Modern drama AQA GCSE An Inspector Calls English ... · • drawing closely on Greek drama • a...

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Modern drama

An Inspector Calls

AQA GCSE English Literature

Introduction

These materials provide exam-focused guidance and activities on An Inspector Calls

by J.B. Priestley in the context of the AQA GCSE English Literature qualification (for

first assessment in the summer of 2017).

Contents

The exam paper ................................................................... 1

Plot and structure ................................................................. 2

Context................................................................................. 4

Character ............................................................................. 7

Language ........................................................................... 10

Themes .............................................................................. 14

Sample exam questions and sample answers .................... 17

The exam paper

An Inspector Calls comes under Section A of Paper 2, with the poetry anthology and

unseen poetry appearing in Sections B and C.

• The exam paper lasts 2 hours and fifteen minutes.

• 34 marks are for Section A where you can answer on An Inspector Calls, 30 marks for Section B for the poems you have studied and 32 marks for unseen poetry in Section C.

• This means that you will have about 45 minutes to write on An Inspector Calls.

In the exam, you will have to choose one of two questions on which to write an essay

on An Inspector Calls. This part of the exam is marked out of 34 - with 30 marks

available for what you write and 4 marks for how you write it.

One question is likely to be based on a character and the other on a theme. You can

choose which of the two to write about.

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AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Plot and structure

Plot and structure

Priestley structures the play by dividing it into three Acts. Within each Act there are

several episodes although Priestley does not indicate the divisions into scenes:

Act One

• The Engagement Party

• Birling and Gerald talk alone

• Arrival of the Inspector

• Interrogation of Mr Birling

• Interrogation of Sheila

• Sheila’s Confession and Suspicion

Act Two

• Gerald’s Confession

• Interrogation of Gerald

• Interrogation of Mrs Birling

Act Three

• Interrogation of Eric

• The Inspector Leaves

• The Inspector’s Identity.

Activity 1

Consider each of these in turn and consider:

a what is revealed about the participants

b how Priestley shows character

c the attitudes of each of the characters

d the values and relationships of the characters

e how each is a significant stage in the development of the story

f why Priestley has placed the scenes in this order

g how the audience’s reactions to the characters change

h what Priestley’s ideas about moral values are and how these are shown

i what are Priestley’s ideas about how society is

j what Priestley’s ideas are about how society should be and how these are shown.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Plot and structure (continued)

Activity 2

Now consider:

a how Priestley constructs the story round different characters’ behaviour towards

Eva Smith

b how characters change what they reveal about Eva Smith

c how characters try to hide what they are really like

d how the story of Eva Smith forces them to reveal their true nature.

Activity 3

How does Priestley use elements of traditional dramatic techniques in his play? Identify

and comment on:

a what Priestley reveals in the exposition of the play

b significant events which take place off stage

c how Priestley builds suspense

d Priestley’s use of cliff-hangers

e the use of a protagonist (the lead character)

f the use of an antagonist (the character opposing the lead character)

g the use of catastrophe (where the protagonist accepts ruin)

f the use of climaxes (the most intense parts of the drama)

g the use of nemesis (the person inflicting punishment or revenge)

h the use of anagnorosis (recognising the error of your ways)

i moments of catharsis (the audience’s pity and how it makes them reflect of

themselves)

j what the denouement (the final stage of the play) consists of

k the use of peripateia (the reversal of fortunes)



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Context

Context

There are several ways of thinking about contexts. Context means the situation and

circumstances around something. It might be a historical context (what was going on

at the time the play was set, for example, and in this case how that compares with

what was going on at the time the play was written). It might be a social context (what

was going on in society) or a literary context (how a text relates to other texts written at

the same time or in the same genre). A text could have a relevant biographical context

in how it relates to the writer’s life. These are all what would be called external

contexts, relating what is in the text to what is outside the text.

There are also internal contexts. The Inspector, for example, could be considered in

terms of what Priestley is saying about morality, society and hypocrisy. Mr Birling

could be thought about within the context of exploitation and/or class.

The Historical Context

Activity 1

Consider how Priestley uses each of these aspects of the historical context in the novel:

a what Priestley gains by setting the novel in 1912

b what Priestley is showing a post second world war audience, writing the play in 1945

c why Priestley uses wealthy characters as his main characters

d what the Inspector signifies in historical terms

e what Priestley gains from choosing an urban setting

f how Priestley shows 1912 attitudes as outdated

g how Priestley shows 1912 attitudes as in need of change

h what Priestley suggests to the 1945 audience about social hierarchy

i what Priestley suggests to the 1945 audience about social conditions

j what Priestley suggests about industry and how it works.

Class

Although we might think that because they are wealthy most of the characters are from

the same social class, Priestley shows that there are gradations within classes and

that these lead to snobbery.

Activity 2

Put the following characters in order of their social class ranking in 1912, beginning with

the highest. Give evidence from the text for your decisions.

a Mr Birling

b Eva Smith

c The Crofts

d Mrs Birling

e Edna

f The Inspector.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Context (continued)

Activity 3

Now use the evidence you have gathered in response to Activity 2 to list points you

could make about:

a the ways Priestley shows that class hierarchies need to change

b how Priestley uses the Inspector to point out the need for change

c how Priestley uses Sheila to show the beginnings of change in 1945.

Social and Industrial Context

Activity 4

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that:

a people higher in the social scale think themselves superior to others

b industry is built on exploitation of the workers

c Eva Smith represents the way workers are exploited

d Eva Smith represents the way women are exploited

e the Inspector is used as a champion of the poor

f the words Mr Birling uses in Act One show what he thinks about his workers

g workers gain promotion not by merit but through subservience

h female employees have no voice in the workplace

i Priestley is concerned to highlight the exploitation of workers in the play.

Position of Women

Activity 5


a Eva Smith is exploited because of her class

b Eva Smith is exploited because of her gender

c domestic servants are exploited

d domestic servants have no voice

e unemployed single women have little option except prostitution

f as a woman your power and position depends on class

g upper and middle class women are brought up to be good wives

h compared to 1912 attitudes to women in 1945 are changing

i Priestley is concerned to highlight the exploitation of women in the play.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Context (continued)

Genre

An Inspector Calls has been seen as:

• a social drama

• a political drama

• a ‘well-made play’

• a ‘whodunnit’

• drawing closely on Greek drama

• a moral fable.

Activity 6

Explain what aspects of the play you would comment on if you were showing that it is:

a a social drama

b a political drama

c a ‘well-made play’

d a ‘whodunnit’

e a moral fable

f based on elements of Greek drama.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Character

Character

When you are writing about a character you are being asked more than about what the

character does. The question is most likely going to be about Priestley’s presentation

of the character. The character named in the question may be linked to a theme so

you need to make sure that you are equally well prepared to write about themes as

about characters.

When you are thinking about how Priestley presents a character you should think

about the choices the writer has made. It is useful to consider:

• what Priestley chooses to have the character do

• how Priestley describes the character in the stage directions

• what kind of speech the character uses

• how and why the character reacts in the way he or she does to other characters

• how and why other characters react to the character

• how Priestley shows what the character’s attitudes are

• how the character conveys ideas important in the play

• what you think the character’s role is in the play

• what functions the character fulfils

• what the character might represent or symbolise.

When you are thinking about the roles, purposes or functions of the character, it is

useful to consider these possible uses:

• to give information

• to receive information

• to develop the plot

• to comment on or represent specific themes

• to act as a contrast to other characters

• to change the mood or atmosphere

• to bring about change in the plot

• to act as a mouthpiece for Priestley’s views.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Character (continued)

Mr Birling

Activity 1

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that Mr Birling:

a is self-satisfied

b is over-confident and misguided in his views

c believes in self-interest

d is obsessed with his high status

e represents capitalist attitudes

f is designed by Priestley to represent outdated attitudes and values

g shows no remorse for what he has done

h passes blame onto the younger generation

i is designed to be unsympathetic by Priestley.

Mrs Birling

Activity 2

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that Mrs Birling:

a is a snob

b feels superior to everyone except perhaps Gerald Croft

c treats Eric and Sheila like children

d is motivates by pride and self-interest

e denies any wrong-doing

f shows hostility to the Inspector

g is complacent

h is designed by Priestley to represent outdated attitudes and values

i is designed by Priestley to engage the audience’s dislike.

Sheila Birling

Activity 3

Find evidence can in the text to support the idea that Sheila:

a has a social conscience

b shares some of the views of the Inspector

c learns about herself, developing as a character

d is presented as a foil to Eva Smith

e shows the evils of the class system

f represents the younger generation

g is presented as representing change

h is used by Priestley to comment on events as they unfold

h is presented as a sympathetic character

i represents the moral centre of the play.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Character (continued)

Eric Birling

Activity 4

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that Eric:

a is open to accepting his guilt

b is treated like a child by his parents

c has been irresponsible in the past

d learns to accept responsibility for his actions

e learns about himself, developing as a character

f has a social conscience

g is presented as a sympathetic character by the end of the play.

Gerald Croft

Activity 5

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that Gerald:

a is worldly wise

b is confident

c has some attractive qualities

d shares some of Arthur Birling’s attitudes

e fails to learn about himself

f is a liar

g is hypocitical

h represents the continuation of the status quo

i is presented as an unsuitable husband for Sheila.

Edna

Activity 6

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that Edna:

a is used to establish the Inspector as a real character

b represents the lower classes

c is shown to prop up the class system

d is an exploited woman.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Language

Language

Symbols

Symbols are objects which represent an idea or several ideas. Priestley uses several

of them in An Inspector Calls because they are frequently used as a short-cut to

attitudes and values and they have wider meanings than their face value.

Here are some things to which Priestley gives symbolic value:

a port and whisky

b the engagement ring

c the Inspector

d the Titanic

e the door bell

f disinfectant

g the telephone.

Activity 1

a How is each of these used symbolically in An Inspector Calls?

b What ideas are suggested by each of them?

c Priestley introduces most of these symbols in the early part of the play. Find some

examples of the ways in which their use later in the play reminds the reader of their

importance earlier on.

d How does each symbol relate to what Priestley is saying in the play as a whole?

Irony

Priestley makes considerable use of irony in the play. It is used to guide the

audience’s response to what is happening by having characters say something which

can be taken at face value but which turns out later to have much more significance.

He also uses dramatic irony where the audience knows something that the characters

don’t yet know or when one character knows something that another doesn’t know.

Activity 2

Look closely at Act 1 and make a list of the number of times characters say something

which only turns out to have greater meaning later on in the play. For each one that you

find make notes on how what you have found becomes significant later in the play.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Language (continued)

Drama and Tension

Priestley builds tension and suspense throughout the play, both in the play as a whole

and in specific sections of it.

Activity 3

Find examples of the ways Priestley creates and builds tension by using each of the

following:

a the structure of the play

b characters’ denial

c the ways characters gradually reveal their past behaviour

d the way the Inspector’s interrogations are sequenced

e the use of dramatic irony

f the Inspector’s management of the interrogations.

Speech

Priestley creates and develops characters not only by what they say but also by their

uses of speech.

There are distinctive catchphrases, turns of phrase, linguistic features (such as

register, vocabulary and slang) as well as content which make the voices of the

characters distinct from each other.

Activity 4

Look at each of the following quotations of direct speech and attribute each speech to

the character who said it. Then give as many reasons as you can for your attribution by

analysing the uses of language in the speech and how these details of language create

character.

a

I’m talking to the inspector now, if you don’t mind. [To INSPECTOR, rather grandly] I

realize that you may have had to conduct some sort of enquiry, but I must say that so far

you seem to be conducting it in a rather peculiar and offensive manner. You know of course

that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago and that he’s still a magistrate -

b

[stormily] Oh shut up, Eric. I know, I know. It’s the only time I’ve ever done anything like

that, and I’ll never, never do it again to anybody. I’ve noticed them giving me a sort of look

sometimes at Milwards - I noticed it even this afternoon - and I suppose some of them

remember. I feel now I can never go there again. Oh - why had this to happen?

c

Well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down, and if I’d agreed to this demand for a new

rate we’d have added about twelve per cent to out labour costs. Does that satisfy you? So I

refused. Said I couldn’t consider it. We were paying the usual rates and if they didn’t like

those rates, they could go and work somewhere else. It’s a free country, I told them.




Activity 4 (continued)

d

The girl saw me looking at her and then gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry

for help. So I went across and told Joe Meggarty some nonsense - that the manager had a

message for him or something like that - got him out of the way - and then told the girl that

if she didn’t want any more of that sort of thing, she’d better let me take her out of there.

She agreed at once.

e

Please, sir, an inspector’s called…. A police inspector. He says his name’s Inspector

Goole….Yes, sir, He says it’s important.

f

Whoever that chap was, the fact remains that I did what I did. And mother did what she did.

And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story whether it’s been

told to a police inspector or to somebody else. According to you, I ought to feel a lot better -

[To GERALD] I stole some money, Gerald, you might as well know - [As BIRLING tries

to interrupt] I don’t care, let him know. The money’s not the important thing. It’s what has

happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters. And I still feel the same about

it, and that’s why I don’t feel like sitting down and having a nice cosy talk.

g

That doesn’t make it any the less yours. She came to you for help, at a time when no

woman could have needed it more. And you not only refused it yourself but saw to it the

others refused it too. She was here alone, friendless, almost penniless, desperate. She

needed not only money, but advice, sympathy, friendliness. You’ve had children. You must

have known what she was feeling. And you slammed the door in her face.




Register and Vocabulary

One of the main ways Priestley makes his characters distinct from each other is by

giving them slightly different registers and having them speak in a slightly different way

from each other.

Activity 5

Find some examples of each of the following and explain how it helps to reveal

character:

a formal standard English

b interruptions

c the use of slang

d repetition

e exclamations

f hesitations

g commands

h questions

i an emphatic tone

j the frequent use of negatives

k slang

l colloquial speech

m sarcasm

n clichés.

Stage Directions

When an audience experiences a play in the theatre they only have what they can see

and what they hear to go on. When a reader is reading a play, however, they don’t

have the same visual clues. Priestley gives extensive stage directions for two reasons:

to suggest to directors and designers what he would like to happen and to help the

reader to imagine visual elements of the play. He uses stage directions before a new

character enters in order to give some instructions about how he imagines the

character will be played.

Activity 6

Find evidence of Priestley’s use of stage directions to make suggestions about:

a the set

b costumes

c what the characters are like physically

d summarising important aspects of character

e character’s moods

f the tone of certain speeches

g physical movement

h what he wants to happen that isn’t clear from the dialogue

i the use of props

j off stage events

k interruptions

l entrances and exits.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Themes

Themes

Responsibility

Activity 1


a every action has an effect on others

b characters have different views about responsibility

c Mrs Birling denies that her she is responsible for what happens to others

d Priestley suggests that Capitalism is irresponsible

e Priestley suggests that Socialism is responsible

f Priestley builds the play on the Inspector’s statement “We are all responsible for each

other”

g the play is constructed round characters trying to pass responsibility onto others

h only the younger generation are willing to accept responsibility for their actions

i self-interest is the enemy of responsibility

j only some characters accept their personal responsibility.

Secrecy

Activity 2


a each character has a secret

b the Inspector deals with each secret in turn

c the play is built on the Inspector’s methods of finding out the secrets

d some secrets are more dangerous than others

e secrecy leads to dishonesty

f characters have different reasons for their secrecy.

Deceit

Activity 3

Make a list of all the occasions you can find when one character deceives another or

others. Then ask:

• what was the purpose of the deception?

• what does the character attempt to gain by the deception?

• what ideas does Priestley have about deception?

• is deception ever justified?



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Themes (continued)

Class and Status

Activity 4


a power is related to class

b class leads to snobbery

c those of a higher class exploit those of a lower class

d higher class people are hypocrites

e Priestley exposes the evils of the class system.

Oppression

Activity 5


a oppression is used as a weapon to maintain power

b oppression is used as a means of control

c some oppression is beneficial

d some oppression is harmful

e oppressors can only oppress when the victims are willing to be oppressed

f some people don’t ever consider whether they are being oppressed

g oppression is linked to class and power

h oppression involves lies and deceit

i Priestley uses the idea of oppression to signal the need for social change.

Relationships

Activity 6

What does Priestley suggest is the basis of the following relationships? Find evidence in

the text to support your views:

• Mr and Mrs Birling

• Sheila and Gerald

• Gerald and Daisy Renton

• Eric and Eva Smith

• Mr Birling and his children

• Mr Birling and Gerald

• Mrs Birling and her children

• The Crofts and Gerald

• Sheila and Eric.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Themes (continued)

Activity 7

Find evidence in the text to support the idea that some relationships are built on:

a trust

b convenience

c class

d money

e sex

f love

g exploitation.

Activity 8

Having considered all the issues in Activity 7, make a list of the different things you think

Priestley has to say about relationships in the play.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Sample Answer A

Sample exam questions and sample answers

Sample Answer A

How does Priestley use the character of the Inspector to present ideas about moral responsibility

An Inspector Calls?

Write about:

• ideas about moral responsibility in the play

• how Priestley uses the Inspector to present these ideas.

How does Priestley use the character of the Inspector to present

ideas about moral responsibility in ‘An Inspector Calls’?

A character in a play has behaviour, thoughts and reactions. These

depend on that character’s past and life before the play begins and

the audience gets to know the character better as the play

proceeds. The Inspector doesn’t have a past. The audience is not

really interested in his past or his motivation. He isn’t really a

character. He is much more of a symbol and a tool used by Priestley

to reveal the characters of the other people in the play. He is used

as a way of interrogating the other characters to find out what

they did and why they did it. And so strictly speaking Priestley

doesn’t use the character of the Inspector to present ideas about

moral responsibility, but he uses the symbol, the figure, actions and

speech of the Inspector to do this.

As he leaves in Act Three the Inspector says:

We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are

responsible for each other and I tell you that the time will soon

come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be

taught it in fire and blood and anguish.

This is what the whole play leads up to. It is a socialist message of

mutual responsibility and the whole story about Eva Smith/Daisy

Renton which the Inspector tells is the means of showing how on a

small scale both morality and responsibility for others matters.

The consequences of ignoring the message are war (the first world

war in 1912), the blood of social victims (like Eva Smith/Daisy

Renton) and psychological scars created by guilt.

Validly challenges one of the

terms of the question

Relevant

introduction to the task

Effective quotation

Effective introduction to theme



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Sample Answer A (continued)

Priestley uses the Inspector to measure the capacity of the other

characters to acknowledge what they have done and to change

because of it. He shows that each of them has had an effect on

Eva/Daisy and tries to provoke them into acknowledging their moral

responsibility.

Mr Birling fully acknowledges his responsibility for sacking Eva

Smith but he has no guilt about it. He is interested only in keeping

labour costs down and doesn’t care whether she ‘Got into trouble?

Go on the streets?’ In Act Three he is more concerned with Gerald

having stolen money to support Eva than he is in what happened to

Eva. Mrs Birling refused Daisy Renton charity because she wasn’t

subservient enough and because she insulted Mrs Birling by calling

herself ‘Mrs Birling’. She didn’t like her attitude and therefore

refused her and tells the Inspector ‘And in spite of what’s

happened to the girl since, I consider I did my duty’. The Inspector

leads Eric to admit that he kept a mistress, but practical Eric is

more concerned to wriggle out of trouble than to admit moral

responsibility. He creates the idea of the two photographs and

telephones the hospital to ask whether there has been a suicide.

The Inspector needs to do little to awaken Sheila’s moral

conscience. She almost immediately admits her fault and takes

responsibility for what she has done, acknowledging that getting

Daisy sacked was bound to have repercussions. Her sense of

morality is quickly awakened: ‘It’s the only time I’ve done anything

like that, and I’ll never, never do it again to anybody.’ Gerald, too,

perhaps assisted by his alcohol fuelled guilt, is remorseful: ‘I do

take interest in it. I take too much, that’s my trouble.’

Clear statement of Priestley’s use of the

Inspector

Needs discussion of

how Priestley gets the Inspector to

do this

Confuses Gerald with Eric

Again needs details of how

Confuses Eric with

Gerald

Paragraph is about the

effect of the Inspector’s behaviour

on the characters. It needs

re-angling to be on how Priestley uses

the Inspector to do these things



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Sample Answer A (continued)

Priestley, therefore, uses the Inspector as a symbol who controls

the purpose of the play, to prompt the characters to admit their

guilt over what happened to Eva Smith/Daisy Renton and thus to

accept moral responsibility for their actions. The Inspector does

this by slowly revealing the story of Eva/Daisy. Priestley also

reveals the importance of moral responsibility by giving the

Inspector speeches which highlight the main themes of the play.

Examiner Comments

A promising opening suggests that the candidate thinks carefully about the task and

takes issue with the use of ‘character’ to describe the Inspector. This is followed by a

key quotation which sets up general comment on Priestley’s ideas about moral

responsibility. It does not, though, deal with Priestley’s use of the Inspector. A brief

fourth paragraph introduces Priestley’s use of the Inspector, but the long fifth

paragraph is about the effect of the Inspector on the characters rather than the ways

Priestly uses the Inspector. The concluding paragraph merely repeats points already

made. The candidate knows parts of the text and is able to comment in general terms

on the Inspector’s function, but confuses Gerald with Eric and vice versa.

In terms of the AQA Specimen Mark Scheme this is an awkward and uneven

response. The response is explanatory. There are relevant references to the text and

identification of a range of the effects of the writer’s methods. There is some

explanation of relevant contextual factors. There is some comment on how Priestley

uses the Inspector to present ideas about moral responsibility (the full task) but these

tend to be general and the focus is sometimes on the effect of the Inspector on the

characters rather than on Priestley’s use of the Inspector. There is clear understanding

of some of Priestley’s ideas and purposes. The answer falls just into the bottom of

Level 4.

This paragraph

just repeats the points already made.



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Sample Answer B

Sample exam questions and sample answers

Sample Answer B

How does Priestley present the need for change in An Inspector Calls?

Write about:

• how the play examines the need for change

• how Priestley presents the need for change in the play.

By writing the play in 1945 just after the second world war and

setting it in 1912, Priestley can show the audience that values,

particularly those of the Birlings, are outdated and in need of

change. Arthur Birling, for example, believes that the Titanic is

unsinkable and that war will never happen. The audience knows that

he is wrong and is therefore prepared to see his other actions as

outdated, such as his belief in Capital above all else, his demeaning

treatment of his workforce, his willingness to sack people who

agitate for better wages, his belief in the class system and his

ambitious self-interest, angling for a knighthood.

Priestley contrasts Birling’s outdated Capitalist ideas with his own

socialist beliefs, using the Inspector to voice them. The Inspector

points out to the Birlings that it is no bad thing for people to ask

for higher wages when they are being exploited. He points out the

social iniquity caused by a combination of the class system and

capitalism in that Eva Smith, an unmarried woman, has no option but

to turn to prostitution when she is sacked. He criticises Sybil

Birling for turning down Daisy Renton’s plea for charitable help and

unmasks Sybil’s hypocrisy and prejudice in refusing charity.

Priestley shows that several things are in need of reform: the

social welfare system, the role and behaviour of charities and the

treatment of workers.

Valid point about how Priestley

presents the need for change Point

supported by

well-chosen textual detail

How Priestley

uses Birling to raise a range of issues

which need to be changed Priestley’s

use of the Inspector to show need

for change

Detailed support for Priestley’s

use of other characters to show need

for change



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Sample Answer B (continued)

He also shows that there needs to be a change in sexual behaviour.

Gerald is used to show how upper class men can keep a mistress

without ever intending to marry her. Gerald supports Daisy

financially for a while but then casts her off. Eric sleeps with Eva

Smith, getting her pregnant, but although he steals money from his

father to support her he does not reckon on her stronger sense of

morality in refusing to accept stolen money. As well as this

Priestley shows Eva/Daisy accepting her responsibility for her

affairs with Gerald and Eric and the consequences of them. Her

sense of morality, Priestley suggests, does not need to change.

There are also suggestions that nepotism in the workplace and

illegal practices within families also need to change. It is wrong

that Eric is in a position to steal from the business and wrong that

he cannot be open with his father and ask for money.

Priestley uses the Inspector to unmask people’s hypocrisy and

secrecy. One after another Sheila, Gerald, Mrs Birling and Eric are

forced to admit what they have done, but only Sheila and Eric are

prepared to admit responsibility for their actions towards Eva

Smith/Daisy Renton. In this way Priestley suggests that it is only

the younger generation, and even then not all of them, who are

prepared to change. Gerald still tries to wriggle out of the

consequences of his actions at the end of the play by pursuing the

idea that the Inspector is a fake and Mr and Mrs Birling refuse to

admit that they have done anything wrong.

The story of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton is also used by Priestley to

show the need for change. Her story is a tragic one for which the

audience has a good deal of sympathy and so Priestley constructs

the play so that we side with the unseen Eva/Daisy against the

Birlings and Gerald who, though his engagement wants to become

part of the Birling clan. In this way the Birlings can be seen to be

presented by Priestley as a symbol of the oppression of the lower

classes by the upper, exploitation, and immorality.

More issues which need

to be changed

Extends

range of what needs to be changed

Interesting and perceptive

comment about Eva/Daisy’s

morality not needing to change

Priestley’s

use of Inspector to reveal human

attitudes which need to be changed

Argument developed to

a conclusion

Priestley’s use of a plot

device to show need for change

Argument

extended and developed to a conclusion



AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Sample Answer B (continued)

Priestley gives the play a double ending. The first reveals the

Inspector as an imposter, not a real inspector at all. This allows the

focus to be on the need for change. Eric and Sheila admit they

what they have done is wrong and inexcusable, but the rest try to

wriggle out of responsibility, arguing that nothing matters if no one

finds out. The final ending, though, when it is announced that an

Inspector is about to arrive, indicates that there will be a final

reckoning and that ultimately everyone will be forced to admit what

they have done. It is a kind of voice of God and a last judgement.

The end of the play suggests that it is conscience which matters.

The Birlings don’t have one. Sheila and Eric do and listening to one’s

conscience is what will lead to change for the better.

Examiner Comments

This is a very clear and well-structured response which keeps the whole task firmly in

mind throughout and considers a wide range of things which need to be changed,

always pointing to how Priestley presents them. Textual detail is used very effectively.

Points are made, supported, developed and driven to a conclusion. The coverage of

the need for change is extensive and succinctly done.

In terms of the AQA Specimen Mark Scheme the candidate’s response is exploratory,

wide-ranging and well structured. It takes a considered response to the whole task,

supported by a range of judiciously chosen references. Good contextual knowledge is

deftly interwoven into the response. The candidate is well aware of the effects of

Priestley’s uses of structure and form. It is a Level 6 response.

Priestley’s

use of structure to show need

for change

Perceptive insight

Effective succinct conclusion.


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