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Year 10
AQA

‘Leave Taking’: annotating essay questions and writing thesis statements

I can identify the keywords in an essay question about ‘Leave Taking’ and use them to create a thesis statement.

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Year 10
AQA

‘Leave Taking’: annotating essay questions and writing thesis statements

I can identify the keywords in an essay question about ‘Leave Taking’ and use them to create a thesis statement.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Essays are extended pieces of writing in which you establish and explain your own ideas.
  2. Underlining keywords and annotating an essay question helps direct your thinking.
  3. It is useful to connect keywords to plot points and themes.
  4. Essays begin with a thesis.
  5. A thesis is an idea supported by the whole text.

Keywords

  • Thesis - The overarching argument to an essay, supported by the entire text.

  • Essay - A piece of writing that explains and develops your own argument.

  • Dramatic methods - The tools a playwright uses to create drama. Examples are setting, stage directions, dialogue and language choices.

  • Annotate - To make and add notes or short explanations to texts or images.

  • Theme - An idea that is explored in a text in a number of different ways to fully explore the complexity of that idea.

Common misconception

Thesis statements and topic sentences are synonymous.

Thesis statements are supported by the whole text. Topic sentences give direction and purpose to individual paragraphs.


To help you plan your year 10 english lesson on: ‘Leave Taking’: annotating essay questions and writing thesis statements, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Consider how you want students to record their ideas for this lesson. They could finish with two complete essay plans, a great resource for revision.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You need access to a copy of Winsome Pinnock's 'Leave Taking' published by Nick Hern Books.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of sexual violence
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
The central character in 'Leave Taking' is Enid. Which of the following are important in terms of Enid's identity?
Correct answer: her Jamaican roots
drinking after her mother dies
Correct answer: her British citizenship
Correct answer: being a mother
being an obeah woman
Q2.
In her introduction to 'Leave Taking', Pinnock describes Enid as " between two worlds."
Correct Answer: caught, Caught, Caught., caught., "caught"
Q3.
In 'Leave Taking', many themes are explored. What is a theme?
A theme is a character the writer creates.
The dialogue a writer includes to express their characters thoughts and feelings
A synonym for a motif - a recurring symbol in a text.
A theme is the plot the writer creates.
Correct answer: An idea that is explored in a text in a number of different ways.
Q4.
In 'Leave Taking', why might Enid's sense of identity be fragile?
Correct answer: she has migrated
Correct answer: her mother dies
Correct answer: her children are about to leave home
she argues with Brod
she wants her husband to return
Q5.
In her introduction to 'Leave Taking', Pinnock says she became "fascinated" by the character of Enid. Why?
Correct answer: her complex relationship with England
Correct answer: her complex relationship with her daughters
her role in the NHS
her divorce
as a way to explore the historical figure, Nanny of the Maroons
Q6.
Why did Pinnock want to make Enid the lead and heroine of her play, 'Leave Taking'?
Previously, only Shakespeare's plays had heroes and heroines.
Pinnock had not seen a single mother in a lead role in a play before.
Pinnock had not seen a heroine talk in tongues on stage before.
Correct answer: Pinnock wanted to establish the idea of a Black British experience.
Correct answer: Pinnock had not seen a character portrayed as a cleaner in a lead role before.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
You will write a number of essays about the play 'Leave Taking'. Match the essay term to its definition.
Correct Answer:essay,A piece of writing that explains and develops an argument.
tick

A piece of writing that explains and develops an argument.

Correct Answer:thesis,Overarching argument to an essay, supported by whole text.
tick

Overarching argument to an essay, supported by whole text.

Correct Answer:topic sentence,First sentence of a paragraph, giving it direction/purpose.
tick

First sentence of a paragraph, giving it direction/purpose.

Q2.
When given an essay question about 'Leave Taking', you should annotate it. What does it mean to annotate an essay question?
To write topic sentences you can use in an essay
Correct answer: To make and add notes or short explanations
To create a thesis statement
To write down the notes you made on the play onto the essay question
To re-write the essay question in your own words
Q3.
Many essay questions about 'Leave Taking' will start with the word "How". What does the "How" in an essay question refer to?
themes
Correct answer: dramatic methods
annotations
the writer
Q4.
Here is an essay question about 'Leave Taking': 'How does Pinnock use the character of Brod to explore ideas about isolation?' What are the key words in the question?
Correct answer: How
Pinnock
Correct answer: Brod
ideas
Correct answer: isolation
Q5.
In what ways is a thesis statement different to a topic sentence?
a thesis statement is shorter
Correct answer: a thesis statement is supported by the whole text
a thesis statement must include quotations
Correct answer: a topic sentence will focus on one specific idea in a text
a topic sentence shouldn't be argumentative, unlike a thesis
Q6.
''Leave Taking' begins with a conflict between Del and Enid, immediately establishing the idea that intergenerational conflict is important to Pinnock's play.' Is this sentence a thesis statement?
Yes - it looks at dramatic methods
Yes - it looks at an important theme
Correct answer: No - it is not supported by the whole text
No - it mentions Pinnock's name
No - it doesn't include quotations