Hello and welcome.

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

Now, what this lesson focuses on specifically is what context is and how we can use this effectively in our essays.

So we'll be focusing on "Small Island" and colonial attitudes.

So let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll understand how context is used in written responses.

So before we get on with the lesson, there are a few keywords that we need to be aware of that you will see popping up in the lesson.

These are colonialism, weave, diaspora, stage adaptation and Windrush generation.

In a minute, you'll see the definitions on the screen.

Pause the video so you have time to read and make sure you understand them.

So our lesson and analytical response to colonial attitudes in "Small Island" looks like this.

So we're gonna start by thinking what context actually is and what we mean by this term.

And then we're going to look at meaningful context.

So how we can use context in an effective way to really elevate our essay writing.

So let's start by what is context? So context is an important part of understanding and writing about texts.

Now, when we're thinking about "Small Island," we need to really remember that it is a stage adaptation from the 2004 novel by Andrea Levy.

So what this means is that we actually have to consider both the context of Levy's original novel and also the context of Edmundson's play.

So it gets a bit tricky, but I'm sure we can do it because they both have their own unique textual features and they both need to be considered.

So we can think about context in four different ways.

The first is historical, and what this means is what was happening when the text was written, and also how this may have influenced the text.

But historical context can also refer to when the play was set as well and what was happening at the time of the setting.

We can also think about literary context.

So with literary context, we're thinking about what has influenced the text style or genre? What do we know about its publication or production? What has the writer done to challenge or develop literary conventions, for example? Then we also have social context, which can be a little bit tricky, but social context really thinks about the big ideas and the themes within a text.

So what were the shared ideas or values of the time? How are these explored in the text? And then we get our biographical context.

Now, biographical is all about the life experiences of the author and how these may have influenced the text.

So what I would like you to do is to discuss how could you answer these questions in relation to "Small Island." Now remember, we are thinking about both the novel writer, Levy, and also the playwright, Edmundson, in our considerations of context.

So pause the video so you've got time to discuss or you may just want to think about your answers to this question.

Off you go.

Great, well done, everyone.

I saw lots of you kind of grappling with those ideas and also being able to refer to both writers, so well done, everyone.

So for historical, you may have picked up on the settings, which are really important in this text.

So we know that it's set in both World War II and also the Windrush migration.

And we know that the stage adaptation was performed the year after the Windrush scandal.

Now, this is really significant because obviously, the audience that watches the stage adaptation will have this new context in their mind, so it would change how they respond to the play with that fresh in their heads.

Then our literary context.

So you might have thought about the fact it was originally a novel by Andrea Levy and then the fact it is a stage adaptation by Helen Edmundson.

Now, social context.

So the historical and contemporary attitudes towards migration and migrants is explored through both the novel and the play, and there is an exploration of class, gender and power through our characters.

And then our biographical context.

So we know that Levy's parents were first-generation immigrants and she is a second-generation immigrant and she has talked quite openly about this.

This really impacted and inspired her to write the novel "Small Island." So we've got our context grid here.

Can you identify which type of context is missing? Yeah, well done to everyone that noticed it was the social context, we were missing the social context in this grid.

Let's keep going.

So we have two students here, we have Sam and Andeep, and they have both written about two different types of context.

So let's read those answers together first.

So let's read Sam's.

"Levy describes how her mother was unable to use her teaching qualification in England and had to retrain." And then Andeep.

"When writing 'Small Island,' Levy wanted to challenge the male bias often associated with Windrush and World War II narratives and therefore chose female protagonists to foreground their stories." Now, which aspect of context does each of these pupils explore? Pause the video so you can read through the answers again and make, read the answers again and make your decision.

Great, let's feedback and check we've all got the same.

So obviously, Levy and Sam's response, Sam talks about how Levy is talking about her mother's experiences, so she's linking to her personal experience.

And what that means is that this context is biographical, it's based on the writer's life.

And then in the second part, Andeep is talking about literary conventions.

So he's talking about how very often we hear the voice of male protagonists and how actually in "Small Island," Levy has chosen to challenge this with some of her protagonists.

So in terms of those conventions, it refers to literary.

Well done, everyone.

So well done, everyone, we have reached our first task and what I would like you to do is I would like you to read the contextual information on "Small Island" that will be found in the additional materials.

So make sure you read this thoroughly.

And then as you are reading, I would like you to complete the table making notes about contextual details that support an understanding of the play.

So as you read, add some specific details into that context grid.

So it's time to pause the video.

So you've got lots of time to get this task completed.

Off you go.

Good work, everyone.

I'm sure some of you have started to notice that context is such a big thing to look at, and actually, there's lots of information that you could have put in here, so it's about picking and choosing the most relevant.

Okay, so it's about you making those choices.

So in a moment, I'm gonna share this grid with you, which has some examples.

Now, you may have some different things, which is absolutely fine, or you may want to choose this opportunity to add to your own grid.

So for the historical, you may have picked up on the fact that the novel and the play explore the history of the Windrush migration and its impact on the Caribbean diaspora.

In terms of literary, you may have talked about Levy's desire to write and contribute to the narratives that were missing from her youth and her dedication to foregrounding the stories of Caribbean diaspora.

So for Levy, in terms of those literary conventions, she really wanted to foreground and highlight the ones that she felt were missing from other texts.

And then our social context.

So we know that Edmundson wrote the stage adaptation in 2019 and that's when it was first performed and this was right in the middle of the Windrush scandal.

And this made the messages from the original novel even more poignant.

And obviously, the way people responded to them, the attitudes and values, was a really important part of the the play's production and performance.

And then biographical, obviously, being a second-generation immigrant, Levy grew up navigating the complexities of identity and cultural fusion.

So we know that Levy's biographical information is incredibly important contextual information that we can refer to when we are talking about the play.

Okay, we're on the second part of our lesson and this is all about using meaningful context.

So now, we understand what context is, we need to look at how we can use that.

So a pupil wanted to answer this question, how do both Edmundson and Levy foreground the stories of Jamaican migrants? So I would like you to help this pupil and discuss what context might be helpful to answer this question.

As ever, pause the video so you've got time to discuss or think about your ideas.

Okay, let's gather up some of our answers and share them now.

So in terms of how they foreground the stories of Jamaican migrants, we could think about literary context.

So obviously, the way that Levy introduces the character of Hortense and how it challenges the male bias in Windrush narratives.

We could also mention this piece of context, how Edmundson's stage adaptation was first performed in 2019 in the shadow of the Windrush scandal, which makes the messages even more pertinent.

So if we're thinking about this foregrounding the stories of Jamaican migrants, you know, the fact that this play happened in the time of the Windrush scandal is all about foregrounding those specific experiences.

We all may also want to use some of Levy's biographical context, so the fact that she's a second-generation migrant, and how she uses her life experience to explore the complexities of this.

And then finally, we could even with this, thinking about foregrounding the experiences of Jamaican migrants, how the character of Hortense shows the legacy of colorism and colonial attitudes which Levy herself also experienced.

So again, we've got that biographical information coming in there, and actually, that one also refers to the historical context too.

So let's look at Sofia's response together first.

So Sofia writes a response and she includes some context, so let's read together.

"Both Levy and Edmundson establish Hortense as a powerful protagonist who narrates her own narrative.

Edmundson's clever use of direct address not only creates a rapport with the audience, but furthers Levy's initial intention.

Contextually, we know that Levy wants to challenge the male bias in Windrush narratives and uses her own life experiences to explore the complexities around these historical narratives." So there's a lot of good stuff in there, Sofia, but let's just have a little think.

The problem with this paragraph is it's got some fantastic ideas, but what it doesn't do is it doesn't weave context into the paragraph.

You'll notice where it's been highlighted in green, it's just added onto the end, which is fine, but we want our writing to be even better.

So we want to be thinking about weaving the context into the paragraph and connecting it to our analysis and inferences so it makes it less skillful if it is just popped on the end of your paragraph.

So Sofia goes away and she redrafts it.

Now this time, you'll see how she really weaves in that context to make her paragraph even better, so let's have a look.

Levy introduces Hortense as a powerful protagonist.

Indeed, Levy uses Hortense to challenge the male bias in Windrush narratives.

So you can see how that context has started to support her initial comment.

This is developed in Edmundson's clever use of direct address, which not only creates a rapport with the audience, but furthers Levy's initial intention to explore the complexities of historical narratives.

So you can see how this is much more skillful.

The context has been used to develop those initial comments and it's weaved throughout, it's not just put on the end.

So now, let's just read Izzy's response together and let's think about how she really weaves in that contextual information.

"Edmundson explores the legacy of colonial attitudes through the character of Hortense.

Hortense and Ms. Jewel discuss her skin, which is the colour of warm honey.

This metaphor emphasises the light colour of Hortense's skin and in turn reveals the colorism present in society.

This directly relates to levy's own life experiences and delves into the complexities around identity and privilege." So what I would like you to do is pause a video and discuss how does Izzy weave context into their paragraph.

Off you go.

Well done.

Let's just share our answers here.

So we can see here that Izzy's used that keyword, the colonial attitude in her starting sentence.

So already from the outset, Izzy is using context.

And she's also used that context.

She's also used that context to really develop the inference.

So we've got this lovely analysis of the metaphor and what this tells us, and then she's linked it to Levy's own experiences.

So this directly relates to Levy's own life experience and delves into the complexities around identity and privilege.

So what Izzy's done there is really use that context to develop the inference and analysis, which is just fantastic.

Let's look at two more student responses.

As we read together, I just want you to think about which student effectively weaves context into their response.

So let's look at Andeep first.

So Andeep has written, "Ms. Jewel repeats that Hortense will have a golden life.

Levy experienced colorism growing up.

It reflects the shadist hierarchy in colonial attitudes." Now, let's read Jacob's.

"Ms. Jewel repeats that Hortense will have a golden life perhaps reflecting Levy's own experience of colorism.

The connotations of wealth reflect the colonial attitudes of a shadist society." Okay, so pause the video so you can decide which student weaves context into their response.

Well done to everyone that said Jacob, that's the right answer.

But let's just have a quick look at Andeep's first, so you can see how Andeep has chosen the quote, "a golden life." But what Andeep has done with the context, they're two separate sentences that don't connect to that first comment.

So Andeep hasn't really weaved context in what he has done is just added some information into his paragraph, he just bolted that context in.

Whereas Jacob, as you can see, he uses the same quote, "the golden life," but that word there perhaps reflecting shows how the context just effortlessly completes that sentence.

And again, the connotations of wealth reflect the colonial attitudes.

So you can see how Jacob's context just flows into the paragraph really nicely.

So some excellent work there from Jacob.

Well done.

So we are on to our second task.

So what I would like you to do now is thinking about everything we have looked at and also the student responses, I would like you to write your own paragraph in answer to the question, how do both Edmundson and Levy foreground the stories of Jamaican migrants? Weave context into your response like our other students have.

And you should refer back to the context grids in task A.

Don't forget you've done a lot of the hard work already by knowing the sorts of information that we can use for this question.

However, if you wish, you can use these points.

So that Levy introduces the character of Hortense, which challenges the male bias in Windrush narratives.

Edmundson's stage adaptation was first performed in 2019 in the shadow of the Windrush scandal, which makes the messages even more pertinent.

Being a second-generation migrant, Levy uses her life experiences to explore the complexities of this.

And finally, the character, Hortense, shows the legacy of colorism and colonial attitudes, which Levy herself also experienced.

So there's lots that you could potentially use there to write your paragraph weaving in that context like we have looked at.

So it's time to pause the video to complete the task.

Good luck.

Well done, everyone.

I could feel how hard you were all working.

It's not an easy task, but well done for using that information that we put in our grids previously and all of the stuff that we have discussed throughout this lesson.

So what I would like you to do is I'd like you to reread your paragraph and just self-assess it using these questions.

Have you selected context relevant to the question? Is the context woven into your response rather than bolted on at the end of the paragraph? And can you identify what type of context you have included? Have you used historical, literary, social, or biographical? You may want to give yourself a what went well and an even better if so you know what you need to improve on for next time.

Well done, everyone, we have made it to the end of the lesson, and what a lot of hard work there was happening there.

So let's just remind ourselves of all of the things we have looked at today because there has been a lot, and context can be quite tricky.

So context can refer to key concepts such as colorism and colonial attitudes, which inform our understanding of the text.

Context refers to historical, social, literary and biographical information.

Context should not be presented as isolated facts.

Context should be relevant to the analysis and woven into the response.

And context should develop your ideas and give an insight into the writer's purpose and intention.

Really excellent work, everyone, and well done for getting to grips with context and how we can use it in our essays.

I look forward to seeing you soon for another fantastic lesson.

Goodbye.