Modern texts: Winsome Pinnock Leave Taking (First teaching 2023, first exam 2025)

The idea

Winsome Pinnock's play, set in 1980s London, explores the lives of Enid and her British-born daughters, Del and Viv. It examines the complexities of cultural identity, generational conflict, and the legacy of the Windrush generation. Students analyse how Pinnock uses dramatic methods to explore themes of belonging, heritage, and sacrifice. Key techniques include the use of dialect (Jamaican Patois and London English), dramatic monologues to reveal character, and a domestic setting that reflects wider social issues. The assessment is a whole-text essay with no printed extract, so a thorough knowledge of the entire play, its characters, context, and Pinnock's craft is essential for success.

What earns the marks

• AO1: Trace how the repeated visits to Mai move the family from suspicion toward disclosure and partial reconciliation.
• AO1: Compare Del’s and Viv’s different searches for a Black British identity.
• AO1: Explain Enid’s controlling behaviour through her labour, migration, grief and wish to protect her daughters.
• AO2: Analyse the cyclical movement from a palm reading at the opening to Del’s reading of Enid’s palm at the close.
• AO2: Explore how Pinnock uses different forms of English to establish history, generation and belonging.
• AO2: Discuss how the two domestic settings turn family arguments into public questions about Britain and Jamaica.
• AO3: Relate Enid’s and Brod’s experiences to post-war Caribbean migration and racism in Britain.
• AO3: Connect Viv’s curriculum protest to Black British struggles for representation in education and culture.
• AO3: Treat Obeah as a specific Caribbean spiritual practice and a vehicle for cultural transmission.
• AO4: Choose a precise range of vocabulary so each sentence communicates its interpretation clearly and for the intended analytical purpose.
• AO4: Control sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, using complete sentences and secure clause boundaries.
• AO4: Use accurate spelling and punctuation throughout, including sentence boundaries, possessive apostrophes and punctuation around embedded quotations.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Describing events without analysing Pinnock's use of language or dramatic techniques.

  Put it right: Focus on the writer's methods and their effects, using evidence to support analysis.

• Neglecting the play's historical context or treating it as separate from the text.

  Put it right: Integrate contextual understanding to deepen interpretations of characters' actions and themes.

• Treating characters as real people without linking to the writer's craft.

  Put it right: Connect characterisation to Pinnock's choices and the play's messages.

• Assuming the exam will provide an extract to analyse.

  Put it right: AQA Paper 2 Section A modern texts is a whole-text essay question, so prepare to write about the play as a whole without a printed passage.

• Mislabelling quotation integration, critical vocabulary or paragraph structure as AO4.

  Put it right: In this question, textual references and quotations support AO1, subject terminology supports AO2, and paragraph structure is a general essay skill; AO4 separately rewards technical accuracy of vocabulary, sentence structures, spelling and punctuation.

Exam tips

• Plan your response to address the whole play, ensuring you cover the question's focus.
• Use subject terminology accurately (for example, stage directions, dialogue, symbolism) to show understanding of dramatic methods.
• Support your points with brief, precise quotations or references, and explain their effect on the audience.
• Remember that this question assesses AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4; integrate quotations as evidence for your interpretations (AO1), use terminology as part of your method analysis (AO2), and proofread for technical accuracy (AO4).