Essay skills

An Inspector Calls is in Paper 2, Section A. You choose one of two questions, about a character or a theme. There is no extract, so you write about the whole play from memory.

It is worth 30 marks plus 4 for AO4, and you should spend about 45 minutes on it. The marks are for:

• AO1: a clear, personal argument that answers the question, backed up by quotations;
• AO2: how Priestley uses language, structure and dramatic methods;
• AO3: context, such as 1912, 1945 and Priestley's socialism;
• AO4: spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary.

1. Read the question twice and underline the key words, such as ‘How does Priestley present…’ and the character or theme.
2. Decide your argument: one sentence that answers the question. This is your thesis.
3. Choose 3–4 points from across the play: the beginning, the middle and the end. This shows how a character or idea develops.
4. Pick a quotation or moment for each point.
5. Add a context link for each point: what was Priestley trying to make his 1945 audience think?

Begin with an introduction that states your thesis and mentions Priestley's purpose. End with a short conclusion that comes back to his message.

Each paragraph should do four things:

1. Make a point that answers the question.
2. Back it up with a short quotation, woven into your sentence.
3. Analyse a word or method, and explain its effect.
4. Explain Priestley's purpose, with a link to context.

Always write about Priestley as the person making choices: ‘Priestley presents Mr Birling as…’, not ‘Mr Birling is…’. The examiner wants to know what Priestley wanted his audience to think, and how he made them think it.

To move up the levels, go from clear explanation to thoughtful, developed ideas, and then to a convincing, critical argument, where you explore more than one meaning.

Question: How does Priestley present Mr Birling as selfish?

From the start, Priestley presents Mr Birling as a man who cares only for himself. He boasts that he is ‘a hard-headed, practical man of business’, and the harsh, clipped sound of ‘hard-headed’ suggests he will not let feelings get in the way of profit. Priestley then undermines him with dramatic irony: Birling calls the Titanic ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’, which a 1945 audience knew was wrong. The repetition of ‘unsinkable’ makes his certainty sound foolish. If he is so wrong about this, the audience is encouraged to doubt his belief that a man should only look after himself. Priestley, a socialist, uses Birling to show that this selfish capitalist thinking belongs in the past.