Text. The play ‘Kes’ by Barry Hines and Allan Stronach is one which explores the theme of...

The play ‘Kes’ by Barry Hines and Allan Stronach is one which explores the theme of education. The play is set in Yorkshire in the 1960s and is about a boy named Billy who trains a kestrel. The play focuses on issues surrounding Billy and the people around him, including his teachers. Education is portrayed in a mostly negative light with Billy’s relationships with teachers being very mixed.

AUTHOR TITLE SUMMARY OF WHAT THE TEXT IS ABOUT

REFERENCE TO THE QUESTION

The main way in which the theme of education is shown in the play is through the character of Billy. Billy doesn’t enjoy school and education seems to have failed him. Billy’s reputation at school is poor and he has previously been involved with the police but recently he has changed. At one point, during a discussion with his brother, Billy is told:

“You’ve to be able to read and write before they’d let you down the pit”.

This shows that Billy hasn’t gained anything from education because he has very low levels of literacy.

TOPIC SENTENCE EXPLAIN THE SECTION OF TEXT THE QUOTE IS RELEVANT TO A QUOTE TO BACK UP YOUR POINT

AN EXPLANATION OF THE QUOTE, COMMENTING ON WRITER’S CRAFT AND REFERRING BACK TO THE QUESTION

Another character who portrays the theme of education is Billy’s English teacher, Mr Farthing. He has a different approach to teaching his pupils. He takes an interest in what his pupils are into and likes to hear about their lives. He has a bond with Billy throughout the book. This is portrayed through the incident with Billy and McDowall when he gives McDowall a punishment for the fight that they were in, but not Billy. He confronts McDowall and says, “What would you say if I pinned you up against the wall?”. This shows that he is on Billy’s side and recognises that he is being bullied. He then takes a further interest in Billy and his hawk, ‘Kes’. After Billy delivers a talk on ‘Kes’ in class, Mr Farthing expresses his interest by commenting, “Right, that was very good. I enjoyed that and I’m sure the class did too”. He also goes and visits Billy’s house to see Kes being flown. We can see from this that Mr Farthing really cares about his pupils and has their best interests at heart.


AN EXPLANATION OF THE QUOTE, COMMENTING ON WRITER’S CRAFT

Mr Sugden is one teacher who portrays a very different side of education than Mr Farthing. Mr Sugden is Billy’s PE teacher. Billy doesn’t have a good relationship with him. He humiliates Billy in front of the whole class by making him wear over-sized shorts which make him look ridiculous. He has no patience for his pupils and is a very horrible teacher. During a PE lesson in which Billy has forgotten his kit, Mr Sugden roars at him, “You make me feel sick!”. He also physically abuses Billy by hitting him with a ball and taunts him for not being educated. This shows us that teachers in the 1960s could get away with treating children like this and nobody really cared, it was just the way it was. It also shows us that Mr Sugden is the type of teacher who likes to bully his pupils.



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In conclusion, the play Kes shows many different aspects of the theme of education. This is shown by the different teachers such as Mr Sugden who are not interested in success for their pupils, whereas other teachers such as Mr Farthing want their pupils to leave school prepared for wider life. As a result, Billy has no interest in school and seems to have gained nothing from his education. From his experience we can see that education in the 1960s was focused more on discipline than learning.

STARTS WITH A CLOSING SENTENCE RE-USES QUESTION WORDS GOES BACK OVER THE TOPIC SENTENCES

SUM-UP

P1: Introduction

P2: How the conflict is introduced

P3: The incident where Jud comes home drunk

P4: The bet = angry Jud (school, killing Kes)

P5: The aftermath of the killing

P6: Conclusion

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