Hello and welcome.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm Mrs. Butterworth and I will be guiding you through the learning.

Now, today's lesson is all focused on the importance of Act 1.

Now this is in relation to the play "Small Island," but also generally, Act 1s in other plays.

So let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain the structure of Act 1 and offer a personal perspective on key themes.

Now, before we delve into the lesson, let's look at our keywords.

So for today, they are motivation, theme, ensemble cast, inciting, and exposition.

So let's think about this word, motivation.

Now, motivation is this idea about this willingness to do something or a reason to act or behave in a certain way.

So if we think about our characters in "Small Island," we want to think about their motivations.

So what motivates our characters to behave in a certain way or to act on certain decisions? Then we have our keyword, theme.

Now I'm sure you've come across this word quite a few times.

Now a theme is an idea that is explored in a text in different ways.

So it's kind of like those really big key ideas that we see running through the text that we study.

Now, we have this keyword here, ensemble cast.

Now an ensemble cast is a cast that comprises of many different main characters.

There is not a single protagonist.

Now, you may have heard of the ensemble as being kind of the supporting cast, the acting cast, but an ensemble cast can also refer to this idea of many main characters, not just one main character.

So "Small Island" is a really good example of an ensemble cast because we have Hortense, Gilbert, Queenie, and even some of the other characters who have big, big amounts of stage time and dialogue.

Okay, inciting.

So this is an interesting word.

Now inciting means to stir up or encourage an action, so it's usually in a forceful urgent way, so you might incite something to happen.

So look out for this word throughout the lesson, we'll explore it a bit further then.

And then exposition, now this is a very technical word.

Now exposition is used to talk about films or plays or sometimes even novels, and it's this idea about the establishing of key information, characters, and setting in a text.

So it's a really fancy way of talking about how those ideas are introduced, so the exposition of "Small Island" includes the hurricane and the characters, Hortense and Mrs. Ryder.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're going to start by exploring the structure of Act 1 and then we're going to move on to looking at opinions on Act 1.

Now these opinions will be your opinions.

So what I wanna do in this second part of the lesson is really encourage you to start thinking about how you can articulate your own opinions and perspectives on a text, or in this case, Act 1.

So let's just start the lesson by exploring the structure of Act 1.

Act 1 is considered a very important part of a play structure, not just in "Small Island" but in other plays too, and very often, it is referred to as the setup, so the idea that Act 1 sets up the rest of the action of a play.

Now the basic components can be described like this.

So exposition, so the exposition, this introduces the characters and the relationships to each other.

It establishes setting and time.

So let's think about that in "Small Island," the exposition of Act 1 might be Jamaica, the hurricane, and those key characters, so Hortense, we also meet Gilbert, Michael, that would come under this exposition idea.

And then Act 1, we also see a main character, so the character whose motivation and goals drive the story.

Now this might be slightly different when thinking about "Small Island" because there isn't one main protagonist, so our main character will be referring to those different characters that make up the ensemble cast.

And then an inciting event, it sounds very similar to exciting, doesn't it? But we're talking about inciting so it's a much more forceful, motivating action.

So an inciting event is an important part of the story that develops and furthers the plot.

And then finally there's this idea of plot point one.

Now the plot point one appears at the end of Act 1, so very often in plays at the end of Act 1, there'll be some dramatic thing that happens that could push the story in a new direction and is often a major escalation, so it'll be something that Act 1 has been building towards.

So there'll be this tension and then this kind of major escalation, this major plot point that is revealed at the end of Act 1.

Okay, so we've got our components here, Act 1, exposition, inciting, and plot one.

Which one is missing in the middle there? Yeah, well done everyone that noticed main character, that character whose motivation and goals drive the story, or, in the case of "Small Island," our ensemble cast, our many main characters.

Now, in a moment, I would like you to discuss your answer to these questions.

Thinking about exposition, what important settings are introduced in Act 1? Who do we meet, and are there any significant relationships? Main character, who would you consider the main character? Is there more than one? What are their motivations and does this drive the story? The inciting event, what significant event impacts the plot in Act 1? And there may be more than one.

And then that plot point one, so what dramatic revelations are at the end of Act 1? What is Hortense's last line, and what does this tell us about her goals and motivations? So we've thought about some of these ideas already, but what I would like you to do is to pause the video and on your own, discuss your answer to these questions or just think about them quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Excellent, some really great ideas coming through there.

I like how some of you're developing some of the ideas we have already thought about.

Some of you are flicking back through your "Small Island" text to remind yourself of those inciting events and those main characters, so really great stuff.

Now let's just share some of those answers to the question.

Now exposition, so we know that Jamaica and England are established as the primary settings, and we know how important setting is in this play.

And we know that multiple relationships begin to emerge and they connect Hortense, Gilbert, Michael, and Queenie.

Now there are quite a lot of overlapping, interconnected relationships in "Small Island" and we know that Levy does this to kind of explore those historical narratives and to connect those characters over places and times.

Now, main character, who would you consider the main character? Is there more than one, and what are their motivations? So quite rightly, as we've said, and a lot of you recognised again, there isn't a single protagonist.

It is an ensemble cast.

And so we know that the characters are motivated by their aspirations, which link to the theme of ambition.

So all of our characters really link to that key theme of ambition and show that importance of the ideas of the mother country, the ideas associated with migration, so there's a reason that this is an ensemble cast, because we want to see these different experiences about how they are united under these kind of key themes.

Okay, an inciting event, so lots of different answers coming up here.

So many of you picked up the Michael's affairs, so there isn't just one, is there, there's also that affair with Queenie, and that's a real inciting event, isn't it, especially in terms of Hortense's development, but also the plot as a whole.

And also, Hortense's decision to migrate impacts not just the plot but other characters' journeys too.

If we think about Gilbert for example, Hortense deciding that she has to migrate kind of incites her to set up this marriage to get Gilbert to marry her so that they can do this.

So it's interesting that these events kind of impact other characters too.

And then finally, what are the most dramatic events at the end of Act 1, our plot point one? So yes, that dramatic revelation that Queenie is pregnant with Michael's child, and this is such a dramatic transition into Act 2.

If you can imagine sitting in the theatre and that Act 1 revelation, you can almost imagine the audience going (gasps) and their jaws dropping as we transition into Act 2, so that plot point one, that real revelation about Queenie's pregnancy, is a really effective way to end Act 1.

And then Hortense's final line is that, "Please," which really reveals her desperation and her motivation going into Act 2.

And as you begin to explore Act 2, you will see how these plot points at the end of Act 1 really assist in that transition into Act 2.

So true or false time.

"Small Island" is structured around an ensemble cast.

Great, well done for everyone that said true, and absolutely, it's one of our keywords today, so we know that "Small Island" is an ensemble cast.

So now I'd like you to justify your answer by picking A or B.

Off you go.

Well done, yes, this means it has many characters.

In "Small Island," this enables the presentation of multiple narratives.

Now we know that Levy's original novel was all about these different historical narratives, different perspectives, different experiences, and Edmundson really develops that through her use of this ensemble cast.

So we can see how Edmundson's adaptation really links back to Levy's original ideas in her novel.

We have reached our first practise task.

Now what I would like you to do is I would like you to fill in the grid with examples from Act 1.

So there are three characters here, Hortense, Gilbert, and Queenie, so I'd like you to focus on these three characters, and on the side of those kind of key structural moments from Act 1, I would like you to link them to the characters using key examples.

So we've got exposition, how are they described and what relationships do they have? So for example, if you were focusing on Hortense first, how is Hortense described in the starting of Act 1 and what relationships does she have? So we're really thinking about exposition and those key characters.

And then motivation and goals, so if we were focusing on Gilbert, what are Gilbert's key motivators? What motivates his actions and his decisions and what are his goals? And then finally, the inciting event, so for each of these characters, what is their key event in Act 1? Now pause the video so you've got time to complete this grid, focusing on those three characters.

Off you go.

Excellent work, everyone.

I noticed there were some disagreements there about key motivators and goals for some of the characters, but hopefully, we all have some answers in our grids, so I have an example here based on Gilbert, so you can use this to check your other characters too.

So Gilbert, in terms of exposition, so we know that initially, we are introduced to Gilbert and he's optimistic.

He's presented as someone who is optimistic about his opportunities presented by the RAF, and we know that this really contrasts to the cynical attitude of his cousin, Elwood.

And in terms of relationships, it's Gilbert actually that meets Queenie first and then there's that dramatic event in the cinema, so there's that relate, again, we see these crossing over relationships where Gilbert meets Queenie.

And obviously one of the major relationships is Gilbert's marriage to Hortense.

So what are Gilbert's motivations and goals? Well, we know he has this real, these real expectations of opportunities in the mother country.

So whether that's through joining the RAF or through migration, he really has these high expectations of the mother country which motivates him to act and behave in particular ways.

And we also know that he mentioned several times throughout Act 1 how he wants to go to an English university and be a lawyer, so we see this motivation, this thing, this idea that really motivates him, this goal to be a lawyer.

So what are his inciting event and what is his key event in Act 1? So Scene 3 is obviously a really key event in Gilbert's timeline, particularly in Act 1, and it really reveals that violent racism he endures and the reality of his experience.

And then obviously in key one, that key event is marrying Hortense in order to pay for his ticket on the Empire Windrush.

Now obviously, that is a final point for Gilbert in Act 1 and again, leads us into that transition of Act 2.

We want to know what happens after he gets off that boat from Act 1.

Okay, so we are on the second part of our lesson, opinions on Act 1, and like I said at the start, this is all about your opinions.

So I want us to get really confident at being able to articulate our own opinions, our own perspectives on, not just "Small Island," but hopefully you can transfer these to other texts too.

So Jun and Laura, our pupils here, evaluate Act 1, so this is what they say.

So Jun says, "I think Act 1 is all about ambition.

"More specifically, Levy reveals "how the characters' ambitions are linked "to aspirational ideas associated with the ideology "of the mother country and what it promises to provide.

"For Hortense and Gilbert, Britain is their way "to achieve their ambitions "of becoming a teacher and a lawyer, "and in turn, their dreams of a middle class life.

"Their pragmatic decision "to marry emphasises how ambitious they are." This is a really lovely opinion from Jun, so he starts really strongly with the, "I think Act 1 is all about ambition," so I really like how Jun has confidently used that declarative sentence to give his perspective on Act 1.

And then he develops this by saying, "More specifically," and then he goes into a lot of details using evidence from the text to explain why he has reached this opinion, why he has drawn this conclusion.

So really great work from Jun.

Now let's see what Laura says.

Okay, so now let's look at what Laura has written.

So Laura, again, starts with this lovely declarative of her own opinion, so she thinks that Act 1 is all about hope and longing.

So you'll notice that this is actually different to Jun, he thinks it's about ambition, and this is absolutely fine.

Both of these opinions are valid.

And what makes them even more valid is the way that both of these pupils then go on to offer really specific examples from the text and really link their opinions to evidence in the text.

So let's see what evidence Laura has used, so she says that, "All of the main characters hope "for better things.

"Gilbert and Hortense's, idealistic view of England "with its tea "and fairytale castle reveal this dreamlike hope "and longing for a different life.

"Elwood longs for Jamaican independence "and puts his hope in Mr. Bustamante.

"Queenie longs for a passionate, "exciting life away from the drudgery of her own life, "which she finds in her relationship with Michael.

"Despite the dramatic revelation of her pregnancy, "perhaps this too is a symbol of hope." Wow, hasn't Laura selected some really lovely pieces of evidence and talked a lot about all the different characters and this theme of hope.

So you can see here, by using evidence, you can really confidently put forward your own opinions, even if it's different to someone else.

So who do you agree with more and why? So Jun says, "I think Act 1 is all about ambition," whereas Laura says, "I think Act 1 is all about hope and longing." So they've both put forward some very compelling arguments.

So now it's up to you to pause the video and discuss, who do you agree with more, and most importantly, why? Off you go.

Excellent, some really lively discussions there, and I love how some of you are becoming really confident with putting forward your opinion, which one you agree with, and most importantly, developing those responses with that all-important why, so really referring back to the text, the key characters, and all of those lovely things.

Now Sam has another opinion.

Sam disagrees with both Jun and Laura and says that, "I think Act 1 is all about betrayal." So again, we can see a third opinion, which again, is completely valid but very different to our other two pupils, but it's completely right.

So what I would like you to now do is think about this.

What do you think Act 1 is all about? So you'll need to pause the video so you've got time to discuss or you may just want to think about your answer to yourself.

Pause the video now.

Great, thank you everyone.

It's really lovely hearing your opinions coming through.

I can even hear some of you starting to think about your own ideas of specific themes, which is just fantastic.

Okay, true or false time.

One of the main themes in Act 1 is ambition.

True or false? Yeah, well done, that is true, and that was Jun's idea, wasn't it, about it being about ambition.

Now justify your answer by picking A or B.

Well done, yes, ambition and hope connects many of the characters, not just Hortense and Gilbert.

We see many of the characters either hoping or being ambitious for different lives.

We are at our second and final practise task, so well done for your hard work so far, but we still need to do a little bit more work before we are finished.

So what you are going to do is, using the sentence starters below, here they are, I would like you to write an answer to this question, what is Act 1 all about? Now, you have already discussed this in the lesson, and I heard those lovely discussions.

So now we need to put all of those ideas together and put them into a written response.

So you would need to use evidence from the text to support your comments, and again, we have already practised doing this in our discussions.

Now, you may want to carry on and use the pupil's ideas, so you may choose to focus on the theme of ambition, hope, and longing or betrayal, or some of you may even have your own idea of what you think Act 1 is all about, so you may have a different theme.

So just to recap, use the sentence starters below and write your answer to this question, what is Act 1 all about? Pause the video now.

Well done, everyone.

I could hear that hard work happening.

It's really lovely to see you articulating your own opinions and ideas.

This is such an important skill, not just when looking at "Small Island," but other texts and even other subjects too, so being able to articulate and evidence your opinions is a really good skill to have, so well done, and it's lovely to see some of you coming up with your own themes.

So what we're gonna do is we're going to use Jun's example here, which is an excellent answer, and I just wanted to demonstrate how Jun has achieved the checklist.

So let's read through together.

So again, he says, "I think Act 1 is all about ambition.

"More specifically, Levy reveals "how the characters' ambitions are linked "to aspirational ideas associated "with the ideology of the mother country "and what it promises to provide.

"For Hortense and Gilbert, Britain is their way "to achieve their ambitions of becoming a teacher "and a lawyer, and in turn, their dreams "of a middle class life.

"Their pragmatic decision to marry emphasise "how ambitious they are." So that first element on the checklist here is, has Jun identified a main theme or idea? And absolutely, he has, so he has confidently said that he thinks Act 1 is all about ambition, and then he has used that word several times throughout the response.

Now, has Jun used evidence? Yes, absolutely he has.

So he's linked to the idea of the mother country and also this decision, the decision that Hortense and Gilbert make to marry, so he's really linked it to some specific events from the text.

And has he linked to the writer? Yes, he has.

So he's used this, "More specifically, Levy reveals "how the characters' ambitions," so he's really linked to the writer and the writer's purpose by using that phrase, "More specifically." So Jun has done really well at not only expressing his own opinion, but also using that evidence from the text linking to the writer's purpose to create a really excellent response, which I'm sure when you check your own answers in a moment, we'll see the same too.

So off, over to you to check your own work using the checklist.

So we have made it to the end of the lesson, very well done.

And as I say, it's so great to hear you confidently expressing your opinions and what you consider Act 1 to be all about.

So let's just recap what we have learned today.

So Act 1 is considered a very important part of a play structure.

It is sometimes referred to as the setup.

"Small Island" is comprised of an ensemble cast and multiple narratives.

Queenie's pregnancy and the sailing of the Empire Windrush at the end of Act 1 create a dramatic transition into Act 2, and the themes of ambition, betrayal, hope, and belonging are prevalent in Act 1 and connect many of the characters.

Now I'm sure after finishing Act 1, those dramatic revelations, you cannot wait to get onto Act 2.

Me neither.

So I really hope I see you again soon in another lesson.

But until then, well done and goodbye.