Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

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

We're in our modern text unit, and our modern text is "Leave Taking", we're looking at an intersectional analysis.

Today we're going to look at some really strong matriarchs, so the really strong, powerful women in the play, "Leave Taking".

I can't wait to explore how they're characterised and hear all of your fantastic ideas.

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 the ways in which "Leave Taking" is a social commentary on the experiences of women.

Now it's always really exciting to read a text for the first time and think, "What's going to happen? I can't believe this character just did that.

What's gonna happen in the next scene? How is the play going to resolve?" What we can also think as students of English, we can also think of the play as a social commentary, as the text as a social commentary, as exploring and critiquing particular problems in society.

Now, today we're gonna consider "Leave Taking" as a social commentary on the experiences of women.

So Pinnock, looking at the experiences of women and making some sort of comment on them.

There are some key words which are gonna help us unlock our learning today.

And they are feminist critic, social commentary, matriarch, epigraph, and centrality.

Let's go through their definitions now.

So a feminist critic, this is an academic who explores how texts present the role and place of women in society, and I'm gonna come back to this phrase shortly.

Social commentary, a text which explores and critiques particular problems in society, and today we're going to look at the fact that "Leave Taking" could be interpreted as a social commentary on the experiences of women.

So it's gonna explore and perhaps critique the experiences of women.

Matriarch, a woman who rules, leads, or controls a family.

Now we know Enid is a very strong matriarch, Mai is presented as a strong matriarch, Mooma is presented as a strong matriarch, and we also see the idea that Del potentially is going to be a strong matriarch in the future.

Epigraph.

Now an epigraph is a short quotation at the beginning of a text, which suggests some of its important themes.

And there are two epigraphs in "Leave Taking" and they are both by feminist critics, so you can see how we're going to return to these two key words later in the lesson.

And centrality, the quality of being the most important or significant to something, or being central to it, so lots of people argue that the women in Winsome Pinnock's "Leave Taking", they are central to their family unit.

So these words today, they're gonna help unlock our learning, you're gonna see them referenced throughout our lesson and hopefully you are going to be able to use them yourselves by the end of the lesson as well.

(mouse clicks) Now our lesson outline for today, we're gonna start off by looking at Pinnock's presentation of strong matriarchs, and then we're going to consider "Leave Taking" as a social commentary.

Let's get started with Pinnock's presentation of strong matriarchs.

Pinnock dedicates "Leave Taking" to her mother, so before we even start reading the play we can see the dedication, the dedication page, which says, "For Nada Pinnock-Graham 1929 to 2015, with love and immense gratitude." (mouse clicks) Now in her introduction to the play Pinnock cites her mother often, so it's not just that the play is dedicated to her mother but she actually talks about her mother's influence a lot in the Introduction to "Leave Taking".

Here are just some of the examples of when Pinnock talks about her mother in the introduction.

(mouse clicks) So firstly, she says that her mother offered quiet encouragement," When I doubted myself, she reminded me that success was usually a matter of holding on." So a bit of a life lesson there for Pinnock.

(mouse clicks) She says, "When I expressed a desire to play the piano," so this is when Pinnock was a lot younger, "I came home from school one day to discover she had purchased a piano so old it had a few missing keys, but it was functional." (mouse clicks) "My mother and siblings listened tirelessly to the stories I wrote As a child." (mouse clicks) "When I read the Play 'Leave Taking', I see my younger self consulting with my mother." (mouse clicks) And finally, "My mother became a single parent to four young children at a time when there was still stigma attached to divorce." Now I'd like you to discuss, using these references and thinking about the dedication, in what ways does Pinnock signal the centrality of her mother to her work and to herself? Pause a video and discuss this question now.

Some really beautiful discussions there, thinking about what Pinnock is trying to express about her relationship with her mother, but also using that keyword centrality, so seeing how significant her mother is to her work and to herself.

So some ideas that people focused on was the idea that her mother seems this very stable figure in her life, who is often offering encouragement, inspiration, as someone who Pinnock returns to in times of trouble.

So she gets quiet encouragement from her mother, if she's ever in doubt she returns to her mother, and you can see when she reads the play, she says that she can still see her younger self, after all, she wrote the play when she was 23, consulting with her mother; so asking her mother questions about her work and some of the ideas that she might have had.

It's also interesting that a lot of you focused on this idea of her mother getting the piano, showing some sort of tenacity, some sort of power.

So her daughter says, "I'd like to play the piano." And we get the idea that Pinnock's parents didn't have a lot of money, Pinnock didn't have a lot of money when she was growing up, but her mother still somehow managed to get her this piano 'cause she thought.

"My daughter wants to play, I'm going to help her to do that," so a very strong woman.

And also this idea, this final idea, "My mother became a single parent of four young children in a time when there was still stigma attached to divorce." Now, Pinnock actually moves on to the next paragraph in her introduction, she doesn't say much more about how her mother felt when she was raising these four young children by herself, but you can see this idea of the stigma, the idea of shame, that Pinnock's mother maybe had to bear that.

And actually just putting that sentence there and not developing the idea much more really says something about the strength of her mother, and maybe how much Pinnock admires her mother for bringing up those four children by herself.

So in lots of different ways, Pinnock signals the centrality of her mother to her work, and to herself as a person.

Now, arguably, we see the influence of Pinnock's mother in the play through the presentation of the three Caribbean matriarchs, and we've got Enid, Mai, and Mooma as the three Caribbean matriarchs.

Now I'd like you to discuss these two questions.

In what ways does Pinnock present each as a strong matriarch, and how does Pinnock present each matriarch essential to their family structure and or community? So we've got three big characters here and two big questions, so really give this question the time it deserves.

I can already see people reaching for their copy of "Leave Taking" so that they can ground their ideas in the text.

So I'd like you to pause the video now, and with those copies of "Leave Taking" in your hand so that you can refer to them throughout, discuss these two questions.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back after a lovely discussion about these two questions, exploring these powerful matriarchs and their presentation.

So let's start off with the character of Enid.

Lots of people said, "Well, she's definitely central to the play.

We can see that she begins the play with her two daughters, taking them to an obeah reading, and she seems heavily invested in both of their lives." Maybe in some ways it becomes overbearing, particularly for Del, she finds it quite overbearing at points, but she is the kind of central character to that family unit.

And it was really nice to hear people referencing later in the play as well and saying, "Well, actually, when she throws Viv out of the house, she says that she's angry at having to carry too many people for too long." So you can see that she has been really central to her children's lives, and even to the character abroad, because she felt she has carried them.

So a strong matriarch who's able to carry both of her daughters and this character abroad.

Mai, we can see lots of people say, "Well, she is a strong matriarch.

We can see that she's very confident in her ability to parent her child, she and Enid sometimes have disagreement about what it means to a parent a child, but she's definitely central to the community because she is an obeah woman, and so lots of people turn to her in times of crisis." Enid is just one example of someone who comes and turns to her in times of crisis, so she's definitely central to the community of other Caribbean migrants who are in North London, and we can see that through Enid coming to her and seeking her advice, particularly with that moment of crisis when she feels that Del, or she wants to find out if Del is pregnant and, also, then in the grief for her mother.

And then Mooma, the character of Mooma.

Even though we never see her on stage, she's this very powerful presence, particularly for Enid who is often thinking about her and her relationship with her.

We know that she's incredibly strong, physically and emotionally, Enid references how strong she is in terms of her ability to complete this hard manual labour, but also that kind of emotional power.

It often comes through, it seems, through silence for Mooma because Enid and Mooma don't seem to have a very good, or they haven't ended on a particularly good relationship.

But her having to see that her daughter leaves/migrate scenes, there's maybe some suggestions that it was quite painful for her and she doesn't interact with those feelings of pain.

(mouse clicks) Now, we've looked at the idea that they have a lot of strength, these characters, Enid, Mai, and Mooma, but this matriarchal strength isn't without its pressures.

So Enid, she says in scene six, "I have to be man and woman." (mouse clicks) And she also says in scene six to Mai, "I feel a pressure all around here, like something sitting on my chest, crush the life outta me." So she feels some real pressure from the fact that she has to be this strong matriarch.

Mai says, "They, my clients have sucked me dry, my battery dead." She also says this in scene six just after Enid has left.

(mouse clicks) And she also says of her bringing up her child where often she seems quite confident in the way that she brought up her son, but she does say to Del in scene six, "I was hard on my boy.

I didn't hate him, I was trying to save him." And this idea here you can see that she sees, she knows that she was quite hard on her son, and that phrase "Was trying to save him," may be some suggestions that she was not able to do it.

Mooma, she doesn't appear on stage as we discussed earlier, but Enid says that, "Many times you couldn't find Mooma.

She must be just sit, and thinking and dream in them place." Secret places, she says that in scene four.

She says her mother used to take her around various places in Jamaica and show her kind of secret places, and these are places that Mooma went to to sit and dream, as Enid says.

Now I don't want to go into these quotations too much because I would like you to discuss them.

So discuss what might Pinnock be exploring in terms of the expectations placed on each woman, so look at these moments from the play, lots of quotations from scene six, one from scene four, and we've got all three matriarchs presented here.

I'd like you to pause the video and discuss what might Pinnock be exploring in terms of the expectations placed on each woman.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Well done for giving that discussion question the time it deserves, it was also really nice to see some people underlining or annotating on their text itself or making notes on paper.

These are some quite important quotations, which if you are writing about the women in this play, you may want to return to, so really nice to see that those notes are secure.

Keep those notes safe.

I'm just gonna go through one or two of these quotations that seem to be most popular, the most interesting, in terms of your discussion.

So I'm gonna start off with Mooma.

So Enid says of Mooma, "Many times you couldn't find Mooma.

She must be just sit, and thinking and dream in them secret places." Now, we don't learn much about the interior life of Mooma, what she is feeling or thinking because she's not presented on stage, we just get other characters' interpretation of her.

But the strength that she has in terms of bringing up her family, we know that she brings them up in rural poverty.

We know that she works incredibly hard, physically hard, working on the land, but actually we see this moment here potentially of vulnerability where she is dreaming, maybe dreaming of a slightly different life for herself, one that is not so hard.

So even though she is able to face her life with incredible strength, we also see this maybe moment of vulnerability.

I'm also just going to look at the idea of Mai because lots of people said, "It's actually interesting to look at this quotation again because Mai is often presented as so strong and someone that other characters rely on." But actually in scene six, Mai says, "they, my clients have sucked me dry.

My battery dead." She's feeling incredibly tired by having to be this central character to so many different people and all of their different problems, so we know that Mai's a very, very skilled obeah woman but, potentially, that here it's coming at some cost.

Again, as I say, I only picked out a few ideas that people were exploring in terms of these quotations because they are so incredibly rich, and it's lovely to see that you've got all those ideas noted down either on your text, bit of paper, on your laptop, so that you can return to these quotations and to these women.

(mouse clicks) Now Pinnock presents three established matriarchs, but she also presents Del as a future mother and obeah woman.

like Enid, Mai, and Mooma, she, Del, prepares for this role alone.

Viv says, "I'll help look after it," the baby, "if you come home." And Del says, "Let me go on with my life, can't you?" This is scene five during their fight about Viv skipping one of her A-level exams. Del says, "I'm finished with men" in scene five, so saying, "I am going to be a single mother, I'm finished with men." Mai goes, this is at the end of the play when Del is preparing for an obeah reading where she's going to read at her mother's palm, and Mai go, she leaves the house, and Del moves back into centre stage and lays out the cards.

So Del is at the centre of the stage, she is going to take control of this obeah reading, she is going to be the obeah woman.

And finally, Del says, with Enid, even during their reconciliation in scene eight they do seem to have a better relationship here.

"I'm not coming home." (mouse clicks) Now I'd like you to discuss these two questions using these four, five references from across the play.

How does Pinnock present Del as a strong matriarch and central to the community? And why might Pinnock present Del in this way? So we've looked at three established matriarchs, we're now looking at one future matriarch, the character of Del.

So ,again, giving these questions the time they deserve so that you can really think about the characterization of Del.

So pause the video and discuss these two questions now.

A lovely discussion there, it's always really nice to think about a character from across the play.

So we've looked at scene five and scene eight, we're really seeing Del's development and her deep characterization by Pinnock.

So how does Pinnock present Del as a strong matriarch and central to the community? Well, she says she's gonna bring up her child by herself.

She seems adamant, very determined to do that.

She's rejecting not only the baby's father's help, "I'm finished with men," but also her sister's help, "I'll help look after the baby." And Del says, "Let me get on with my own life." She wants to do it.

And she's also saying at the end of the play, "Look, I'm not going to come home." So it might be potentially easier for her to raise the baby at home because she would have the support Enid, but she has decided not to do that.

But she's also central to the community because she is going to become this obeah woman, we learn at the end of the play that Mai has a terminal illness, that she's going to die, but also that Del is a very skilled obeah woman, that it's a kind of gift within her.

So we can see how she's going to become central to the community, and people are gonna turn to her in times of crisis, just as Enid has at the end of the play turn to Del, who is her daughter, yes, but she's turning to her as an obeah woman in a time of crisis.

And why might Pinnock present Del in this way? Well, in some ways Del and Enid, it seems to me a bit of a resolution between the two characters.

The idea that Del has seen her mother, this incredibly strong matriarch, and how Del is going to become this strong matriarch as well.

Del has also seen Mai, this incredibly strong obeah woman, and, again, Del is going to mimic that, she's going to become obeah woman.

So I saw lots of people thinking, "Well, actually we can see echoes of two other characters, characters who Del has had quite a lot of conflict with throughout the play, but actually we can see Del now assuming their roles." So in some ways it feels like a really nice resolution, hopeful resolution for Del at the end of the play.

(mouse clicks) Now a check for understanding, just so that we can gather all of that amazing discussion we just had about the matriarchs in "Leave Taking", just so we can really secure that in our minds.

So Pinnock balances ideas of matriarchal strength with expectations of vulnerability.

Is this true or false? Pause a video and select your response now.

Well done, if you selected true.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it, A, Pinnock wants to explore that matriarchs in "Leave Taking" are in fact powerless women who lack support, or, B, Pinnock explores the intensity and demands of the strength required from the matriarchs in "Leave Taking".

Pause a video and select your response now.

Well done if you selected B.

So she's looking at the intensity and demands of the strength required from the matriarchs, she's not looking at the idea that they are powerless, that will be too strong a rejection of the idea of their matriarchal strength, but she's just looking at the intensity and the demands and what that can do to them.

(mouse clicks) Now, I've got a table here where we've got each of the matriarchs, Enid, Mai, Mooma and Del, and I've got a subheading.

So the first one is Pinnock presents character as a strong matriarch because.

And the second, Pinnock presents, you're going to put the character in, as a strong matriarch but.

So I'd like you to complete the sentence data for each matriarch, but I would like you to use a reference to the text to support each sentence.

Now you'll really be able to do this well because we've looked at so many references throughout our discussion, and you've had your copy of "Leave Taking" next to you throughout.

So really rely on these references, just as you did in your discussion, when you are completing this table.

So pause a video and complete the two tasks now.

Welcome back and well done for completing that table so clearly, but also capturing all of the really complex ideas we had during our discussion throughout this learning cycle.

Now I'd like to just look at a section of Alex's table, so he's filled it in just like you have.

And we're just looking at his section where he's looking at Enid as the matriarch, and where he says, "Pinnock presents Enid as a strong matriarch but.

." And this is how Alex completed his sentence.

"Pinnock presents Enid as a strong matriarch but she breaks down in scene six, not only because of her grief for her own mother, but also because of the pressure of her day-to-day life." So really nice section there of Alex's table.

(mouse clicks) Now Alex's sentence completes the sentence starter, so it's got a full stop at the end, he's completed that full sentence.

And he also includes a reference to the text, so he's got a very short quotation from scene six.

So it's a really nice way, really clear sentence, but also anchored in the text.

Now I'd like you to self-assess each sentence in your table using Alex's checklist to guide you.

Pause a video and self-assess each sentence in your table, using Alex's checklist to guide you now.

Well done for completing that self-assessment so carefully, saw some people adding in full stops here and there, and some people thinking, "Ah, I didn't note down which scene actually that quotation came from." Or "Oh, I haven't got a quotation here for this particular matriarch.

I'm gonna use one from earlier in the learning cycle." So now you've got a really complete, accurate table where you are looking at the idea of matriarchal strength, but also balancing it with some ideas of vulnerability or the demands that this places on the matriarchs.

Now we're going to move on to "Leave Taking" as a social commentary, and we're gonna use all the ideas that we explored in learning cycle one, looking at these strong matriarchs when we think, "Well, if Pinnock is presenting the matriarchs in this way, then in what ways is "Leave Taking" a social commentary?" Now, after the dedication to her mother, which we looked at in Learning Cycle One, Pinnock includes two epigraphs.

Now, an epigraph, a reminder, this was one of our keywords, is a short quotation at the beginning of a text which suggests some of its important themes.

So, if a writer has decided, "I'm going to include some epigraphs," always a good idea to look at them because they are going to suggest some of the important themes that will be found in their text.

Now, both of Pinnock's epigraphs are from two feminist critics.

Now, feminist critic, again, one of our key words, one of our key phrases from the beginning.

So the idea is that these critics are looking at literature and looking at literature through the lens of, "Well, what does it say about the role of women and the expectations placed on women in society?" Now, we've got Alice Walker, 1944 to present, and the epigraph is from a collection of essays entitled "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens", about both personal and political issues.

And we've got Simone de Beauvoir, 1908 to 1986, and the epigraph is from a book called "The Second Sex," in which De Beauvoir discusses the treatment of women across history.

So, we've got the dedication and then two epigraphs, one from Alice Walker and one from Simone De Beauvoir, who are both feminist critics.

Now, we're going to explore these epigraphs in more detail now but just as a point, at this point in the lesson, I want to say, you can of course talk about the epigraphs if you are writing about "Leave Taking," you can talk about the dedication.

These are part of Pinnock's work, part of our interpretation of "Leave Taking" can rely on the dedication that she's got there and the epigraphs, so you don't need to think of these, "Oh, I can only talk about the eight scenes of 'Leave Taking.

'" You can talk about these moments in the text as well, they are important in terms of our understanding of the text.

Now, a text which explores and critiques particular problems in society is called a social commentary and, obviously, our objective today is to consider, "Well, is 'Leave Taking,' how is 'Leave Taking' a social commentary on the experiences of women?" (mouse clicks) Now, I'd like you to consider Pinnock's epigraphs and the presentation of the matriarchy which we looked at in Learning Cycle One, and discuss what social issues might Pinnock be commentating on.

So pause the video and discuss this question now.

Welcome back after a really nice critical discussion there, thinking about, "Well, how is 'Leave Taking' a social commentary? What social issues might Pinnock be commentating on?" And I absolutely agree that most of you said, "Okay, well, I think she's commentating on women's experiences in 1980s Britain." Maybe particularly black British women's experiences of 1980s Britain, because we've got these epigraphs, we know they're by feminist critics, and we know that they consider literature and think about, well, the role of women.

And we can also see that central, central to Pinnock's work is the presentation of the matriarch 'cause we've got so many different really strong women.

So, really, Pinnock's focus seems to be the idea that she wants to comment on women's experiences.

Now, Alex wants to answer this question, "How does Pinnock explore ideas around women's experiences?" And he's really pleased because he has been looking at the epigraphs, he's been looking at the presentation of the matriarchy, so this essay question really suits where his head is at at the moment, 'cause he's been thinking about loads of different really interesting ideas about women's experiences.

(mouse clicks) Now, he starts by drafting his thesis statement and three topic sentences, 'cause he knows these can be the foundation for his essay, and he'll write something really interesting if he's got his argument already there and three topic sentences, clear ideas for each of his paragraphs.

(mouse clicks) Now, comparing thesis statements to topic sentences can be a useful way to understand the purpose of each.

Now, a thesis statement, it's the overarching argument of the entire essay, whereas the topic sentence explains the purpose of an individual paragraph.

A thesis statement is supported by the entire text, whereas a topic sentence is supported by moments in the text.

A thesis statement is found in your introduction, whereas a topic sentence is found at the start of each main body paragraph.

So, Alex's just reminding himself, "Well, what does a thesis statement do and what does a topic sentence do?" so that he can draught some really, really strong topic sentences and he can draught one really strong thesis.

(mouse clicks) Now, I'd like you to consider the thesis statements in contrast to the topic sentences and discuss what are the differences.

Now, these all focus on the essay question about women's experiences, how does Pinnock present women's experiences? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back after looking at these thesis statements and topic sentences so, so carefully, and really refining and showing off your knowledge of these foundational aspects of an essay.

(mouse clicks) So some ideas you might have had.

So, this first thesis statement, you can see that it is an idea supported by the whole text, so the idea that the matriarchs are presented as strong but actually it comes at a cost.

This student is not pinpointing any particular scene, but instead thinking, "I want an argument that can supported by the whole text." The topic sentence, looking at the opening scenes and looking at the character of Enid.

Well, this focuses on specific scenes in the text so it can't be a thesis, because it's not the foundation for a whole argument of an essay, but it would be a really, really nice topic sentence.

The second thesis statement about Pinnock's five characters, four of them being women, and looking at the presentation and critiquing of society's expectations.

Again, this is an idea supported by the whole text, it's not looking at any particular scene, any particular character, but thinking about the text as a whole.

And, finally, this topic sentence here, despite their conflict, Pinnock connects the characters of Enid and Del through their determination to parent their children independently.

This is looking at a specific idea in the text, two characters, Enid and Del, and their idea of parenting their children independently.

So, it'd make a really, really nice paragraph but it wouldn't be the foundation for a full essay.

(mouse clicks) Now, just to secure our understanding of this idea of a thesis statement and a topic sentence, so that we can write really, really powerful examples of each.

Alex has sat down and he's written down a thesis statement and a topic sentence, and I want you to work out which is which.

So, we've got, in scene six, Pinnock explores the expectations of strength placed on both Enid and Mai.

And then we've got, the centrality of women in Pinocchio's "Leave Taking" sees it become a social commentary.

Her epigraphs, both by feminist critics, suggest the importance of women's experiences to her text.

So, pause the video and identify which one is the thesis and which one is the topic sentence.

Pause the video and select your responses now.

Well done if you identified that in scene six Pinnock explores the expectations of strength placed on Enid and Mai as the topic sentence, and then we've got the centrality of women in Pinnock's "Leave Taking" sees it become social commentary.

We've got a thesis.

Lots of people also noted how many of the keywords from today's lesson Alex used in his thesis.

He's used them all really, really accurately and he's actually looked at the epigraphs in his thesis, which is of course something you can do to ground your analysis of the rest of the play, so it's a really powerful thesis there where Alex is really picking out some keywords to make sure that his argument is precise, accurate, but also pretty complex.

(mouse clicks) So, it is now over to you.

Just as Alex has written a thesis statement and his topic sentences, you are going to do that now.

Remember that our essay question is, how does Pinnock explore ideas around women's experiences? I'd like you to plan and write your thesis statement, trying to use some of those keywords, and remember that it needs to be an overarching argument supported by the whole text.

And then you're going to plan and write three topic sentences, so not three paragraphs, just three topic sentences.

And in this way you will have the foundation for an excellent, excellent essay.

So, pause the video, get your pen, your paper, your laptop, whatever it is that you're going to write on.

Lots of people reaching for "Leave Taking." Absolutely, that's what you will need as well.

Consider the entire discussion, the entire lesson, all the ideas we've looked at throughout Learning Cycle One and Learning Cycle Two to help you to support, write your thesis statement and topic sentences.

And I will see you back here after you have written your thesis statement, your topic sentence.

I cannot wait to hear all of your ideas.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

It was such a pleasure to see people thinking hard and then writing hard.

We've got such a range of different thesis statements in answer to this question, and some really powerful clear topic sentences.

I can see we can get some really interesting paragraphs out of these thesis statements and topic sentences.

(mouse clicks) Now, I'd just like you to consider Alex's thesis again and you're going to consider your own.

So we know that Alex used a lot of keywords and he had a clear overarching argument.

He wrote, "The centrality of women in Pinnock's 'Leave Taking' sees it become social commentary.

Her epigraphs, both by feminist critics, suggest the importance of women's experiences to her text." Now we've got the overarching argument of the entire essay, he's going to look at "Leave Taking" as social commentary and the centrality of women.

It's supported by the entire text, absolutely, and we've got some really beautiful use of keywords there.

So, I would like you to self-assess your own thesis against the checklist.

Pause the video and self-assess now.

Well done, it was lovely to see people really holding themselves to a high account.

I saw a few people adding in reference to the epigraphs and just making sure that their use of the word 'social commentary' was accurate.

Now, let's look at our topic sentences as well.

So we're going to consider one of Alex's topic sentences, the one we saw from the check for understanding.

In scene six Pinnock explores the expectations of strength placed on Enid and Mai, I really like how that discussion that we had in Learning Cycle One obviously informed Alex's topic sentence here, and I know that was the case for a lot of you as well.

Now, I'd like you to self-assess your own topic sentence against the checklist.

So we've got here that Alex has explained the purpose of his individual paragraph, he wants to look at the expectations of strength, and it's supported by moments in the text.

Well, absolutely, because he's looking at scene six, he wants to use those quotations from scene six.

So self-assess your own topic sentence against the checklist.

Pause the video and complete that self-assessment now.

Well done for completing that self-assessment of those topic sentences really, really carefully.

Saw some people just thinking, "Actually, is this a clear idea? Maybe I actually want to refer to a particular scene or particular character instead, and just editing some of their work." You now have a thesis statement and three topic sentences which would answer the question, how does Pinnock explore or present women's experiences? So you could use this as a jumping-off point, you could write the entire essay, or you could just use it to return to as revision to think, "What were all those complex ideas I had about women's experiences? Let me just remind myself of them." So, keep that plan really, really safe.

In summary, "Leave Taking" is dedicated to Pinnock's mother.

"Leave Taking" starts with two epigraphs from two feminist critics.

Enid, Mai, Mooma, and Del are all presented as strong matriarchs.

Enid, Mai, Mooma, and Del's experiences could reflect the expectations of strength placed on Caribbean matriarchs, and "Leave Taking" could be interpreted as social commentary on the experiences of women.

It has been such a pleasure to work through today's lesson together and hear all of your fantastic ideas.

I look forward to seeing you next time.