1. GCSE English Literature Unit 1 Modern Texts
An Inspector Calls
by J B Priestley
LO: to explore how Priestley uses context to present characters and themesAn Inspector Calls - In Context (Part 1 of 2) - YouTube
Key words:
Context, responsibility, morality, community, consequences
It would be advisable if you bought your own copy of the play so that you can write notes in your book.

2. Eva Smith
The first we hear of Eva Smith is the inspector’s description of her death.
Two hours ago a young woman died in the Infirmary. She’d been taken there this afternoon because she’d swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her inside out, of course.
Like a lot of these young women who get into various kinds of trouble, she’d used more than one name. But her original name – her real name – was Eva Smith.
What do you think the inspector means by ‘a lot of these young women who get into various kinds of trouble’?

3. Eva Smith

4. What were Eva’s grievances?
When Eva loses her job she is faced with a bleak future.

5. Any similarities with 1912?

6. Act 1- Eva Smith’s story After Mr Birling sacks Eva
Once Eva leaves the works how long is she unemployed?
2) What quote describes Eva’s situation? (p18)
Why doesn’t Eva go back to her parents?
How long do Eva’s savings last?
Where was Eva living?
Why didn’t Eva Smith just go on the dole?

7. Write a diary entry for Eva Smith once she is sacked from Mr Birling’s factory.
Include:
What conditions were like at the factory and how you felt about Mr Birling’s attitude to the workers and wages.
What was it like being on strike over Christmas and why you returned to work.
* How you felt at being sacked and what options you have

8. Success Criteria
B - confident and developed interpretations of texts engagement with writers’ ideas and attitudes understand and respond to different viewpoints relate to historical, social and cultural contexts
C - clear evidence of understanding significant meanings of the text
ability to explain writers’ ideas clearly
understanding of different viewpoints
reference to historical, social and cultural contexts