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Year 10 - English

'Leave Taking': annotating essay questions and writing thesis statements

Leave Taking: a sense of belonging

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils start their exploration of Winsome Pinnock's play, 'Leave Taking'. They first learn about the play's context of 1980s Britain and the Windrush generation before then reading and exploring the full play. They finally explore themes and characters before working on essay writing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to identify the keywords in an essay question about 'Leave Taking' and use them to create a thesis statement.

Key Notes

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

Vocabulary To Learn

  • 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 Mistakes To Avoid

  • Thesis statements and topic sentences are synonymous.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

Essays are extended pieces of writing in which you establish and explain your own ideas. Underlining keywords and annotating an essay question helps direct your thinking.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'thesis'

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

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Thesis statements and topic sentences are synonymous. Correction: Thesis statements are supported by the whole text. Topic sentences give direction and purpose to individual paragraphs.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 English guide library.