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Year 10 - English

Planning an essay about the character of Brod in 'Leave Taking'

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 plan an essay on the theme of belonging as explored through the character of Brod in 'Leave Taking'.

Key Notes

  • Annotate an essay question so you know its focus.
  • A successful plan follows a clear structure.
  • A thesis is a clear overarching argument supported by the whole text.
  • Topic sentences state a paragraph's main idea.
  • Concluding sentences focus on the writer's intentions and link to your topic sentence, without repeating it.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • thesis: The overarching argument to an essay, supported by the entire text.
  • topic sentence: The first sentence of a paragraph. It states the paragraph's main idea.
  • concluding sentence: The final sentence of a paragraph. It comes to a conclusion about the paragraph's main idea, focusing on writer's intentions.
  • main quotations: Quotations which support your topic sentence, and that require analysis.
  • supporting quotations: Quotations which support your topic sentence, but don't require analysis.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Concluding sentences are the same as conclusions.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Annotate an essay question so you know its focus. A successful plan follows a clear structure.

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: Concluding sentences are the same as conclusions. Correction: Concluding sentences conclude a single paragraph. Conclusions come at the end of a full essay.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 English guide library.