your writing style (AO4), including your spelling, punctuation and grammar. The remaining 35 marks will be awarded for AO1 and AO2.

My exam board is OCR

Your exam on Leave Taking will be called Component 1: Exploring Modernand Literary Heritage Texts.

It’s a written exam, lasting 2 hours.

The paper, which is worth 50% of your whole GCSE, is divided into Sections A and B, and only Section A: Modern Prose or Drama is about Leave Taking. You should spend 1 hour and 15 minutes on this section.

You will respond to a two-part question:

In Part a) you have to compare an extract from Leave Taking with an extract from another modern drama text that touches on similar themes. You should spend about 45 minutes on this. Your essay is worth 20 marks, and you will be marked on AO1, AO2 and AO3.

AND

In Part b) you have to write an essay answer to a question which is related in some way – this answer must refer to the whole text. You should spend about 30 minutes on this. Your essay is worth 20 marks, and you will be marked on AO1 and AO2.

Context

Introduction

This chapter focuses on the historical events that have shaped the characters in the play, and the social and cultural experiences in the world of the play when it was written and set. Finally, it explores how the play is still relevant today. Events are explored chronologically for clarity.

There are a variety of exercises that encourage you to consolidate what you have learned, and there are opportunities to do some further reading, and to take in some really interesting video and audio footage, to bolster your understanding of the context.

The colonial Caribbean

Historically, Britain has had a very difficult and complicated relationship with the Caribbean Islands, as part of the former British Empire. The Empire began in the 1500s when Queen Elizabeth I was the head of state. From this period, England ruled over the nations in its Empire, imposing its own laws, religion and culture on the Indigenous people, and often oppressing and brutalising countries into submission.

Between 1640 and 1807, Britain transported an estimated 3.1 million Africans (of whom 2.7 million arrived) on ships to the British colonies in the Caribbean, and North and South America, as slaves. The enslaved people were forced to labour the land in brutal conditions. They were considered property of their owners (who included many British nobles and gentry). The slave trade ended in 1807, but slavery itself was not abolished until 1833. Jamaica gained its emancipation in 1838. The slave owners were compensated for the abolition of slavery, for losses of their human ‘property’, but the enslaved people were given nothing.

Keyword:Mother Country – The country that possesses or possessed a colony or former colony. For example, under the old British Empire, England was Jamaica’s ‘Mother Country’.

Go to this Study Guide’s webpage at www.nickhernbooks. co.uk/leave-taking-study-guide-further-resources to find clickable versions of all the links in this chapter and elsewhere.

After emancipation, many freed people found ways to build communities by establishing villages and growing their own crops to sell in local markets. Gradually they were able to build their own infrastructure, but the legacy of slavery and plantation life remained: agricultural labour, and the continuation of Christianity which had been enforced on the African peoples by their European oppressors. It is estimated that there are over 1,600 churches in Jamaica – the island has more churches per square mile than any other country.

Eventually, when schools were introduced, the education system was also a way to wield power over the islands, by establishing institutions that would educate Jamaican children within a colonial framework. Students were taught about the kings and queens of England, and were taught using British literature rather than learning to understand their own Jamaican history and culture. This helped to create a hierarchy – a belief that everything British was a pinnacle to be aspired to. Britain was thought of as the ‘Mother Country’. On 24th May, the people of Jamaica would celebrate Empire Day, which was originally to mark the birthday of the reigning monarch – Queen Victoria. It later became a national holiday. This helped to build a bridge between the two countries and foster a sense of belonging.

You can view news articles which describe the festivities of Empire Day through time, here: jamaica-history.weebly. com/may-24th.xhtml

Brod speaks about the impact of Empire Day on his sense of belonging, in Scene Two:

BROD. […] All my life I think of meself as a British subject, wave a flag on Empire Day, touch me hat whenever me see a picture a the queen. Then them send me letter say if me don’t get me nationality paper in order they going kick me outta the country. (page 27)

In the same scene, Viv indicates her understanding of the direct link between Caribbean people and their African ancestors:

BROD. […] These girls got Caribbean souls.

VIV. Don’t you mean African souls? (page 29)

Writing tasks:

•Summarise what you have learned about the colonial Caribbean.

•How might this context feed into the characterisation of Enid, Mai and Brod? How has this colonial experience shaped them?

The Maroons

Brod refers to Nanny of the Maroons in Scene Two:

BROD. […] When the English fire musket, them bullet bounce off Nanny shoulders kill the men who was trying to destroy her. […] You, my dear, are descended from Queen Nanny. (page 29)

The Maroons were a group of escaped enslaved people who formed their own settlements and communities in the mountains of Jamaica. They escaped to the mountains for refuge from the English invasion. They developed their own government, culture and traditions (rooted in African traditions) along with their own military to defend against the enslavers. Eventually they formed a treaty with the British, and the Maroons were left to their own devices.

Who was Queen Nanny of the Maroons?

Queen Nanny is an iconic figure for Jamaicans. In 1720 she became the leader of the Maroon community and trained her warriors in guerilla warfare. It is believed that she also practised obeah, to ward off evil spirits. Much of what is known about Queen Nanny has been passed down through oral accounts.

You can watch a short video introducing the Maroons and Queen Nanny, here: youtu.be/JblU8scERuw

Thinking question: How does the story of Nanny of the Maroons help you to understand Jamaican culture and pride?

Key phrase:Oral tradition is when knowledge and culture is received and passed on in spoken (or sung) form, from generation to generation.

Keyword:Diaspora – the dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland.

Obeah practices

Obeah is a religious practice found in African diasporic communities, mainly in the Caribbean. It is made up of practices from African religions and spirituality that have survived through slavery and the imposition of Christianity. Obeah involves creating remedies from herbs for illnesses, reading palms, predicting the future, the use of charms for protection or guidance, and offering advice on issues pressing to the individual.

The practice makes ancestral connections to Africa: it is associated with giving reverence to the ancestors and contains elements of the supernatural, animal sacrifices, and divination, with its own set of organised rituals. Practitioners of obeah are known as ‘obeah woman’ or ‘man’, and they are believed to have been born with a gift of supernatural powers that have been passed down, or learned from one who has the ‘gift’ like Mai. They generally cultivate their skills to include herbal remedies, as the practice is often used for healing. Obeah men and women also tend to be intuitive listeners who pay close attention to auras and energies, which helps them to achieve the expected results.

In Jamaica, various Acts of Parliament beginning in 1760 have criminalised obeah, to protect against revolts because its unifying practices provided opportunities for large-scale meetings. Originally punishable by death, later Acts threatened flogging and imprisonment. The law targeted those who honoured and respected the African tradition that connected them to their ancestry. Consequently, it caused a divide between these people and the emerging Black middle classes, who aspired to be like the colonisers, adopting Christian religious values and demonising obeah practices.

In 1998, obeah was decriminalised in Barbados, but it is still an illegal practice in Jamaica.

Writing tasks:

•Write a paragraph explaining how this context helps us to understand Mai’s character.

•How might others interact with Mai, based on their knowledge of her participation in obeah?

England’s history of migration

There has been a long history of immigration to Great Britain, spanning centuries, and from all over the world. Black communities have been present in Great Britain since the 1500s. ‘The dark lady’ referred to in Shakespeare’s sonnets 127–152 has been speculated to be a Black woman in England at that time, and it is documented that there was a Black presence in England during the Tudor period too: John Blane, for example, was a trumpeter at the court of King Henry VIII. During the late eighteenth century and turn of the nineteenth century, Olaudah Equiano, Ignatius Sancho and Mary Prince wrote about their experiences in slavery and were important in the drive to end slavery as part of the abolitionist movement.

The global history of Great Britain and its relationship with its colonies meant that

many people from the colonised countries, including those in the Caribbean, fought alongside the British in both World Wars. Further to this, the Royal Navy was a catalyst for Black migration: the demand for manpower encouraged recruitment of Black labour and as a result small Black communities settled around ports such asBristol, Liverpool and Tilbury Docks in Essex.

People have at times been able to cross borders freely, however, at various times and increasingly in the past hundred years, migration laws have prevented certain groups of people entering the UK. We will focus on the twentieth century and trace the changes up to how the British Nationality Act of 1981 impacted the characters in the play.

Brod, Enid and Mai would have arrived in England after the Second World War, and likely before the Commonwealth Immigration Act 1968, which reduced the rights of Commonwealth citizens entering the country (see below). In Scene Two, Brod refers to the British Nationality Act of 1981, after which he had to apply for his naturalisation papers.

Keyword: The Commonwealth was formed in 1949 to maintain the relationship between the British Empire and its former colonies. Its membership is voluntary, with fifty­-six members in 2023. King Charles III is the head of the Commonwealth succeeding Queen Elizabeth II, and remains the official head of state of many of these countries. Barbados is the most recent country to opt out of this arrangement and choose its own head of state.

Keyword: Acatalyst is a person or thing that causes an event.

• 1945–1961: The ‘Windrush’ era (see page 19). Post-war growth of Commonwealth immigration, as people from British colonies and former colonies wereencouraged to come and help rebuild the country following World War II.

• 1962: Commonwealth Immigrants Act – this included a system of employment vouchers that restricted entry only to people with a job offer or with skills in short supply. The legislation encouraged people already in the UK to stay, as the law would stop them re-entering if they did leave, and it allowed migrants to bring their families to join them.

• After 1964, the new government imposed more restrictions on entry, often using immigration rules. It stopped issuing low-skilled permits, tightened the definition of ‘family members’ and brought in a tougher standard of proof for family relationships.

• 1968: The Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1968 reduced the immigration rights of Commonwealth citizens: only those born or adopted in the UK or who had at least one parent or grandparent born in the UK could enter freely. It was passed in just three days. A little under two months after the 1968 Actpassed, Enoch Powell made his ‘rivers of blood’ speech, calling for ‘non-white’immigration to end (read more about this on page 20).

• 1971: Under the 1971 Immigration Act, a Commonwealth citizen who was not a Citizen of the UK and Colonies (CUKC) would have a ‘right of abode’ in the United Kingdom after 1st January 1973 only if they were born to or legally adopted by a parent who was a CUKC born in the United Kingdom.

• January 1973: Commonwealth citizens who were already in the UK before this date were either entitled to ‘right of abode’ or held ‘deemed leave to remain’, but they were not given any documentary proof of their status.

• 1981: British Nationality Act – in 1981 the Conservative government brought nationality law into line with immigration law. It abolished CUKC status, replacing it with three new categories of citizenship: British citizenship, British Dependent Territories citizenship and British Overseas citizenship. It would have been from this time that Brod had to apply for his naturalisation papers to prove his citizenship and right to stay. Parliamentary records of the time showthat applications to register cost £60.

• In the late 1980s the government advertised that this time-limited scheme, included in the Nationality Act 1981, to register Commonwealth citizens who had arrived before 1973, was due to expire on 31st December 1987. This is key context for Winsome Pinnock’s writing of Leave Taking, as the first production of the play opened on 11 November 1987.

The information in this timeline is informed by or taken from pages 55–60 of a government­commissioned independent report called the ‘Windrush Lessons Learned Review’ by Wendy Williams, published in March 2020.* You can read the full report at assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/876336/6.5577_HO_Windrush_Lessons _Learned_Review_LoResFinal.pdf

Windrush generation

Between 1948 and 1973, many Caribbean citizens migrated to England. They are known as the ‘Windrush generation’, after the Empire Windrush, the first ship arriving at Tilbury Docks on 22nd June 1948, carrying 492 migrants. Amongst them were a large number of veterans from the Second World War. Caribbeans were encouraged to come to the UK and assist with the drive to reconstruct following the war: supporting industry and the production of raw material, construction work, and the newly formed NHS. Many sought to contribute and make a better life for themselves.

Suggested extra reading:

Fiction: Small Island by Andrea Levy

Non­-fiction: Homecoming: Voices of theWindrush Generation by Colin Grant

Many migrants took on jobs below their qualification and skills, due to discriminatory attitudes towards Black workers. They were often restricted from applying for certain jobs, which were reserved for British natives, and took on shift work with night shifts. The jobs that the Caribbean settlers took on were essential to the recovery of the country and its economy.

Enid has two jobs, and works seven days a week, partly as a hospital cleaner. In Scene Seven, Brod reveals that he and Enid’s husband worked at London’s Smithfield meat market.

BROD. […] Them was a good team. I really believe it would work. It wasn’t till we get job a Smithfield meat market that him start to change. (page 62)

* Copyright licence: http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Keyword: Amonologue is a long speech spoken by a single character.

Thinking questions:

•How does their hostile working environment impact the characters in the play? Think about Enid, Del and Brod, as well as the experiences of Enid’s husband as described by Brod; read Brod’s monologue in Scene Seven to help inform your answer.

•How does Pinnock use Brod and Enid’s characters as vehicles for exposing the effects of the attitudes of the 1950s on Black Caribbean families?

Many of the migrants at this time were met with hostility. Anxiety and fear amongst the native British about the mixing of cultures and people taking their jobs was widespread.

Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech

By the late 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth citizens had exercised their legal right to settle in England. The cultural demographic of the country was changing, and labour shortages meant that employers actively recruited immigrant workers, who were cheaper to employ.

Politician Enoch Powell delivered a speech in 1968 appealing to those who opposed immigration. He believed immigration would erode the national character. At the same time, a race relations bill to make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of colour or creed was making its way through parliament. Powell’s speech wasdesigned to encourage the prime minister, Ted Heath, to oppose it. The language of Powell’s speech incited division, and hate towards Black people:

‘We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependents […] It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre […] As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see “the River Tiber foaming with much blood.”’

You can read the full speech here: https://anth1001.files.wordpress.com/ 2014/04/enoch­powell_speech.pdf

Task: Read Scene Two, where Brod talks about being British. How does Enoch Powell’s speech fuel the attitudes that Brod has towards being British?

It’s important to note that,like Enid, the Windrush generation didn’t speak very much about their past lives. Some of their experiences might have been very painful. It is, however, well documented that many were very loyal to ideas ofBritishness, despite the racism they encountered.

Close­-knit communities

Community was integral for the survival of the Caribbean settlers. Many people came over with family or friends from their own islands and also made new connections from different islands on the ship on their way to the UK. Brod and Enid’s connection is an example of this close-knit community. Brod clearly has a routine of visiting Enid and her daughters ‘for his rice and peas’ every day (Scene Seven). When his experience is disrupted, it is a clear sign that Enid is struggling with the loss of her mum:

BROD. There was no rice and peas last night, I tell you. You mother gone mad. If she din’t turn me outta the house. (page 59)

These connections that were forged with people from the Caribbean were fundamental to the growth and development of the community. Some of these relationships were also formed from shared housing situations. This was incredibly common because of how expensive housing was, and also because of a reluctance to rent or sell property to immigrants. This also led the way to what is known as the ‘pardner’ system in Caribbean communities.

What is a pardner?

A pardner is a system for saving money in a group. The word derives from the word ‘partner’. A group of people place an agreed amount of money into a kitty each week or month – each person agrees to contribute the same amount – and at the end of the month, the total sum is given to one member of the group. A rotary system ensures that each individual in the group gets their turn at receiving the lump sum.