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Year 11
Eduqas

Understanding intersectionality in Winsome Pinnock's 'Leave Taking'

I can explain what intersectionality is and how it applies to Winsome Pinnock's ’Leave Taking’

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Year 11
Eduqas

Understanding intersectionality in Winsome Pinnock's 'Leave Taking'

I can explain what intersectionality is and how it applies to Winsome Pinnock's ’Leave Taking’

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Enid’s experiences of oppression and marginalisation are somewhat based on Pinnock’s own mother’s experiences.
  2. Scene Two explores Del and Enid’s differing experiences of oppression and marginalisation.
  3. Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw.
  4. It recognises that oppressions faced by different marginalised groups intersect and create specific experiences.
  5. The universal themes and characters in the play must be balanced by the specific experiences of Pinnock’s characters.

Keywords

  • Intersectionality - a term describing how certain social categories (for example ethnicity, class, gender) can combine together to create unique combinations of disadvantage or advantage

  • Marginalise - when society treats a person or group of people as if they are unimportant, isolating and disempowering them

  • Oppression - unjust treatment, often of a group of people

  • Universal - when audiences, regardless of time period or circumstance, can relate to the ideas or characters in a text

Common misconception

'Leave Taking' is either universal, or about specific experiences and characters.

Like with many texts, we must hold both the idea of Leave Taking's universal themes with the specific experiences of its characters.


To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: Understanding intersectionality in Winsome Pinnock's 'Leave Taking', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Consider how you will discuss and explore the idea of intersectionality. Are there other texts which might provide insight? For example, the experiences of Eva and Sheila in 'An Inspector Calls' as women in the Edwardian era, but Eva is working class and Sheila is upper class.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

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

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Content guidance

  • Contains strong language
  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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.
What do we find out about Enid's upbringing in Jamaica in Scene Four of 'Leave Taking'?
Her mother encouraged her to migrate
Correct answer: She grew up in rural poverty
Her uncle raised her
She was an obeah woman
Brod sent her the money so she could migrate
Q2.
In her introduction to 'Leave Taking', Pinnock tells us about her parents. What do we find out about them?
They were overwhelmed by the welcome they got in England when they migrated
Her father encouraged her writing
Correct answer: They grew up in poverty in Jamaica
Correct answer: They divorced when Pinnock was little
Correct answer: They had been educated to think of Britain as a wonderful place
Q3.
In Scene Two of 'Leave Taking', whilst Brod criticises England, Enid maintains that "England been to me".
Correct Answer: good, Good., Good, good., "good"
Q4.
In Scene Two of 'Leave Taking', Enid slaps Del during a fight. Enid justifies the slap saying, "People grow up in think they can talk to you anyhow. Well, they can't."
Correct Answer: England, "England", england., england, England.
Q5.
In Scene Two of 'Leave Taking', Enid speaks of some of the sacrifices she has made for her children. She tells Del she works hard "so that you can dress like those children who have ".
Correct Answer: fathers, Fathers, "fathers", Fathers., fathers.
Q6.
In Scene Eight of 'Leave Taking', Enid opens up to Del about some of her experiences in England saying, "You could work fifty years with people and they still don't know your name...You don't ".
Correct Answer: exist, Exist, "exist", Exist., exist.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Pinnock drew on some of her mother's experiences in creating the character of Enid in 'Leave Taking'. What similarities can we see between them?
both wanted to become writers
Correct answer: both experienced divorce
both had two children
Correct answer: both migrated to England from Jamaica
Correct answer: both grew up in poverty
Q2.
What does Pinnock say audience members would say to her after the play's first performances of 'Leave Taking'?
how much they related to the character of Mai
that the play inspired them to write too
that the intergenerational conflict was very relatable
that it was a good decision to reduce the cast list to just five
Correct answer: how much they related to the character of Enid
Q3.
In what ways might someone consider 'Leave Taking' universal?
It is about the Windrush scandal which is topical for a contemporary audience
Enid is universally acknowledged to be based on Pinnock's mother
Correct answer: Regardless of time period, audiences can connect to its themes and characters
Enid migrating to England is a universal experience
Correct answer: Its characters and themes remain relevant
Q4.
Artistic Director Madani Younis revived 'Leave Taking' in 2018. What reasons did he give for wanting to revive the play again?
Younis wanted to be the first person to produce 'Leave Taking' on stage
It is his favourite play
He knew the theatre could afford it because Pinnock had reduced the cast list
Correct answer: The play continues to be relevant despite being written in 1987
Correct answer: He considers the play an important example of work by black British playwrights
Q5.
In Scene Two of 'Leave Taking', Del accuses Enid of ignoring racial discrimination in England and simply " and scraping" to her "beloved England".
Correct Answer: bowing, "bowing", Bowing, Bowing., bowing.
Q6.
In her introduction to 'Leave Taking'. Pinnock describes her parents as growing up in "plantation villages where the legacy of enslavement was still evident in the wretched they endured."
Correct Answer: poverty, "poverty", Poverty, Poverty., poverty.