Our Day Out.

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GCSE Assignment - Our Day Out

Willy Russell wrote our Day out in 1977. The story is set in a working class area in Liverpool. The theme of this story is about a group of academically challenged children who go on a trip. The school is an inner city comprehensive school and many of the children come from poor or single parent families. The story tells us the troubles that the children and teachers come across. We also see changes in people’s characters, we see how the trip has helped them to change. The aim of the trip is for the to have fun as the children are academically challenged with little chance of passing exams or getting a good job.

There are two main teachers in the play; Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs. Both of them have different teaching methods and both of them work in their own way. Mrs Kay has a more sympathetic, caring and lenient attitude to the children, which would explain why the children like her so much. Mr Briggs has a harsh, stern and disciplined attitude to the children again which would explain why the children hate him so much yet fear him also.

It is very clear from the beginning that Mrs Kay supports the children. She supports them in the way that she does because she knows that these children have no real chance in life and therefore feels sorry for them so she tries to support them as much as she can. These children will probably end up on the ‘dole’ or stuck in a dead end job so Mrs Kay tries to make sure that there is at least one happy time in their lives (the trip), as their lives will probably be filled with misery.

The driver Ronny Sutcliffe first shouts at the children for getting onto the bus without his permission and then about the possibility of them having lemonade and chocolate on them. Ronny refuses to let the children onto the bus until Mrs Kay searches the children for the forbidden items (chocolate and lemonade). When Mrs Kay takes Ronny away to have a private word with him she signals the children to get onto the bus without him knowing. When Mrs Kay talks to Ronny she greatly exaggerates the truth so that Ronny will go easy on the kids. Mrs Kay says

“The kids do not know what it is to look at a chocolate bar. Lemonade never touches their lips”

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This is greatly exaggerating the truth as when Mrs Kay enters the coach the kids are stuffing themselves with chocolate and lemonade. Mrs Kay also says

“At Christmas time when the kids from your better schools are opening presents and singing carols, these kids are left to wander the cold cruel streets”

This is also probably an exaggeration (a hyperbole). Mrs Kay says these heart-warming things so that Ronny does not ruin the purpose of the trip, which is to have fun.

The effect of Mrs Kay’s speech is that Ronny ends up feeling sorry for the kids and ...

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