Note to teacher:

You may want to use this Powerpoint as a guide and do your plan
on paper using the visualiser or on the whiteboard to show
students how you would do it in exam settings.
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?

Do now: Write the date and title.

Quick Recall Task: Think → Write → Pair → Share:

● Write down 3 quotations about responsibility from the play.

● Write 2 sentences that finish the following: ‘Responsibility is
important in the play because…’
● Write the name of 1 character who you believe is most responsible for
the death of Eva Smith and why.

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
10 Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?

Glue the guidance from the PLC into your exercise book.

Let’s read through it together, before annotating the example essay

using the visualiser.

Then Think → Write → Pair → Share:

● Summarise - what are the five most important things to remember
when writing an essay on ‘An Inspector Calls’?

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
15 Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?
Read the question below:
Inspector: ‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ In what ways
is responsibility an important theme in the play? You must refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
Your teacher will talk you through how to plan to answer a question like this:

1. Define the question: what does it mean?

2. What key scenes/quotations are related to the question?
3. What topic sentences/points could you make related to the question?
4. What context is related to the question?
5. Bringing it all together:
a. What is the writer doing?
b. How is the writer doing it?
c. Why is the writer doing it?
20
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?
Inspector: ‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ In what ways
is responsibility an important theme in the play? You must refer to the context of the play
in your answer.

Define the question: what does it mean?

● Responsibility:
○ having a duty to deal with something;
○ being accountable or to blame for something;
○ having a moral obligation to behave correctly.

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?
What key scenes/quotations are related to the question?

● ‘It’s my duty to keep labour costs down’, ‘community and all that nonsense’ (Mr B - Act
1)
● ‘I consider I did my duty’ (Mrs B - Act 3)
● ‘It has nothing whatsoever to do with the girl’s suicide’(Mr B - Act 1)
● ‘I accept no blame for it at all’ (Mrs B - Act 1 & 3)
● ‘I know I’m to blame - and I’m desperately sorry’ (Sheila - Act 2)
● ‘You’re ready to go on the same old way’(Sheila - Act 3)
● ‘You lot may be letting yourself out nicely, but I can’t’ (Eric - Act 3)
● ‘millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths… we are members of one body’ (the Inspector -
Act 3)

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?
What topic sentences/points could you make related to the question?

● Mr and Mrs B consider business matters duty, not responsibilities to wider

community.

● Only Sheila/Eric learn from mistakes/ take responsibility; elder Birlings (and
Gerald) do not.

● Inspector suggests society has moral obligation to take responsibility for one
another.

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?

What context is related to the question?

● Labour Party winning election in 1945 - the welfare state

● Capitalist ideology embedded in elder Birlings’ minds
● WW1 (set before) and WW2 (performed after) defining need for community,
responsibility, shared efforts
● Priestley: co-founder of the Common Wealth Party
● Morality plays or literature (‘A Christmas Carol’) - learning lesson through art
● Criticism of Edwardian class divides
● Theatrical context: Inspector as mouthpiece, younger vs older Birlings as foil
● Priestley’s didactic style

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?
Bringing it all together:
a. What is the writer doing?
b. How is the writer doing it?
c. Why is the writer doing it?

1. Priestley introduces the elder Birlings as characters who consider purely business
matters their duty, not their responsibilities to the wider community.
2. Later on, Priestley draws a contrast between the Birlings and their children; only Sheila
and Eric learn from their mistakes and take responsibility whereas the elder Birlings do
not hold themselves accountable.
3. In the final act, Priestley uses the Inspector as his mouthpiece to suggest that every
member of society has a moral obligation to take responsibility for one another.

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 How do I write a GCSE-style essay about ‘An Inspector Calls’?

Next lesson you will complete your assessment on the following

question. Copy it into your book:
Mr Birling: But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think
everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like
bees in a hive. Explore the significance of Mr Birling in the play. You must consider
context in your response.

Create a step by step plan of how you would answer this question using
the model from earlier in the lesson. If necessary, finish for homework.

DTC: To what extent do you agree that the Inspector is merely a physical manifestation of the
15 Birling/Croft family’s collective guilty consciences?
 In your introduction you should include:
• The quotation you are given in the
question and key words from the
question;
• Links to Priestley’s message;
• A clear line of argument which is your own
personal response to the question.
In your conclusion you should include:
• Evaluation of Mr Birling’s role in the play
as a whole;
• Your opinion about the function of Mr
Birling.
40
2 main Paragraphs:
• A topic sentence that is sharply focused on the question;
• A range of well-reasoned interpretations;
• Several relevant, short quotations that help to support
your interpretations.
• Embedded references to relevant context and Priestley’s
message.
• Your essay as a whole should cover all three Acts of the
play. A chronological approach might be helpful.
Remember:
a. What is the writer doing?
b. How is the writer doing it?
c. Why is the writer doing it?