The Marking Criteria

Band 3
Students demonstrate: 3.1 Sustained response to task 3.2 Sustained response to text 3.3 Effective use of details to support interpretation 3.4 Explanation of effects of writers uses of language and/or form and/or structure and effects on

readers/audience 3.5 Understanding of ideas/themes/feelings/attitudes

Information is usually presented in a way which assists with communication of meaning. Syntax and spelling are generally accurate.

Band 3: Keep Quoting

Sustained: quote Interpretation: because, therefore, consequently Writer: Priestly Effects on audience: we, us

Difference Between D and C

Typically, grade D responses: identify the effects of writers uses of language, form and structure, e.g. Sheila gets Eva sacked from Millwards because she was jealous of her. Whereas grade C responses: explain the effects of writers uses of language, structure and form, e.g. Sheila gets Eva sacked from Millwards because she was jealous of her and this gives her a motive to use her wealth and family name to threaten the shop owner.

Past Questions: Foundation

17.How does Priestley present Gerald in An Inspector Calls? Write about: what Gerald says and does how other characters respond to him the methods Priestley uses to present Gerald. OR 18.What do you think Priestley is trying to tell us about responsibility in the play An Inspector Calls? Write about: what some of the characters say and do the methods Priestley uses to present his ideas on responsibility.

Past Questions: Foundation

1 7 How does Priestley present Eric in An Inspector Calls? Write about: what Eric says and does how other characters respond to him the methods Priestley uses to present Eric. (30 marks) OR

1 8 Write about the differences between Sheila and Sybil Birling in the play An Inspector Calls. You should write about: what they say and do their different attitudes the methods Priestley uses to present Sheila and Sybil Birling.

What Methods Means

The characters are not real people, they are used to represent Priestleys ideas The characters represent some of the deadly sins, Priestly has a religious message The characters represent the problems of the class system, and the hypocrisy of the upper class The Inspector may not be a real person, but supernatural: the play is a whodunit

Band 4
Students demonstrate: 4.1 Considered/qualified response to task 4.2 Considered/qualified response to text 4.3 Details linked to interpretation 4.4 Appreciation/consideration of writers uses of language and/or form and/or structure and effect on readers/audience 4.5 Thoughtful consideration of ideas/themes Information is presented in a way which assists with communication of meaning. Syntax and spelling are generally accurate.

Band 4
Qualified: alternatively, on the other hand, whereas, in contrast, however Considered: appears, suggests, implies Thoughtful: perhaps, might, may, possibly

Band 4: Alternative Points of View

Eric appears to be the only person to have committed a crime, stealing from his father. However, Priestly may want us to forgive him, because Eric is trying to compensate for his irresponsible behaviour in getting Eva pregnant. On the other hand, Priestly might also want us to see that Eric is still deeply irresponsible. When his father accuses him, you stole the money, Eric replies, not really. This implies that Eric will continue to be irresponsible even after the Inspector has gone. At the end, we realise Priestly is suggesting that Eric will never fully face up to his own mistakes.

How to get a C Aim for a B

Alternative Viewpoints: Eric

Alcoholic, Rapist and Thief? well, I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty and I threatened to cause a row Unloved, Undervalued, Repentant? (shouting) And I say the girls dead and we all helped to kill her and thats what matters.

Alternative Viewpoints: Sheila

Vain, Jealous, Vengeful, Obsessed by status and wealth? I knew anyhow you were lying about those months last year when you hardly came near me. Repentant, Eager to Learn, Brave, Eager to change the world. I remember what he said, how he looked and how he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish.

Alternative Viewpoints: Gerald

Capitalist, Manipulative, Selfish, Sexist, Hypocrite It happened that a friend of mine...had let me have the key to a nice set of rooms he had and had asked me to...use them if I wanted to. Young, Loving, Generous, Reformed She didnt blame me at all. I wish to God she had now. Perhaps Id feel better about it.

Priestleys Purpose
A Socialist and/or Communist, committed to overthrowing the rich. A Christian, a man of the people, committed to treating fellow man with respect, regardless of wealth. A Dramatist, catching the mood of the people, the zeitgeist, reflecting the real world, and the interest in whodunit fiction.

Priestleys Purpose
A Socialist and/or Communist, committed to overthrowing the rich. Gerald...were respectable citizens and not criminals. Inspector Sometimes there isnt as much difference as you might think. Often, if it was left to me, I wouldnt know where to draw the line.

Priestleys Purpose
A Christian, a man of the people, committed to treating fellow man with respect, regardless of wealth. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other...if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.

Priestleys Purpose
A Dramatist, catching the mood of the people, the zeitgeist, reflecting the real world, and the interest in whodunit fiction. The photograph(s) Quizzing one character at a time Knowing what is going to happen INSPECTOR holds up a hand. We hear the front door...Eric enters. Eric You know, dont you? Goole the supernatural ghost of Christmas Future

Advice from the Examiner

Characters are not real people

The Examiner wants you to consider Priestleys purpose in creating the character.

Sheila was a construct used by Priestley to put forward his messages.

The Play is for Performance

Better candidates were able to see the text as a drama and commented on stage directions, lighting and other dramatic devices, making reference to the effect on the audience

(rather than the reader) to show that they had a real sense of the text as a performance.

Important Stage Directions: The Beginning

are seated at the table...with ARTHUR BIRLING at one end, his wife at the other Status of women Control in the family Division in marriage We are not all one body

Important Stage Directions: The Beginning

The lighting should be pink and intimate until the INSPECTOR arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder. Rose tinted spectacles delusional Pink, feminine, a female play Hard, bright, a modern female message

Important Stage Directions: The Ending

As they stare guiltily and dumbfounded, the curtain falls They = all, even the young Admit their guilt, not to each other, but to the audience Curtain falls, like a guillotine, echoes the French Revolution

How Many Characters?

Question 18 generally was not quite as well done and some responses became descriptions of the selfishness of each character, all four Birlings and Gerald. Such responses would probably have been better had the focus been on one or two characters. The best responses considered the concept of selfishness in the play as a whole.

How to get an A or A*

Dramatic Irony
theres a lot of wild talk about possible labour trouble in the near future...We employers at last are coming together to see that ...the interests of Capital...are properly protected. The General Strike of 1926 The Great Depression War as aggressive capitalism, exchanging lives for wealth

Dramatic Irony
some people say that wars inevitable. And to that I say fiddlesticks!...Theres too much at stake these days. Everything to lose and nothing to gain by war. 1914-1918 The Great War 1939-1945 The Second World War Who got rich?

Dramatic Irony
the Titanic...unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable Tragedy Delusion Ignoring humanity, preferring progress through Capital

Dramatic Irony
a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own and We hear the sharp ring of a front door bell. Causes them to be inspected Causes the death of Eva Change of lighting to reflect sharpness of the lesson the Inspector teaches

Examiners Advice: A and A*

Typically, A*/A responses are analytical and exploratory. This means that candidates write a lot about a little: they tease out meanings and effects from a small section of the text, considering the impact of individual words and sounds, often thinking about possible alternative interpretations.

The Birlings: Seven Deadly Sins

Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity. Sybil Envy is the desire for others' characteristics, status, abilities, or situation. Sheila Lust is craving for the pleasures of the body.

Eric
Greed is the desire for wealth. It is also called Avarice. Arthur

Band 5:
Students demonstrate: 5.1 Exploratory response to task 5.2 Exploratory response to text 5.3 Analytical use of details to support interpretation 5.4 Analysis of writers uses of language and/or structure and/or form and effects on readers/audience 5.5 Exploration of ideas/themes Structure and style are used effectively to render meaning clear. Syntax and spelling are used with a high degree of accuracy.

Band 5: AWE!
Analysis: have more than one interpretation Writer: Priestly Exploration: have more than one interpretation of character, Inspector and Priestly

Band 5: AWE!
Birling comments on his children at the end of the play, the famous younger generation who know it all. Priestly might be showing us that Birling has learned nothing, which is why the telephone immediately rings, to announce a girl has just died.

However, further dramatic irony may suggest that Birling is right. Perhaps Priestly is suggesting that, although Sheila and Eric know it all, the lesson they have learned is superficial. Therefore, because the younger generation has not learned the Inspectors lesson, a real girl has just died.

 Students demonstrate: 6.1 Insightful exploratory

Band 6
interpretation of ideas/themes

6.2 Close analysis of detail to support interpretation

6.3 Evaluation of the writers uses of language and/or structure and/or form and effects on readers 6.4 Insightful exploratory response to

context(s)

6.5 Insightful exploration of a range of telling detail to support response to context(s)

Information is presented clearly and accurately. Writing is fluent and focused. Syntax and spelling are used with a high degree of accuracy.

Band 6
Insightful exploratory interpretation Close analysis Evaluation Writer Response to context(s) Telling detail

Band 6
Evaluation Writer Response to context(s) Telling detail

To do these: write about the ending, and Priestleys political message

Band 6: Evaluate Context

The second death carries with it Priestleys political point, that the lessons of the WW1, represented by the death of Eva, were not learned, so that the Birlings now face, in the final word of the play, questions. Priestleys question, in 1945, is how the ruling classes allowed WW2 to occur, so that millions and millions of John Smiths and Eva Smiths lost their lives again. Eric and Sheila therefore represent the younger generation who grew up in the inter-war years and failed to live up to their responsibility. Priestlys play reflected the mood of the country who ousted Churchills Conservative government that had taken them to war, replacing them with the socialist Labour government. It is not Sheila and Eric, but their children who finally learn the Inspectors lesson.

Past Questions

How to Choose the Best Question

Past Questions: Higher

1 7 An Inspector Calls has been called a play of contrasts. Write about how Priestley presents some of the contrasts in the play. OR 1 8 How does Priestley present the change in Sheila during the course of the play An Inspector Calls? How do you think this change reflects some of Priestleys ideas?

Past Questions: Higher

1 7 How does Priestley show that tension is at the heart of the Birling family? OR 1 8 Priestley criticises the selfishness of people like the Birlings. What methods does he use to present this selfishness?

Past Questions: Higher

Question 17 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? Question 18 How do you respond to Gerald in An Inspector Calls? How does Priestley make you respond as you do by the ways he writes?