An Inspector Calls: Answering questions on themes

1
An Inspector Calls Answering questions on themes
2
What are themes?

• Themes are the big ideas behind the text such as
  social class, time, gender roles, responsibility
  etc.
• The questions usually focus on the how Priestley
  presents a particular theme but because the
  themes are inter-related, this will inevitably
  mean you need to bring in other ideas as well.

3
Examples

• How does Priestley show the differences between
  the social classes in An Inspector Calls?
• Arthur Birling says, If we were all responsible
  for everything that happened to everybody wed
  had anything to do with, it would be very
  awkward, wouldnt it? How does Priestley present
  ideas about responsibility in An Inspector Calls?

4
Answering on themes

• Being asked to explain how a theme is presented
  means you have to examine three things
• The way in which Priestley relates to the theme
  in the stage directions. How the scene is
  described, where the characters are located, how
  they make their entrances and exits all may
  relate to the theme. In addition, the adjectives
  used to describe their manner and appearance, the
  adverbs used to describe their actions and moods
  and relations with each other may also suggest
  the theme.
• What the characters say and do and especially how
  this relates to the way in which they build our
  understanding of the theme of the play.
• How the characters relationships develop and how
  these relate to the theme.

5
Key skills

• Remember the exam questions are about asking you
  to show three key skills. That
• You can write about the play in a thoughtful way.
  You can pick out quotations and use them to
  express and explain a series of relevant points.
  PETERCA paragraphs
• Your points show that you can identify and
  explain features of the plays form, structure
  and language and how Priestley uses these present
  themes. Dont forget to talk about these using
  the specialist terms dramatic irony, imagery,
  metaphors, similes, etc.
• You can write in a clear, well-structured way. 5
  of the marks in the exams are on SPAG spelling,
  punctuation and grammar so make sure you brush
  up on these.

6
The theme of generationshttps//www.youtube.com/w
atch?vy0zzE61faPg

• The best way to approach themes questions is to
  brainstorm. Create a spider diagram of all the
  points you can think of that relate to the gap
  between the young and the old in the play.
• If you get stuck, ask yourself questions
• WHO is old, who is young? How are they described?
  What might they represent?
• WHAT do they say to each other? Do they
  understand each other? WHEN the play starts, what
  are their relationships like? WHEN the play ends
  have their relationships changed? HOW and WHY
  have they changed?

7
The OLD

• Arthur Birling and Sybil Birling are the same
  and share traditional views, find examples from
  the text to suggest their views. They know best,
  children should be seen and not heard. Dont like
  their authority challenged. Find evidence for all
  those. What is their attitude to Eva? To the
  Inspector? What is their view after the Inspector
  has left? When the Inspector is found to be a
  fake? Do they learn anything?
• They represent the ruling class. Hence they are
  old-fashioned and wrong this fits with
  Priestleys desire to show the whole class system
  as needing reform.

8
The YOUNG

• Sheila, Gerald, Eric and Eva are different. More
  open-minded.
• Eva is ambitious find evidence of how she
  wanted to improve herself. She was determined and
  brave find evidence for that. She also wanted
  social change find evidence.
• Sheila is superficial but changes. Eric is
  spoiled but also changes. They both challenge
  their parents- find evidence of how their
  language differs from their parents and how it
  changes through the play. They both learn to be
  responsible for their actions and how their
  decisions affect others. Eric and Sheila both
  finish the play wishing to distance themselves
  from their parents and are no longer controlled
  by them. This relates to Priestleys ideas that
  there is a chance for the future to be better if
  we learn from our past mistakes.

9
Gerald

• He is the one member of the younger generation
  who sides with the old. WHY?
• Is it because he is an aristocrat? How was his
  attitude to Eva slightly different from Arthur
  Birlings? He seems to have a guilty conscience
  but in the end he doesnt seem to learn anything.
  Why is he marrying Sheila? Gerald perhaps
  suggests that the brighter future is not
  inevitable.
• The theme of the generations links to the theme
  of class. Priestley is making a criticism of the
  upper classes by saying that they are set in
  their ways and therefore are not likely to
  change. It is up to people to choose change and
  make it happen.

10
CONTEXT

• Play is staged in 1946 but was written in 1945
  right at the time of the elections in Britain
  that brought the Labour Party to power with a
  mandate to change.
• The Labour government of 1945 was determined to
  change the class structure of Britain to give
  poorer working people a greater say in the way
  the country was run and better opportunities for
  health and social mobility.
• The generations in the play may therefore
  represent the new world that was coming into
  being when the play was written. Remember the
  idea of the play being representative of the
  whole period between 1912 and 1945.
• The family is like a microcosm of society as a
  whole? How the experience of the Inspectors
  visit is an analogy of the interlude of the Wars?
  Like the family which has been shaken up by the
  Inspector, Society, has been shaken up by the
  Wars. Neither will ever be the same.

11
How do you get your grade from a C to a B?
(Infer and interpret information from the text)
Point, Evidence, Technique Explanation, Reader,
Context
How do we use the PETERC chain to get C/B/A
grades?
1. Putting the quote in context of the
action (How does it fit in the novel/play?)
2. Naming and discussing specific language
features / stage techniques (word choice, simile,
metaphor, symbol, lighting, character position,
costume)
The Three Steps Involved in Explaining
Explaining
3. Referring to the social and historical
context and how the reader would be affected
12
How do you get from a C to a B? (Infer and
interpret information from the text)
Point, Evidence, Technique, Explanation, Reader,
Context
For example A low C grade looks like
this How does Priestley use the conflict between
old and new generations to convey his
message? Priestley shows a wide gap in thinking.
This is shown on pg 50. Mrs B I simply dont
understand your attitude. this shows the
misunderstanding and different ways of thinking
between the old and new generation and how
stubborn the old generation are in comparison to
the new. It focuses on the task but uses only a
PEE chain.
13
How do you get from a C to B? (Infer and
interpret information from the text)
Point, Evidence, Technique, Explanation, Reader,
Context
To get it to a B/A use the three steps in
explaining Priestley uses the wide gap in
thinking between old and new generations to
create conflict and to convey his message that as
a society we should take responsibility for one
another. This is shown when Sheila, just before
the inspector questions Eric, causes her mother
to get angry and say, Sheila, I simply dont
understand your attitude. At this point in the
play, Sheila has admitted to the role she has
played in the death of Eva Smith and has taken
responsibility for her actions. Her mothers
short sentence and the use of the word simply
show that Mrs Birling is truly confused about
Sheilas changed attitude. There is such a wide
gap in the thinking of the two generations that
it is inconceivable to Mrs Birling that Sheila
should feel guilt and remorse for her part in the
death. As a wealthy upper-class woman in 1912
who has no social conscience, Mrs Birling is
stubbornly unable to change and this highlights
Priestleys message to the audience of the need
for change and the horror of what will happen if
society doesnt.