Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me today.

We're in the modern text first study unit and our modern text is Lead Taking.

Today, we're gonna look really closely at the character of Enid and her reaction to her mother's death.

What does it tell us about her relationship with herself and others in the play? I'm so excited to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through this lesson together.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to explain how Pinnock explores ideas of shame and guilt in the character of Enid.

These are two pretty negative emotions.

We're gonna look at them in a bit more detail during our keywords, and we're gonna explore, well, why is Enid carrying these emotions and what impact do they have on her character? And what is Pinnock saying about these two emotions, shame and guilt? So our keywords are gonna help us unlock our learning.

Of course, one of our keywords is shame, which is a negative emotion, often connected with blaming yourself for something, or feeling embarrassed about something.

Guilt is also one of our keywords, and it's an emotion you feel when you've done something bad.

Guilt makes you feel worried and unhappy.

So these two keywords today, they are going to be our focus because Enid is feeling both of these and we're gonna work out, well, why is she feeling them and what impact does it have on her character? Symbol, if something is a symbol, it represents or expresses an idea.

In Leave Taking, cleaning could be a symbol for shame.

And we're gonna look at this dramatic method, the idea of symbolism in more detail during today's lesson.

And dramatic methods, the tools a playwright uses to create drama.

Examples are setting, stage directions, dialogue and language choices.

And we're really going to drill down today and think about what dramatic methods is Pinnock using to help us understand the character of Enid.

Our learning outline for today, we're gonna start off by looking at the idea of shame.

And we're gonna finish today by looking at the idea of guilt.

So let's start off with shame.

In Scene Four, Enid tells Viv about her upbringing in Jamaica.

Enid says, "Oh yes, I did escape it, didn't I? "Lucky me.

(Beat.

) "You know where I come from? "I come from the dirt.

"I come from the poorest family "in the whole of Jamaica.

"People used to laugh at us, pick on us.

"An' we still use to walk around like we was something.

"(Laughs at herself, bitter.

) "Escape.

To what?" It's a really powerful moment in Scene Four and it is reflecting on her life in Jamaica probably because her mother has just died.

She's just heard of this news.

And so she's thinking about, well, I'm thinking about Jamaica.

I'm thinking about what I escaped from.

I'm thinking about my family.

And she tells Viv something she's never told her before.

"You know where I come from? "I come from the dirt.

"I come from the poorest family "in the whole of Jamaica." Now Sophia says, "In this moment, "just after Enid hears of her mother's death, "Pinnock balances Enid's intense feelings of shame, "with her feelings of pride." And I'd like you to discuss what might have led Sophia to this conclusion? And I'd like you to consider the presentation of Enid earlier in the play, and Pinnock's dramatic methods.

So that was one of our keywords.

So what is happening in the dialogue? What's happening in the stage directions? Which help us to understand why Sophia came to this conclusion that Enid is feeling intense, feelings of shame, but she also has feelings of pride.

Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Fantastic discussion there.

I really enjoyed hearing people really drill down into these dramatic methods and really picking apart this quotation in order to understand why is it such a significant piece of dialogue in this place to understand Enid's feelings of shame, but balanced here.

Completely agree with Sophia with her feelings of pride.

So here's some ideas you might have had.

So she starts off, Enid starts off by saying, "Oh yes, I did escape, didn't I?" And perhaps Enid feels some shame in leaving her impoverished family to migrate to England.

She escaped, they did not.

So the idea of escape is the idea of fleeing from something.

And here, Enid perhaps feels some shame because we know that her life in England are those still hard, in some ways, easier than her life in Jamaica.

Beat, so this short stage directions.

Pinnock is such a master of the stage direction.

So really important that the person playing Enid, the act of playing Enid takes this pause here.

Well, what is this beat? What could it suggest? Well, it could reflect her decision to confront the shame and secrecy surrounding her past.

So taking a moment because then, she says to Viv, "You know where I come from? "I come from the dirt." She seems to make this decision that she is going to reveal something about her past.

So that beat, that moment really, really important for us to see it and read it, but also for the actor to respect it when they're playing the character of Enid.

"You know where I come from?" this question.

So Viv doesn't know where Enid comes from because Enid never speaks of her past, possibly because she is ashamed.

So it's a really interesting question here.

The idea that Pinnock includes this question wants the character of Enid to say, "You know where I come from?" Because actually, it draws attention to the fact that Viv doesn't because Enid never speaks of her past.

"I come from the dirt." So lots of people focused on this sentence in Enid's dialogue.

And the harshness of this metaphor suggests shame in her origins, but also a pride in both her origins and how far she has come.

So this moment saw lots of people say, "Oh, I can really see what Sophia is saying here." because there is some idea of shame.

But actually, the short sentence, the harshness of the metaphor, I think it also suggests some pride in her origins.

She's saying, "This is where I came from." So Enid says, "People used to laugh at us, pick on us." And Enid perhaps feels shame at this memory, but the us suggests a strength and solidarity with her family.

We know Enid often feels quite isolated in Britain.

But actually, here, she's saying us.

So she feels that strength, that solidarity with her family, which she doesn't really feel that she has anymore.

And she laughs at herself, bitter.

So another stage direction.

I had lots of people looking at the dialogue, but also saying, "Look, we must look "at these stage directions.

"They're important part of Pinnock's dramatic methods." And Enid is perhaps bitter at her past self, who longed to escape Jamaica, only to find a hostile Britain, a hard life, and one isolated from her family.

So this kind of laugh, it's not full of joy.

She is bitter, she is unhappy, and she kinda feels, "What have I done "in leaving my past behind, my family behind.

"For what? What have I got in Britain "that is better than that?" Well, nothing.

Escape, so she repeats this word escape, which she said in the first line of her dialogue.

And that repetition suggests she feels shame at having left her family, as if they are something to flee from.

So it's not just that she fled Jamaica, but she also feels like she fled her family.

And that is a difficult emotion to have, the idea that you think of your family as something to escape from rather than something that should embrace you and that you want to stay with.

And this final question, "To what?" Well, it could reflect her shame in her life in Britain, which is full of hardship.

It's very different to what she had envisioned, perhaps not worth leaving her family behind for.

So you can see that this section just after Enid's mother's death, a conversation with Viv, how rich it is in terms of understanding Enid's feelings of shame.

It was really nice to see people looking at those dramatic methods, repetition, those questions, but also those stage directions.

A check for understanding so that we really show off our knowledge of that close reading of that section of the text.

True or false? After her mother's death, Enid feels she was lucky to escape Jamaica.

Pause a video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A.

Her mother's death sees Enid reflect on her life in England, one she realises has as many hardships as her life in Jamaica or B.

Her mother's death sees Enid reflect on her life in Jamaica and realise that she didn't mind the destitution she faced.

Pause video and select your justification now.

Well done if you selected A.

She realises that her life in England has as many hardships as her life in Jamaica.

Now I'd like you to re-read Scene Two from its opening stage directions to Enid: "She don't understand that way of life." Now, as you read, I'd like you to complete the table exploring Enid's shame, balanced against her feelings of pride just like Sophia did with that earlier section of the play that we read.

And I'd really like you to focus on Pinnock's dramatic methods just as we did in that short section of the text where you really picked apart what Pinnock was doing in order for us to help, in order for us to understand the character of Enid.

So a real focus on Pinnock's dramatic methods.

Here's a table.

So we've got shame on one side and pride on the other.

And I've got an example there to help you so that you can model your notes on this.

So shame, the intensity of Enid's cleaning.

That is how Scene Two begins is perhaps symbolic of her feelings of shame.

She feels she comes from dirt and tries to hide it.

So that's one interpretation of her intense cleaning at the beginning of Scene Two.

And you can see, we've got our keyword there, shame.

But we're also looking at the idea of symbolism.

So what is the character doing? What could this symbolise? What could this suggest? What ideas could this suggest? So that example, they're looking at a dramatic method, the idea of symbolism.

You don't just have to look at symbolism.

There are loads and loads of dramatic methods that Pinnock is using to help us understand Enid's shame and Enid's pride.

So pause the video.

Re-read Scene Two from its opening stage directions to Enid: "She don't understand that way of life." And complete the table after you've finished your re-read.

Pause the video and complete the tasks now.

Always such a pleasure to see people rereading their text, re-annotating, seeing new things.

Rereading is such an important part of the study of English.

It was also really nice to see people filling in that table in such detail so that we can explore these two quite different ideas side by side.

That really shows me that you understand the complexity of this character and of this play.

Let's have a look at some of the ideas that you might have had.

So we had our example.

To begin with, the intensity of Enid's cleaning is perhaps symbolic of feelings of shame.

She feels she comes from dirt and tries to hide it.

But we also have that Enid appoint seems ashamed of Jamaica.

When Brod says, "Back home, we keep everything in we head." Enid replies, "And don't it show, Brod?" suggesting she feels Jamaica doesn't live up to its potential.

So there's conflict between Enid and Brod.

Obviously, they are friends, but they also argue and that helps us to understand Enid's feelings as well as the character, Brod.

So seeing these two characters side by side can really open up characters for us.

And at this point, Enid does seem ashamed of Jamaica.

Don't it show that we keep everything in we head.

She feels Jamaica is not living up to its potential.

Now, Brod teases Enid about her crack foot-bottom and the stage directions say Enid responds quickly showing her worry that her feet will betray something shameful about her past and her poverty.

So in many ways, it is quite a lighthearted moment because Brod, he's just teasing Enid.

He's not trying to be cruel.

But her response really shows how ashamed she is of the fact that her feet might betray that she grew up in this kind of intense poverty in Jamaica.

So again, that one word stage direction, the way Pinnock brings these stage directions gives direction to the actor, really reveals something about the character.

Now, Brod's pride in Enid's emotional and physical strength in Jamaica is contrasted with Enid's shame in it.

Whilst Brod wants Viv to understand her mother's origins, Enid wants to hide them.

So Brod is this kind of character who is saying to Viv, "Let me tell you about your mother's past." and Enid's contrast.

Conversely, she does not want Viv to hear anything about her past.

And so it shows or it reveals, it suggests Enid's shame in it.

So that contrast there, one of those dramatic methods that is our focus for today's lesson.

We're really seeing how that can reveal Enid's shame.

Let's look at this idea of pride.

So in the contrast to shame, we also have this Enid's pride.

And we see this in Scene Two in the fact that Enid is incredibly proud of Viv's academic achievements and she won't let Viv help her clean, and enjoys quoting Shakespeare and saying Shakespeare herself.

So we've got this quotation here, Enid enjoying saying it Shakespeare.

So again, these stage directions are just so important to us, understanding the characters and what Pinnock wants us to understand about these characters.

We also have Enid's preparation for the Pastor's visit shows a real pride in herself, her children, Brod, and the life she has built for herself in Britain.

She's having the pasta and his wife round.

The house is absolutely spotless.

She's got a meal prepared for them and that is really showing some pride in herself.

Even though we might say this is rooted in shame, it is showing intense pride in herself and the life that she has.

Well done for completing that table, completing that re-read.

You have a fantastic set of notes which really helps us understand the character of Enid and these two very contrasting feelings and speaking to the complexity of this character.

We're gonna move on to learning cycle two now.

So we've looked at this idea of shame that there are things in Enid's past that she is ashamed of, but she's not just carrying this feeling.

She's also carrying this feeling of guilt.

And we're gonna look at this feeling of guilt in learning cycle two.

So in Scene One, Enid talks to Mai about her family in Jamaica.

Mai asks, "You send money home?" Enid says, "I do my best, but every week, "me sister send another letter "a beg me for this and a beg me for that.

"Is not as if I don't write to tell her "how things hard over here." Mai says, "When last you go back there?" Enid: "Five years ago." Mai: "And your mother?" Enid says, "If the woman didn't climb tree, "pick coconut and give me." Mai says, "Five years is a long time." Enid says, "Woman strong "as she don't suffer from disease like that." So we have this Scene One where Enid has gone to Mai.

There are several reasons why Enid has gone to Mai to consult her as (indistinct) woman.

But one is to kind of ask, "Is my sister lying? "Should I be sending money back home? "Is my mother really ill?" And this is a conversation they have about it.

Now, I'd like you to discuss using this section of dialogue from Scene One, how does Pinnock present Enid's feelings towards her family? And remember that this title of this learning cycle, our focus for this learning cycle is guilt.

So you're gonna pause the video and discuss this question using this section from Scene One to support your discussion.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Fantastic discussion there with a real focus on this idea of guilt.

So you might have: lots of people talked about this first section of Enid where she says, "I do my best, but every week, "my sister sent another letter "and beg me for this and beg me for that." So Enid seems to feel guilty, but also irritated at her family.

She does her best, but knows it's not enough.

And at the same time, every time she sends money home, her own life in Britain is impacted.

So this idea of guilt, a very complex, a deep emotion, is actually also balanced with this idea of irritation and suspicion and also knowing that her life in Britain is impacted by the idea that she has to send money back.

So we can see why guilt is this consuming difficult emotion where it's also kind of tinged with a bit of irritation, which may also then push her into further feelings of guilt.

So very, very difficult emotion in this short section of dialogue, which is seemingly about her sister.

It's actually about Enid herself.

Now, Enid says of her mother, if the woman didn't climb tree, pick coconut, and give me.

So Enid is in awe of her mother.

That's how I interpret this moment that she can't believe that her mother is still able to do these physical feats.

And this moment conveys her mother's great physical strength, but also demonstrates Enid's understanding of what her mother is willing to do for her child.

So in some ways, this also intensifies these feelings of guilt because Enid is not with her mother in Jamaica, but has migrated to England.

And we know that her mother was very unhappy about this, hasn't spoken to her since that migration.

And then this final section, Mai says, "Five years is a long time." And Enid says, "Woman strong "as she don't suffer from disease like that." Well, Enid doubt her sister's reports of their mother's illness, but is also perhaps hiding from the truth, potentially so she doesn't feel so guilty about how little she sees her mother.

So Mai is asking her like, "When did you last go back?" Five years, five years is a long time and Enid shuts this down.

She says, "Woman strong as she "don't suffer from disease like that." And lots of people said, well, I think this might just be a front.

She doesn't want to confront the idea of her mother's illness, but it also might bespeak of some of her feelings of guilt.

A fantastic close reading of that section from Scene One.

You can see again why it's so important to go back and re-read the first time we were just looking for the plot to see what is happening.

Is her sister lying? But now, we can look into this in much more detail and start thinking, well, how does expose how Enid is really feeling? What can we see beneath these lines of dialogue? Now, at the end of Scene Three, Enid finds out her mother has died.

And in her grief, Enid first blames her sister for not caring for their mother.

And Brod gently disagrees.

He says, "Mooma was an old woman." It's not your sister's fault.

She was old and that is why she died.

Their dialogue continues.

Enid says, "Then who kill her then? Me?" Brod: "Nobody kill her.

"Her time just come." Enid starts to leave.

Enid says, "I want to see her." Viv: "Where you going, Mum?" Enid: "Money, send money.

"Send money for Mooma funeral." Brod:"You don't have to do that now, Enid.

"It can wait." Enid: "No, Brod, nuttin ever wait." So it's a really poignant moment at the end of Scene Three.

I'd like you to discuss how does Pinnock present Enid's reaction to her mother's death? Look really closely at these lines of dialogue at what she's saying.

And again, we're gonna have the focus on Pinnock's dramatic methods.

So pause the video, look at this section, and discuss this question, "How does Pinnock present "Enid's reaction to her mother's death?" Pause the video now.

Beautiful discussion now of this really poignant moment at the end of Scene Three, but also showing off your fantastic understanding of dramatic methods.

So just as you looked at that quotation from Enid in learning cycle one in such detail, you've been able to apply those skills and do this with another section of the text.

You might have: So Enis says, "Then who kill her then?" And Enid wants to blame someone for killing her mother.

She can't accept that she died.

And blame is perhaps an easier emotion than guilt.

You'll remember from our keywords that guilt is a negative emotion, quite a consuming emotion, makes you feel absolutely terrible.

And blame is perhaps easier.

It's easier to think it was somebody else's fault rather than mine.

So an easier emotion to feel than guilt.

Enid questions, "Me?" And this question suggests Enid feels responsible, wasn't me, wasn't my fault.

She tries to blame her sister to begin with and she says, wasn't me.

And she's almost daring Brod to say it was her fault.

So that short question, "Me?" I feel like there is an element of dare there to say to Brod like, "Blame me, blame me.

"I'm feeling so guilty about my mother's death." She almost wants Brod to say it is your fault.

Enid says, "Money, send money." "Send money for Mooma funeral." And lots of people focused on this quotation because of that repetition, money, money, money.

And Enid is focused on the idea of money, perhaps feeling guilty for not sending money sooner.

So we know that Mai has questioned her before, "Are you sending money home?" And Enid says, "Yes, but it's difficult.

"It's not quite enough, "but it also impacts my life in the UK." And so this repetition, money, money, money shows it's a real focus in her mind.

And perhaps she does feel guilty for not sending money sooner.

And the end, these final lines of Scene Three, "No, Brod, nuttin ever wait." So Enid waited to send money to her sister, and now their mother is dead.

And the final line suggests she feels guilty for waiting.

She says, "No, nothing ever waits, Brod.

"I waited before and look what happened." So a really powerful moment with these short lines between these three characters, but really revealing of Enid's grief and her guilt at her mother's death.

A check for understanding.

How does Pinnock suggest Enid feels guilty for her mother's death? So this is gonna test your knowledge of that end of Scene Three, but also the idea of dramatic methods.

So is it A.

She feels guilty.

B.

She seeks someone to blame.

Or C.

She tells Brod to send money.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected B.

She seeks someone to blame.

So people were referencing the first line that we looked at.

"So who killed her then? Me?" that question.

So really showing your understanding of dramatic methods that dialogue.

There's questions that Pinnock is including.

She doesn't say explicitly she feels guilty.

We've got to infer, so it cannot be A.

And she doesn't tell Brod to send money.

Everyone remembered that she says money three times.

So her focus is the money and the money she feels she should have sent.

Now, I'd like you to re-read Scene Six from Enid: "If I did send that money home, she wouldn't die." to Enid: "Weeks now I ain't sleep." So in Scene Six, she is consulting Mai, she's visiting Mai, and were still experiencing Enid's feelings of guilt and her reaction to her mother's death.

And as you read, I'd like you to write a bullet pointed list to explore how Pinnock presents Enid's feelings of guilt.

And I'd like you to ground your ideas in these dramatic method: The contrasts Pinnock creates between Mai and Enid, stage directions, and a symbolism.

Now, you're masters at looking at dramatic methods now.

We've done it all throughout this lesson.

So you're really going to enjoy being able to show off your understanding of Pinnock's dramatic methods in this task.

Obviously, you can look at other dramatic methods if you wish to, but I want you to ground your ideas in these three: the contrasts, the stage directions, and the symbolism.

So pause the video, re-read Scene Six from Enid: "If I did send that money home, she wouldn't die" to Enid: "Weeks now I ain't sleep." and make a bullet pointed list focusing on these three dramatic methods.

Pause the video, re-read the scene, and complete the task now.

Fantastic rereading of Scene Six.

Rereading is such an important part of the study of English.

It helps enrich our discussions, our thoughts, our evaluations.

So really nice to see people entering into that with such energy.

And the bullet pointed lists are filled with detail and I really like to see how much you focused on the dramatic methods, showing off your fantastic knowledge of this keyword.

Let's have a look at some of the ideas you might have had.

So the contrast that it creates between Mai and Enid.

We've got Enid feels guilty that Del has run away from home, whereas Mai seems much more accepting of children leaving home.

So you've got two mothers here, both of whom have children who have left home.

Enid feels guilty.

She feels like it was her fault.

She wants Del back, whereas Mai seems much more accepting of her son having left.

Enid feels guilty about not providing a good life for her children, but Mai believes that a good life is focused on day-to-day necessity.

Enid feels guilty about the type of mother she was.

When I hear myself, I think, "Why that woman shouting so?" but Mai doesn't seem to feel any guilt about the way she chose to raise her son.

So we see here, Del has always been really hard on her mother, angry at the way that Enid has brought them up.

And Enid hasn't already said anything response to it.

But this moment in Scene Six, we see that she does feel quite guilty.

She thinks, "Well, why was I shouting in that way?" But Mai doesn't seem to feel any guilt.

She doesn't enter into this conversation in the same way and say, yeah, I also feel guilty for being hard on my son.

Even though we know she was quite hard on her son, she feels, look, there are reasons I did and I can accept that.

Let's look at these stage directions.

So Pinnock says that Enid's face contorts and her mouth opens in a soundless scream.

Then the sound comes out a howl of pain.

Enid's dialogue shows her feelings of guilt, but this moment expresses the inexpressibility of the grief she's feeling: an undefinable mixture of rage, grief, and guilt.

I think this might be one of my favourite moments in the play.

Not a moment of dialogue, but a moment of stage direction where Enid and this soundless scream, this howl of pain.

I just think it expresses so much about the character of Enid and the way that Pinnock has put these stage directions together.

They are slight cheap.

It's just a couple of sentences to describe what the actor should do, but you really get the sense.

Okay, we can see this mixture of rage, grief, and guilt coming through in a way that's much more powerful, maybe much rawr than if Enid actually says, I feel very, very guilty because, so really powerful moment in the play.

And finally, let's look at symbolism.

So Enid says, "Weeks now I ain't sleep." perhaps symbolising her feelings of guilt as it's disrupting her ability to rest easily.

And when Mai suggests she sees a doctor, Enid says, "What they know about a black woman's soul?" suggesting the problem is not so much physical, but emotional, requiring a depth of understanding that Enid can only find in Mai.

So it's really nice to see people look at this idea of symbolism while if she can't sleep, something is disrupting her sleep.

Maybe this symbolises how feelings of guilt, which we know is a very powerful, consuming emotion, not just in your waking life, but also at nighttime in your sleeping life.

And so, and we can see that Enid says, "Look, I know that this is an emotional problem." She doesn't want to go to the doctor.

In summary, the death of Enid's mother is a catalyst for Enid confronting her feelings of shame and guilt.

Arguably, Enid is presented as feeling ashamed of her upbringing in rural poverty.

Dramatic methods are the tools a playwright uses to create drama.

Examples are setting, stage directions, and dialogue.

I have so enjoyed exploring the character of Enid, her feelings of shame and guilt with you today.

I really look forward to seeing you next time.