Hello there.

Mr. Barnsley here.

Fantastic to see you today.

Thank you for joining me as we continue our deep dive into Winsome Pinnock's "Leave Taking." In today's lesson, we're gonna be looking at the character of Mai, the obeah woman, and specifically her bedsit, one of the two major settings in the play.

You are gonna need your copy of the text in front of you.

That's Winsome Pinnock's "Leave Taking" published by Nick Hern Books.

We're gonna be looking at the text in detail.

I'm also gonna be assuming some prior knowledge here, that you've read the play before, that you know some of the characters, you know the plot.

So if you aren't at that place, if you are not confident with the plot of the play, you might want to revise that before you start this lesson.

Alright, if you are ready to go and so am I, let's dive in, let's get started.

Alright, by the end of today's lesson then, you are gonna be able to explain how Winsome Pinnock presents Mai as a character caught between two different worlds, but how that she uses the description of the bedsit, Mai's accommodation, to show this.

Alright, let's dive into some of our keywords.

So one of those is bedsit.

Really important that we understand what this is 'cause it's really important to the setting.

So a bedsit is a small, one-room apartment where all living facilities, so like sleeping, cooking, living space, they're all in one room together.

The only thing that would be separate would be the bathroom.

All other spaces in a bedsit are going to be together.

Next word, hopefully you remember this, is obeah.

This is a spiritual practise from the Caribbean that involves folk magic, healing rituals and is often linked to African traditions.

Our next word is transience.

And this is a state of being temporary or not permanently settled.

It can often reflect feelings of instability or uncertainty.

And another thing to keep your eye out for is the Windrush generation.

These were Caribbean migrants who moved to Britain between the years of 1948 and 1971.

And they'd often face challenges linked to identity, belonging, and cultural adjustment.

So we're gonna start today's lesson by thinking about Mai's bedsit.

It's a really important setting.

We know there's only two different sets used in "Leave Taking" and this is one of them.

So we're gonna think about understanding it, understanding why it might have been used.

And then we're gonna take our understanding and our analysis that we do in the first part of the lesson to do some writing about the character of Mai and the wider theme of belonging.

So let's start by understanding Mai's bedsit, then.

So let's start with a discussion.

So straight over to you.

If you're working by yourself, you can do this independently.

Otherwise you can speak with a partner or a small group.

I want you to discuss what you remember about Mai's bedsit.

We've already said it's one of the major settings in the play.

What do you remember about it and the purpose it serves as a location in the play? Alright, over to you now.

Pause the video, have a little bit of a think, have a discuss if you've got someone to discuss with and press play when you've got some ideas.

Welcome back.

I wonder if you said anything similar to what you are about to see on the screen.

Did you mention that, first of all, it is important because it's the place where Mai lives and it's very small.

We know a bedsit, one room.

Okay, you might have said something like that.

Well done if you also said that not only is it the place where Mai lives, but it's also where she works.

We know that she has people come around to her house and she works there.

We also know it's a place of sanctuary and support for those in need.

We know Brod goes there when Enid kicks him out, we know it's where Del lives when she runs away from home.

And it's actually where Del ends up living when she becomes an obeah woman, just like Mai.

So Mai works from home 'cause she does her obeah readings there and that's where Del ends up living when she becomes an obeah woman too.

So well done if you mention any of these things.

Really clear from what we can see on the screen that this is a really important set.

It represents a lot as a location, but it also represents a lot to the characters and tells us about the characters.

So that's onto our next question then.

What does Mai's bedsit tell us about her specifically as a character? So what do you think we learn about Mai from her bedsit, from the place where she lives and works? Pause the video, over to you to discuss this one.

Again, if you've got a partner, you can discuss with them.

Otherwise you can just think through this independently.

Pause the video, give it a go and press play when you've got some ideas.

Welcome back.

Again, I'm sure you had lots of fantastic ideas here.

Did you say something like, well, she must not be very financially well off.

It's very small, it's very basic, sparsely furnished.

It reflects the financial struggle that Mai faces.

I wonder if any of you talked about how it could suggest she's unhappy or depressed.

It doesn't feel like a particularly comfortable space.

It's very cluttered.

It could suggest emotional isolation or unhappiness.

I wonder if you managed to bring in one of our keywords, that is about transience.

She's in a transient state, perhaps.

Great idea if you managed to say this.

It feels like a very temporary space.

You know, it's small.

You would think maybe she's hoping that she won't be there forever.

Small, uncomfortable, maybe she's in this transient space in between two places.

And this, as we talked about when we looked at this as a keyword, can reflect uncertainty or transition or not feeling like you are anywhere.

You know, you are in between two states.

And we know, obviously she practises obeah, and we see this is reflected in the the bedsit.

There's lots of spiritual items, and these could hint that she's trying to seek some control or potentially seek some guidance through faith, through her obeah.

Some really interesting ideas on the screen there.

Particularly those two, the final two bullet points.

So if you didn't discuss those, it might be worthwhile taking a moment to note some of those ideas down because they are some really interesting ideas that we might want to bring into our analysis and our understanding of Mai that we gather through her bedsit.

Now, when we first meet Mai, she's initially presented as a character who is failing, who is in failing health.

And she lives in a very cluttered and messy home.

We've talked about this.

She lives in a bedsit, which we know is a small, one-room flat where all the facilities are in one place.

It could look a little bit like something that you can see on the screen there.

That's an example of a block of bedsit accommodation.

And it could demonstrate two things.

So we've talked about on that last slide, it could represent transient.

It's suggested that Mai potentially shares the wider space, the building with others.

She references a landlady she doesn't want to upset, 'cause she doesn't want to have a reason to be evicted.

And it gives this sense of insecurity that she doesn't quite feel secure where she is.

That she's potentially kind of in between kind of where she came from, from the Caribbean.

But she's not quite in a particularly settled space in the UK where she's now moved.

But of course, really interestingly, we know that for other characters, this bedsit is a symbol of stability and security and sanctuary.

So we can see that this one setting, this one, this set, of the bedsit can represent different things to different people.

Even things that feel quite contrasting, transience and stability feel like they're opposites.

Yet here we see it can represent different things to different people.

Alright, remind yourself or remind a partner.

How does Mai's bedsit offer different character stability? Pause the video, have a quick think and then press play.

We've already discussed this in the lesson, so this should just be jogging your memory.

Over to you.

Press play when you're done.

Welcome back.

You may have mentioned the characters of Del or Brod, both two characters there who kind of come to Mai's bedsit when they kind of feel that they've been rejected by others.

So bedsits like Mai's were the first home for many Windrush migrants.

So Mai, we've discussed, is a Windrush migrant.

She moved from the Caribbean from Jamaica during that period starting in 1948.

They were only intended to be temporary homes, but very soon they became permanent because members of the Windrush generation struggled to find work.

So it was difficult, or some members of the Windrush generation struggled to find work.

So it was difficult to move out of what, to get the money to afford to move into something bigger and move out of this temporary accommodation.

So as such, we could say that Pinnock uses Mai's bedsit to symbolise the ability of many Windrush migrants to bring permanency to their lives in Britain whilst retaining many of their Caribbean customs and traditions.

It's interesting because it was supposed to be temporary but it ended up becoming quite permanent.

So these became homes, but almost transient homes, this kind of space between what was supposed to be temporary but never quite managed to move on to something more permanent.

But also this space between Caribbean, where they've just arrived from, and the Britain that they're making home.

So really interesting what this bedsit can symbolise, almost this transient space.

So in some ways we could say the description of Mai's bedsit highlights a character that is caught between these two worlds, her new life in Britain, but also her old life in Jamaica.

Alright, we've done lots of fantastic thinking so far.

Let's take a moment to pause and check that we've understood everything that we've been discussing so far.

Which of the below statements about Mai's bedsit would you say are correct? Is it A: it is a place of stability for many characters? Is it B: it highlights that Mai is doing well financially? Is it C: it highlights her total acceptance of British culture? Or is it D: there are lots of references and links back to her Jamaican heritage? Pause the video, have a think and press play when you've got some answers.

Well done if you said A and D.

Yes, this is a place of stability for many, but actually, for Mai, we could argue it's a space of transience for her, representing how she's caught between two worlds, her new life in Britain, but it also has lots of references and links back to her Jamaican heritage.

So we are first introduced to Mai's bedsit in Scene One when Enid, Del and Viv come to visit for an obeah reading.

What kind of things do they find in Mai's bedsit? You might want your copy of the text open here to remind yourselves of Scene One.

So pause the video, open Scene One and just look for some of the kinds of things that they find in Mai's bedsit.

Alright, pause the video, press play when you're done.

Welcome back.

I'm gonna share three things on screen that you might have said.

So you might have mentioned chickens, not actually inside the bedsit, but African figures, lucky charms. Now I want you to think about, let's use the examples on the board, but of course if you want to, you can think about some of the other things that you found.

How could the presence of these things potentially suggest that Mai is a character who is caught between two worlds in this transient state.

What do you think? Pause the video, have a think in pairs or by yourself.

How might some of the presence of some of these items suggest Mai is a character caught in two worlds? Over to you.

Welcome back.

So I'm gonna go through some of the examples on the screen.

You might have discussed them, you might have discussed others.

So the chickens, we know that Mai is keeping chickens in the garden of her bedsit.

That's something very unusual for Deptford, but it's a very clear link to her more rural Jamaican upbringing.

So in Jamaica, in rural Jamaica, much more likely to have been keeping livestock.

So it seems unusual, it seems that's not something you might expect in south east London, but actually it's a throwback, a reference, a clear link to her rural Jamaican upbringing.

Now the African figures could represent the real kind of variety and diversity of Mai's beliefs and her background and how it's influenced by lots of different things.

Obviously, Mai herself came from, migrated from Jamaica, but there is obviously the history of the slave trade of moving people, the trade of people from Africa to the Caribbean, which shows that Mai's background, her beliefs have been inspired by many, many different things.

We'd see objects, links to Christianity.

We see traditional African beliefs and obeah.

So really interesting, and I think it shows us a lot about how Mai is.

Her beliefs are placed from many different worlds.

And we're consuming even further on that.

When I think of these lucky charms. Mai's House is full of obeah artefacts that speak of her role as an obeah woman but also link back to her Jamaican heritage.

Okay, really, really interesting.

I think Mai is such an interesting character and we can see this represented through the setting that she is placed in.

Alright, over to you for our first task, then.

We're gonna read the opening stage directions of Scene One, which describe Mai's bedsit.

And then I want you to annotate it using the prompts to guide you.

Okay, let's read through it together.

Mai's bedsit.

Very messy.

The table centre stage is covered in papers and playing cards scattered all over, a glass of water and the remains of a half burnt candle.

At the table, two chairs.

Mai sits in the armchair.

She wears a cardigan over her dress.

She's slumped in the armchair drinking from a bottle of stout.

On her lap is a book which she picks up, finds her page and tries to read, having to hold it away from her and close her eyes tight.

She picks up a pen and starts to write a note on the book, then throws her pen down.

So two prompts to get you annotating.

What do we learn about Mai from the use of this setting at the start of the play? And what does Pinnock indicate to the audience about Mai from these opening stage directions? Alright, use these two questions.

Put as many ideas on the page as you can.

Pause the video, give it a go and press play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

Let's think about some of the things that we might have learned about Mai from the use of setting at the start of the play.

So you might have said that playing cards and the half burnt candle could link to the obeah.

So could link to some of the practises.

You might have says drinking from the bottle of stout is typically associated with Jamaica.

So again, links to her heritage.

You might have talked about the fact there are two chairs could suggest that Mai frequently conducts obeah readings for her clients.

And this is also a link back to her past in Jamaica.

And what does Pinnock indicate to the audience about Mai from these opening stage directions? Well, here are some things that you might have said: She "slumped," again, perhaps indicating unhappiness, dissatisfaction with her life.

This is developed further when she's drinking alcohol alone.

The very messy nature of the flat could suggest a reluctance to put down roots here.

Thinking that word "transience", it felt quite temporary.

She's looking for something more permanent or whether she's thinking, is Britain right for her? She's perhaps struggling financially.

We've talked about having to wear a cardigan over layers of clothing.

Perhaps suggesting heating isn't on.

Well done if you said anything that you can see on the screen.

Of course, you might have had other ideas as well, and they are perfectly valid as long as they can be justified through sections of the text.

Alright, onto our second learning cycle then.

And we're going to think about how we can write about Mai and belonging using Mai's bedsit as, kind of evidence to support our interpretations.

So Alex has been tasked with answering this question, how does Pinnock use setting to present Mai as a character caught between two worlds? Now Alex draughts the following thesis statement to answer the question: He writes, "Pinnock presents Mai as a character that struggles to feel a sense of belonging in Britain.

Through her presentation of Mai and her home, Pinnock presents a character caught between two worlds.

A character trying to align her Jamaican heritage with her more transient existence as a Windrush migrant in Britain." I really like this thesis statement.

Can you tell me what makes Alex's thesis statement so effective? Pause the video, have a think and press play when you've got some ideas.

Welcome back.

Now you might have talked about how this is a really overarching idea, okay.

There's a lot we can say about this.

Its focus on Mai and her home, okay, because we've had that keyword "setting" in the question.

So we want to talk about setting, I've mentioned both those things, and I've talked about a character being caught between worlds, but I've been more specific because I know I want to talk about her Jamaican heritage as being one world.

And then the very specific experience of migrants, particularly Windrush migrants in Britain at this time.

And I've used that keyword "transience" because I think that's gonna be really, really important.

So you can see I've got this overarching argument that's gonna allow me to say lots of interesting things, but it's also keeping me quite focused.

I wanna talk about heritage, I want to talk about migration and the transient nature of moving between two places.

So once Alex has written his thesis statement, of course he's gonna then start diving into some topic sentences.

What makes a good topic sentence? You should have written plenty in your time, so have a think, pause the video, have a think and let me know when you've got some ideas by pressing play.

Welcome back.

I wonder if you said anything like this: That you said it should explain the purpose of an individual paragraph.

So it's gonna explain the purpose, something a bit more specific.

They're gonna be able to be supported by moments from the play.

You're gonna be wanting to use evidence, whether that is stage directions or kind of dialogue said by characters.

But you want, whatever your argument is, you want to be able to support it with moments in the text.

And they are found at the start of each main body paragraph.

So every time you are kind of starting a new paragraph, 'cause you're moving on to a different argument, you want a really clear topic sentence.

Okay, Alex wants to write a paragraph which explains how the presentation of Mai's bedsit explores how Mai is a character caught between two worlds.

Which of the following is the best example of a topic sentence? Is it A: Through the description of Mai's bedsit, Pinnock is able to successfully portray a character caught between two worlds.

In this space we see the physical objects of her identity clashing as she struggles to find belonging? Is it B: Pinnock's use of obeah artefacts like lucky charms clearly show Mai as a character caught in two worlds.

The half-burnt candles contribute to this too? Is it C: Mai's bedsit and her lines in the opening of Scene One clearly show a character at odds with their life in Britain.

They seem to be caught in two worlds? Pause the video.

Which of these is the best topic sentence for the paragraph that Alex wants to write? Press play when you think you've got an idea.

Welcome back.

This was a tricky one 'cause all of these feel like they could be valid topic sentences, but well done if you said A.

A was very specifically about the bedsit, it supported with elements of details, 'cause we're gonna see physical objects within the bedsit.

I think B is too specifically focusing on the actual obeah artefacts.

This might be something that you want to do in a separate paragraph or it might be something that you want to build into as part of this paragraph that Alex has said.

But I think it's probably too specific for the argument that Alex is wanting to make.

And then the third one, I'd say, or C, I'd say is probably too general.

Of Mai's bedsit and her opening lines.

We want our topic sentence to be a little bit more specific because actually, we might want to focus on Mai's dialogue in a separate paragraph.

Well done if you selected A there.

So this is a successful topic sentence that meets the success criteria in the following ways: Well, it explains the purpose of the individual paragraph to talk about Mai's bedsit.

It's supported moments in the text that we're gonna talk about the physical objects within there and how they show that she struggles to find belonging.

And this, we can't really see this here, but we know this would go at the opening, at the start of a main body paragraph.

Alright, over to you then, for our second task in today's lesson, I want you to consider Alex's topic sentence it's on the screen there.

I want you now to discuss how you could develop the following statement using ideas and evidence from the text.

I've got some sentence stems on the screen that could help you to structure your ideas.

So you could say, "I think the presence of obeah items shows that Mai is.

." "The state of the bedsits, and the detail about the.

." de-de-de-de.

"Pinnock is showing Mai's inner conflict between.

." Okay? So there are just some senses to help you.

This is ideally done as a discussion.

If you've got a partner you can discuss with them.

But if you're working by yourself, you can either think through this independently or you might want to turn this into a writing task and note some of your ideas down.

Alright, I want you to bring everything together that we've discussed so far in today's lesson.

We've learned loads, you've had some fantastic ideas.

Let's put it all together for this final task.

Alright, over to you.

Pause the video, give it a go and press play when you are ready to move on.

Alright, welcome back.

Some fantastic work there.

Really love it when I see people looking back through their text to make sure they are giving really specific bits of evidence to support and justify their ideas.

So some things that you might have said: "I think the presence of items like the obeah artefacts such as lucky charms and frankincense and myrrh show that Mai is still deeply connected to her Jamaican heritage.

These items link to her spiritual past, making it clear that she's not fully settled into British life." Or you could have said something similar to this: "The states of the bedsit and the detail about the cardigan to keep warm suggests that Mai is struggling to thrive in Britain.

This shows her financial deprivation and makes her seem as though she's living temporarily, reinforcing her feeling, this feeling of being caught between two cultures." Okay, these are only two of many different ideas that you could have had.

Why don't we take a moment before we finish today, then, to reflect on what wider themes that are linked to the play.

Could we link to the use of setting here? What other themes, what key themes come up to you? Alright, take a moment, pause the video and do some reflection, press play when you're done.

Welcome back.

I really hope there, you were making connections between setting and identity, setting and belonging, setting and culture.

Loads and loads of links you could have made there.

Alright, that's it.

We've reached the end of today's lesson.

We can see a summary of the learning that we've covered at today on the screen.

We've learned that Mai's bedsit represents her struggle between Jamaican heritage and British life.

We've learned that the cluttered state of the bedsit reflects Mai's transient lifestyle and emotional turmoil.

We've also learned that Pinnock uses objects like obeah artefacts to symbolise Mai's connection to her Caribbean roots.

We've learned that the bedsit serves as a place of stability for other characters, despite Mai's own sense of impermanence.

And Pinnock also uses the bedsit to explore themes of belonging and identity, specifically for Windrush migrants.

Really great work today.

Thank you so much for joining me.

I do hope to see you in one of our lessons again in the future.

Have a great day.

Bye-bye.