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 "Leave Taking".

Today we're gonna look at Del's relationship with herself.

What is it like at the beginning of the play and how does it develop over the course of the play? I'm so excited to hear all of your fantastic ideas about this character.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through today's 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 about Del's experiences as a second generation immigrant.

So we're gonna look at Del's relationship with herself, some of the unique difficulties that she seems to face, and how these are resolved or explored throughout the play.

There are some keywords which can help unlock our learning today and help us achieve our objective.

They are first generation immigrant, which is a person who was born in one country, but moves to live and establish their life in another country.

So Enid and Brod are first generation immigrants.

Second generation immigrant, people who've grown up in a country that at least one of their parents was not born in, so Viv and Del are both second generation immigrants.

Discrimination, unjust treatment of people based on certain characteristics.

For example, race, gender, age.

Calling, a strong urge or impulse towards a particular career or path in life.

Home, a place where you live.

The word home is often connected to ideas of belonging and security.

And home is such a key word in Pinnock's play.

Lots and lots of characters use it.

It means different things each time, and it's going to be really helpful in today's lesson when we think about Del's feelings towards home, towards Britain.

Our learning outline for today, we're gonna start off by thinking about Del, who says at the beginning of the play, "I already know who I'm." And we're gonna finish today's lesson by looking at Del when she says in scene eight, "He wants me to know who I am." So really thinking about Del's relationship with herself, her understanding of who she's in both of these learning cycles.

Let's start off with Del.

"I already know who I am." Now, one blurb of "Leave Taking" reads, "Del, Viv, and Enid negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures.

Two generations.

'Leave Taking' is an epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home." Now, I'd like you to discuss why might home mean different things for Enid and Del? I want you to think about our keywords, think about what we know of these characters and their pasts, and I'd like you to discuss the question.

Why might home mean different things for Enid and Del? Pause a video and discuss the question now.

Really lovely discussion there.

Thinking about one of our keywords home and thinking why it's such a complicated concept, even though it is a monosyllabic word and feels like a word that maybe we do have a grasp on.

But actually it's a very, very complicated concept, especially for Enid and Del.

So for Enid, home means both Jamaica, where she was born, and England where she migrated and brought up her children.

Enid is a first generation immigrant.

It's nice to hear people using that keyword from today's lesson with such ease already.

But for Del, home means London, where she was born and has always lived.

She's a second generation immigrant.

Unlike for Viv, Jamaica seems to hold no interest for her, especially at the beginning of the play.

Now let's look at this blurb again and another section of the blurb where it says, "Del, Viv, and Enid negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures." I'd like you to discuss what cultural frictions do we see between Enid and Del? This gonna require some real in-depth knowledge of the play.

So have that to hand when you are discussing this question.

Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Fantastic discussions there.

I saw lots of people looking through their play script, which is so important whenever you are thinking really hard about your text.

Always have it next to you so that you can look at it, refer to it, and come to a new, developed, deeper understanding.

So Del initially calls obeah rubbish and nonsense.

She also believes that Enid ignores the racial discrimination she experiences in England.

So let's take that first section first.

Del initially calls obeah rubbish and nonsense, which lots of people reference that opening scene, scene one where Del is so rude about obeah and it's something that for Enid is really, really important to her.

We know this because she goes to visit Mai once, twice, three times throughout the course of the play.

So Del calling obeah rubbish and nonsense, that's definitely friction between Enid and Del based on their understanding of their cultures.

But we also have Del's accusing Enid, saying to Enid, "You are ignoring the racial discrimination that I experience in England." And so this is another friction between them, because Del is saying, "Enid, I feel that you are ignoring something that is occurring that is part of my experience." So two aspects to the idea of their cultural frictions.

Now, in scene one, Viv tells Del, "I want to go to the West Indies.

It's not all white sandy beaches, you know.

Uncle Brod says you don't know who you are 'less you've been there." And Del responds, "I already know who I am." I'd like you to discuss with this bit of dialogue, what is Pinnock establishing about the character of Del? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Fantastic discussion there anchoring your answers just on that single line of Del's, "I already know who I am," show your understanding of this conversation between the two sisters and what Pinnock is doing in the seemingly quite simple line.

Well, Pinnock establishes that Del is not interested in her cultural roots.

She feels she already knows who she's, and that knowing about the West Indies won't help her understand herself further.

So this contrast between Viv and Del really helping us to understand the kind of difference between these two sisters, but particularly the character of Del, who seems to really reject the idea that she's in any way interested in her cultural roots.

But in scene two, so just after scene one, where Del has said to her, "I already know who I am." In scene two, we see the sense of security is just a front.

Del tells Enid, "I hate it here," and she means England, home, when Enid accuses her daughter pf ingratitude, Del continues, "Grateful for what?" This, asshole, a greasy job in a greasy cafe where they treat me like a dum dum." I'd like you to discuss with this really powerful, sad moment in the play where Del is explaining how she feels in England and why she hates it here.

Well, how does Del feel? Look at this short section of this dialogue and discuss the question now.

Again, really rich discussion showing your ability to look at short sections of the dialogue and really draw out the richness what Pinnock is trying to convey through her characters.

So Del feels really angry at the opportunity she has in England.

She believes she's treated like an outsider because she's Black.

This racial discrimination makes her feel angry, unseen, and out of place.

So her home does not give her a sense of security.

We looked at the idea that home has this resonance, this connotation of security and belonging, but Del at this moment does not feel that England offers that to her because of this racial discrimination.

She's very angry with Enid for not seeing this as part of what they experience day-to-day.

When Enid tells her daughter how hard she works to support her.

So Del has said, "I'm not grateful, I'm angry," and Enid says, "Well, I work incredibly hard to support you." Del responds, "But what can you give us that we can use out there? You don't see the police vans hunting us down, or the managers who treat us like we're the lowest of the low." We can see that us, we, us, us, we're, she's really repeating these pronouns throughout this section where Del is responding to Enid.

And Pinnock says, when she started writing "Leave Taking", she wanted to write about this new breed of Black British women.

What Pinnock means by this is second generation immigrants, the children of first generation immigrants.

And here we can see that Del is saying us, we, us, us, we're, and she's not necessarily just talking about her and Viv, she's talking about what Pinnock calls this new breed of Black British women, the second generation immigrants who have the difficulties that Del is experiencing.

And what she calls out there, she means out in the world, out of the safety of the family home.

So I'd like you to discuss what does Del feel of her experiences in England? Pause the video, look at this section from scene two, and discuss what does Del feel of her experiences in England? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Some really lovely discussions there, getting to grips with Del and how she feels towards England, how she feels towards her home.

So Del experiences racial discrimination in England.

Del feels there aren't many opportunities for her and that she's treated like an outsider, a criminal, as unimportant because she's Black.

She says the police vans are hunting us down, so expressing feelings of vulnerability there.

The idea that she's prey to these predatorial police vans.

She says, "They're hunting us down and the managers who treat us like we're the lowest of the lows." She feels not seen and as unimportant by her managers.

And she's sort of expressing this idea that this is how she feels, she's treated by everyone in England.

So she's not feeling happy about her experiences in England and that's why she says she cannot feel grateful to Enid.

Now, look at the first section of this piece of dialogue.

And I'd like you to discuss, what does Del feel about her mother's understanding of these experiences? She's saying, "Police vans are hunting us down.

Managers treat us like the lowest of the low." And then she says at the beginning of this dialogue, "What can you give us that we can use out there? You don't see." So what does Del feel about her mother's understanding of these experiences? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Really lovely discussions there.

We are looking at some complex ideas where Del is expressing how she's feeling and we're trying to understand, well, what is she saying, not just about how she's feeling, but about her anger towards her mother? So Del feels her mother doesn't understand her experiences of life in Britain as a second generation immigrant.

She's saying, "What can you give us that we can use out there? You don't see." She's accusing Enid of loving England, of ignoring some of the racial discrimination that they face.

And Del is saying, "Look, this is incredibly difficult for me as a second generation immigrant, as someone who is still experiencing this racial discrimination, despite the fact that I call this place home.

Well, it doesn't feel like home to me." So it's a very difficult moment for Del and a moment of misunderstanding, or a lack of understanding between Del and Enid.

Fantastic close reading of this section of scene two.

Now let's tie up our understanding of scene two with a really clear, precise understanding of how Pinnock is presenting Del.

So in scene two, how does Pinnock present Del? Is it a, insecure, b, as angry, c, as hopeful, or d, as a first generation immigrant? So we've looked at lots of different sections of scene two where Del is angry, saying that she's not happy in England, that she hates it here, and then trying to express to her mother why she feels like this.

So pause the video and select your response.

How does Pinnock present Del in scene two? Select your responses now.

Well done if you selected a, as insecure, and b, as angry.

She's not hopeful, she's not thinking of England as a land of opportunity for her.

And of course, she's not a first generation immigrant, she's a second generation immigrant.

Now I'd like you to reread scene six of "Leave Taking" from Del, "I'm going to get some fresh air," to the end of the scene.

And as you read, make bullet point notes about how Pinnock develops the idea that Del is not secure in who she is or where she belongs.

And here's an example.

So you know the level of detail you need for your bullet points.

When Mai asked Del to leave, Del says, "All right." Her lack of reaction perhaps suggests she doesn't have any secure ties or sense of belonging or home.

So we're reading scene six now.

We've been looking at scene two in this learning cycle, but you're gonna apply all the fantastic discussions, ideas, and knowledge we had when we looked at scene two.

You're gonna apply that yourself to your rereading of scene six.

And we're gonna come up with a fantastic bullet pointed set of notes about how Pinnock develops the idea that Del is not secure in who she is or where she belongs.

Pause the video, reread the section of scene six, and make your bullet points.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back after a fantastic rereading of scene six and a really accurate, precise, reflective set of bullet points.

You've now got a really, really good set of notes that you could return to if you are writing a more formal piece about Del, about "Leave Taking".

So these notes, you are gonna want to keep them really, really secure so that you can always return to them.

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

So Del feels her mother hates her, always has, and that she thinks she's bad.

Del doesn't feel she belongs at home with Enid and so perhaps doesn't know where she belongs.

And I heard a lot of people focusing on this kind of quotation because it's really a revealing, very explicit moment where Del says, "This is what I feel my mother thinks of me." And it really reveals why Del perhaps feels so unstable in her sense of who she is and where she belongs.

Mai's description of her son seems to be true of Del too, that he never feel even a little bit British despite like Del being born in England and that his treatment as a second generation immigrant made him want to escape Britain.

So really, really important, significant moment in scene six is when Mai talks about her son, this extended bit of dialogue seems to apply to Del as well as her son.

Del says to Mai, "How can you love yourself when you are always at the bottom of the pile?" And lots of people link that to Del's kind of explosion expression of anger in scene two, feeling that she's treated like a dum dum by her manager, the lowest of the low.

So it reveals just how insecure she feels in her position in Britain given the racial discrimination that she faces.

So a really sad moment at the end of scene six where again, Del is saying, "I can't love myself, because I am told, I feel that I'm at the bottom of the pile." Mai's description of those with formerly enslaved ancestors as ghosts who can't find rest suggest Del feels invisible in England as well as insecure.

So again, we look to Mai's dialogue in order to understand Del.

And Mai is saying, she describes those with formerly enslaved ancestors as ghosts, kind of suggesting this invisibility and unhappiness.

So scene six is a really, really important moment in terms of trying to understand why Del feels how she feels, particularly through Mai's dialogue, the expression of Mai's dialogue.

Well done for making such a clear set of bullet points and as I say, keep these really, really secure so you can return to them time and time again.

We're gonna move on to our second learning cycle now.

We're gonna look at when Del in scene eight says, "He wants me to know who I'm." So we're gonna think about the idea that in the earlier parts of the play, Del says she feels that she knows who she is, but actually we see that insecurity coming through.

We're gonna see the end of the play where she starts to feel a bit more secure in her identity and her sense of belonging.

So in scene one, Mai tells Enid, "Mother discovered I had the gift, obeah, when she was 13." In scene five, Mai tells Del, "It, obeah, was my calling." I'd like you to discuss, what does Pinnock suggest about being an obeah man or woman just looking at these two really short moments what Mai says about her relationship with obeah and being an obeah woman? what does Pinnock suggest about being an obeah man or woman Looking at these two moments from the text? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Lovely close analysis of these two short moments from the text.

And lots of people focused on this word gift and this word calling, which is one of our key words from today.

So the word gift and calling suggests that whilst there are things you can learn and understand about obeah, to be an obeah man or woman is a vocation, an ability that is inside you and can't be taught.

So obeah was Mai's calling.

She had the strong urge or impulse to become an obeah woman.

It was something inside her that told her this was the right path for her.

And the word gift, it's a metaphor here.

The idea of it being something given to you, the idea of it being present in some way, the idea of it being innate and inside you.

So these two moments where Pinnock suggests how one might become an obeah man or woman, it's a gift, it's a calling.

Now, in scene seven, it ends with Mai noticing something about Del.

Mai says, "I never noticed before how you wide and full between the eyes, you frontal lo big where them meet at the nose root.

You know what that mean? Now I see it plain plain." I'd like you to discuss what does Mai realise? Pause a video and discuss this question now.

Fantastic discussions there linking the idea of Mai's gift, Mai's calling to what she notices about Del in scene seven.

So Mai seems to realise that Del also has the gift and is an obeah woman.

I'd like you to discuss this question now.

How might this realisation make Del feel? You have an amazing understanding of how Del feels in the opening scenes of the play.

We're now in the penultimate scene of the play, scene seven, moving towards the end of the play, which of course, only has eight scenes.

How might this realisation make Del feel? Use all the discussions we had in learning cycle one about Del's feeling of insecurity and apply that knowledge to this moment in the text from scene seven.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Beautiful discussions.

They're really showing off your knowledge of the character of Del and the depth of her feelings of insecurity at the beginning of the play and how this idea that she's an obeah woman might make her feel now.

So Del feels that her managers look at her like a dum dum and that her mother hates her, but this moment might make her feel seen, valuable, and more secure in her identity.

She has a calling, a gift, and who she is is important.

So I really like how Mai says, I see, I see, I see it playing, playing," because Del has always felt invisible.

She expresses that in a lot of different ways during the play.

And now I feel like this moment, Mai's really, really looking at her, understanding who she is, and understanding this gift that Del has to give.

So I'd like you to just show off your fantastic understanding of Mai and what she realises about Del in scene seven.

So what does Mai realise about Del in scene seven? Is it a, she has a calling, b, she's a second generation immigrant, c, she feels at home with Mai, d, she has the potential to be an obeah woman? Pause the video and select your responses now.

Well done if you selected a and d, she has a calling, great understanding of that word, the idea that Del is going to be called.

It is a vocation for her to become an obeah woman.

It is somewhere where she has a place in society.

And d, she has a potential to be an obeah woman.

Now, I'd like you to reread scene eight of "Leave Taking" from Del, "Don't go, a huge revelation, I'm nervous, Mai," to the end of the scene.

And as you read, make bullet point notes about how Pinnock develops the idea that Del is secure in who she is and where she belongs.

Here's an example.

Mai says, "You nervous? What happened to big tough Del?" which implies something in Del has changed.

Her ability to show vulnerability, perhaps suggests she no longer feels she needs to create a tough facade to protect herself.

So just as we made those fantastic bullet pointed notes in learning cycle one about how Del does not feel secure in who she is and where she belongs, we are now going to have its opposite.

And if you have these beautiful sets of notes side by side, then you're going to be able to track Del's development from across the play.

And these notes, which are already really valuable to you, the notes that you have from learning cycle one, they're gonna become yet more valuable, because you also have this idea that at the end of the play, Del is secure in who she is and where she belongs.

So find scene eight.

We're gonna read from, "Don't Go, a huge revelation, I'm nervous, "Mai," to the end of the scene.

And as you read, you're gonna make your bullet pointed notes.

Pause the video and complete the tasks now.

Beautiful to see people rereading the end of scene eight.

It's such an enriching experience to reread sections of a play and to develop your understanding from your initial reading.

And amazing to see people have these two sets of bullet pointed notes side by side so that they have such a deep, rich understanding of the character of Del really based in textual evidence.

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

So the stage directions state Del moves centre stage, which reveals Del is confident in her place at Mai's and as an obeah woman.

Now, I love Pinnock stage directions.

They're always quite light touch, but they revealed so much and this move to centre stage, I really felt, yes, Del, here you are moving to the centre stage.

You are secure in who you are.

You deserve this place before you start doing your first obeah reading.

So a really powerful positive moment near the end of the play.

When Enid calls Del an obeah woman, Del doesn't correct her, but offers her a cup of tea.

Now, it seems like quite a small interaction between the two, but it's been so confrontational between Del and Enid throughout, but this moment where Del is not arguing with her mother, but instead offering her a cup of tea actually feels like such a huge development.

When Enid says Brod was wrong to tell Del about her husband abusing her, Del says, "He wants me to know who I am" and "Why did you have to make a big secret of everything?" So Del knows that looking at her past will help her understand her present.

So a really mature moment from the character of Del.

Very difficult to face the idea that her father abused her mother.

But she's looking at this idea with clarity and using it as a moment to understand who she is and how she can use that to mature and develop and have this better relationship with her mother.

Enid is vulnerable in front of Del.

Instead of attacking her, Del offers her mother security and understanding via the palm reading.

So Enid is very vulnerable in front of Del.

We haven't really seen this before, we've just seen them fighting.

But she tells Del exactly how she feels, how she feels in England, how she feels with her mother, what she wants from the future.

And Del offers her mother security.

She offers her understanding rather than confronting her.

Del doesn't think of obeah as mumbo jumbo, but instead understands its healing powers and come to learn this has also healed her own anger and worry about her place in the world.

So this moment in scene eight really showing that Del feels happy, confident with who she is because she doesn't feel she needs to attack things from her cultural identity, but instead she can embrace them.

Such a fantastic rereading of that short section of scene eight.

And now you have a brilliant set of notes exploring the character of Del from the beginning of the play where she feels insecure with who she is to the end of the play, where she feels much more secure in who she is.

So we've now really understood Del's relationship with herself over the course of the full play.

In summary, unlike Viv, Del appears uninterested in obeah and her culture at the start of the play.

Del feels her opportunities in life are hampered by the fact she's a second generation immigrant.

Del struggles to see where she fits in with both her family and Britain.

At the end of the play, Del's calling to obeah could reflect a sense of understanding about her place in the world.

It has been such a pleasure to look at the character of Del with you and do such close reading to understand how her relationship with herself develops over the course of the play.

I really look forward to seeing you next time.