6 Key Words That GUARANTEE A Grade 9 in An Inspector Calls — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00In this video, my bachelor and I are
2. 0:03going to give you perfect vocabulary.
3. 0:05That is not hyperbole, it's not click
4. 0:09bait, it's real. If you understand
5. 0:14the six phrases I'm going to give you
6. 0:17and you use all of them in the exam, you
7. 0:20are guaranteed, 100% guaranteed to get
8. 0:24at least a grade seven. Let's find out
9. 0:28what they are and how to use them.
10. 0:37At number one,
11. 0:40social responsibility.
12. 0:43These are the words that make sense of
13. 0:45capitalism and socialism.
14. 0:49What do they mean? They mean this is
15. 0:52Priestly's big idea. We all need to be
16. 0:57responsible
17. 0:59for each other in society.
18. 1:03If you write about society and how
19. 1:06Priestly wants to make us all socially
20. 1:09responsible,
21. 1:10grade seven at least. Then every
22. 1:14character becomes a construct, someone
23. 1:18that Priestly has created in order to
24. 1:20teach this ultimate lesson. That goes in
25. 1:24your thesis statement, it goes in your
26. 1:26conclusion, and it goes in your
27. 1:29discussion of the character if you're
28. 1:31doing the character question or the
29. 1:34theme if you're doing the theme
30. 1:36question. When we have a socially
31. 1:39responsible society, we look out for the
32. 1:44millions of Eva Smiths and the millions
33. 1:46of John Smiths and everyone lives
34. 1:50happily ever after. Shazam.
35. 1:54>> [music]
36. 1:59>> At number two, we have the cyclical
37. 2:03structure of the play. First, you're
38. 2:07going to get grade seven for writing
39. 2:09about structure. Most students don't do
40. 2:11that. Secondly, when you write about the
41. 2:13cyclical ending, you're dealing with
42. 2:16Priestley's final ideas. And when you
43. 2:19write about Priestley's ideas,
44. 2:22you're in grade seven, eight, and nine.
45. 2:25The point of the cyclical structure is
46. 2:28it demonstrates
47. 2:30that the Birlings don't learn their
48. 2:33lesson. Now, you might think I'm just
49. 2:37talking about Mr. and Mrs. Birling, but
50. 2:41this is where it gets really
51. 2:43interesting.
52. 2:45Eric appears to learn the lesson
53. 2:48of social responsibility, but that is
54. 2:51not enough to prevent the next death
55. 2:54happening
56. 2:55to prevent the cyclical ending. Why not?
57. 2:59Well, there are two possible reasons.
58. 3:01One,
59. 3:03Eric isn't just squiffy, he is
60. 3:06absolutely pissed all the way through
61. 3:10this play, and he gets increasingly
62. 3:12drunk as the action progresses. So, in a
63. 3:17week's time, after he's had time to
64. 3:20think about this in a sober way, perhaps
65. 3:23he will dismiss the inspector's lesson.
66. 3:27It is not truly learned.
67. 3:29Possibility number two, the setting is
68. 3:321912, which we know is deliberate
69. 3:35because Priestley is saying, "World War
70. 3:37I is coming. 1914."
71. 3:41Guess who died in greatest numbers?
72. 3:44The officer class. Guess who made up the
73. 3:48officer class? The posh boys. Eric. Eric
74. 3:54would have been an officer in the First
75. 3:56World War. Very likely that he would
76. 3:59have died and therefore, yes, learned
77. 4:02the Inspector's lesson, but not been
78. 4:04around to benefit from it, which is why
79. 4:08the Birlings and the Crofts, the older
80. 4:10generation, they just kept on going.
81. 4:16At number three, didactic. Didactic
82. 4:20means teaching a lesson. This, of
83. 4:24course, is the Inspector. The Inspector
84. 4:27teaches Priestley's lesson. This is the
85. 4:31point of his final words, probably the
86. 4:34most important words in the whole play.
87. 4:36If men will not learn that lesson, they
88. 4:38will be taught it in fire and blood and
89. 4:42anguish.
90. 4:43What is he getting at? He's getting at
91. 4:47this message about social responsibility
92. 4:50and he's saying, "If you don't learn the
93. 4:52lesson I teach, you are doomed to repeat
94. 4:56the mistakes of the past. It's cyclical.
95. 5:00What are the mistakes of the past? It's
96. 5:03not just preferring capitalism to
97. 5:07socialism.
98. 5:08He's saying something much more
99. 5:10profound. He's saying, "If you don't
100. 5:12think in terms of social responsibility,
101. 5:16then you actually think in terms of
102. 5:19yourself and your family." Sound
103. 5:22familiar? Those are Birling's words,
104. 5:25aren't they? And the capitalist mindset
105. 5:28is profit. What is going to lead to most
106. 5:32profit?
107. 5:33The factory producing more and more
108. 5:35goods, but only if there's a market for
109. 5:39buying those goods.
110. 5:42He runs a textile mill. What is going to
111. 5:46lead to a dramatic
112. 5:48demand for textiles?
113. 5:51War.
114. 5:53Every soldier needs a uniform. Loads of
115. 5:56soldiers get killed. It will need to be
116. 5:59replaced. There are parachutes. There
117. 6:01are all kinds of material things which
118. 6:04will need to be made that will earn the
119. 6:06Birlings and the Crofts big bucks.
120. 6:10And now [clears throat]
121. 6:11think about the steel manufacturers
122. 6:14and the aircraft manufacturers and the
123. 6:17gun manufacturers and yada yada yada.
124. 6:20Big business earning big bucks because
125. 6:24of war. And so Priestley's point is, if
126. 6:27you stop thinking about other people and
127. 6:29you just think about money, the logical
128. 6:32consequence
129. 6:34is that war becomes attractive
130. 6:37to the rich, to the ruling classes.
131. 6:40Therefore, you will be taught a lesson
132. 6:42in fire and blood and anguish. That is
133. 6:44the only way you can interpret those
134. 6:46words. If there isn't war,
135. 6:48[clears throat]
136. 6:49those words make absolutely no sense.
137. 6:52That is Priestley's biggest idea.
138. 6:58Now you can get grade eight, nine.
139. 7:03At number four, we have proxy. A proxy
140. 7:07is a person or thing that stands for
141. 7:11something else. So the inspector, he is
142. 7:14a proxy for Priestley. He stands for
143. 7:18Priestley's ideas. Sheila is a proxy for
144. 7:24the inspector. Once the inspector
145. 7:26disappears, Sheila keeps repeating his
146. 7:29words, his message, his lesson. She
147. 7:32keeps the lesson as the inspector's
148. 7:36proxy and therefore as Priestley's proxy
149. 7:39in front of Gerald and her parents.
150. 7:42>> [snorts]
151. 7:42>> They reject the lesson, they reject his
152. 7:45proxy, Sheila.
153. 7:48Why is this important? Because it forces
154. 7:51you to talk about the characters as
155. 7:54constructs.
156. 7:55The AQA examiners in particular, but all
157. 7:58exam boards love the idea of characters
158. 8:01as constructs. Why? Because it says you
159. 8:04know these characters are only created
160. 8:07by the author to get across their ideas.
161. 8:10And when you're writing about those
162. 8:12ideas, you are thoughtful, or you're
163. 8:15better than thoughtful, you are
164. 8:16perceptive, and therefore you are worth
165. 8:19top grade seven, easy grade eight,
166. 8:22probable grade nine.
167. 8:24Proxy.
168. 8:30Number five. This is a morality play.
169. 8:36What does that mean?
170. 8:37The first plays
171. 8:40were performed in church. They were
172. 8:43Christian messages, the first plays in
173. 8:47British history. Now, the point of that
174. 8:51is that they had a Christian message,
175. 8:54and in order to convey a Christian
176. 8:56message, each character was not a real
177. 9:00person. They represented either an
178. 9:02aspect of goodness,
179. 9:04like faith,
180. 9:06or honesty,
181. 9:08or they represented a sin, like lust, or
182. 9:13pride, or anger.
183. 9:16There are seven deadly sins, and the
184. 9:20characters in An Inspector Calls
185. 9:24represent those sins. They are
186. 9:27characters in a morality play. Sheila,
187. 9:31she represents vanity.
188. 9:35Eric, he represents
189. 9:37lust or avarice, stealing. Gerald, he
190. 9:43represents lust. Birling, he represents
191. 9:49greed or avarice, wanting to acquire
192. 9:52stuff. Mrs. Birling, she represents
193. 9:56pride. It is her inflated sense of
194. 9:59self-worth that makes her dismiss Eva,
195. 10:04who is beneath her socially. Mrs.
196. 10:07Birling is just too proud to develop
197. 10:11social responsibility.
198. 10:13Now, knowing this, you can see that
199. 10:16there is a Christian message to the
200. 10:19play. And why that is important comes
201. 10:22back to the inspector's last words. "We
202. 10:26are members of one body," he says. These
203. 10:30are the words used in church for Holy
204. 10:33Communion, when symbolically we drink
205. 10:37Jesus' blood in wine and we eat his body
206. 10:41in wafer or bread.
207. 10:43This symbolism, "We are members of one
208. 10:46body," is a 100%
209. 10:49Christian idea. Why on earth does
210. 10:51Priestley include this in a play about
211. 10:54socialism and capitalism and social
212. 10:56responsibility? Because it's 1945,
213. 10:59ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
214. 11:021945,
215. 11:04when 80% of the country is a practicing
216. 11:08Christian. Therefore, Priestley's
217. 11:11message, "You have to develop social
218. 11:14responsibility
219. 11:16because
220. 11:18to be [laughter] a Christian is to be a
221. 11:21socialist.
222. 11:23Socialism and Christianity have exactly
223. 11:26the same values. So, you can't be a
224. 11:29capitalist. You can't be a conservative.
225. 11:32You have to vote now because it's 1945
226. 11:35and there's an election
227. 11:37for a socialist government.
228. 11:42And now, the ultimate, number six,
229. 11:45patriarchal. I've saved this because it
230. 11:48is the biggest guarantee of a grade
231. 11:51nine.
232. 11:53So, I'm going to let you into a secret.
233. 11:55I've never seen an essay with the word
234. 11:58patriarchal in it
235. 12:00get a grade seven.
236. 12:02They only get grade eight and nine.
237. 12:05Let's find out why.
238. 12:09When we talk about patriarchy, we're
239. 12:11talking about a society run in the
240. 12:15interests of men and therefore not in
241. 12:19the interests of women.
242. 12:21Priestly is utterly obsessed about this.
243. 12:24That's why he doesn't choose a victim as
244. 12:26John Smith. He chooses
245. 12:29Eva Smith because he's saying, "In our
246. 12:32society in 1945,
247. 12:34women have it tough."
248. 12:37I'm now going to take you back to 1912
249. 12:39when your mothers and your grandmothers
250. 12:41had it even tougher. Why does he do
251. 12:45that? Because he's trying to show
252. 12:48patriarchal society was a disaster
253. 12:51for your mother and your grandmother,
254. 12:54but it is less patriarchal now. Why?
255. 12:58Well, because in 1945,
256. 13:00women have been in work since 1939, the
257. 13:04beginning of the war, because the men
258. 13:06have gone off abroad to fight the war,
259. 13:09but their jobs needed to be filled and
260. 13:11so suddenly women have got independent
261. 13:14income, independent lifestyles. They
262. 13:17have agency. They have a completely new
263. 13:20way of life.
264. 13:22But they also, unlike Sheila and Mrs.
265. 13:25Birling, have the vote. Remember there's
266. 13:29an election in 1945.
267. 13:31You can change the future,
268. 13:33says Priestley. YOU GO OUT and vote for
269. 13:35a socialist government and we will have
270. 13:39a world full of social responsibility.
271. 13:42We will not be doomed to repeat the
272. 13:44errors of the past.
273. 13:46So, now we can see why Eva is created.
274. 13:51Why does he create Sheila as the one to
275. 13:54most learn the lesson rather than Eric?
276. 13:58Well, I've just told you, haven't I?
277. 14:00It's because of women are the ones who
278. 14:02are going to make the biggest
279. 14:03difference. Imagine the audience in 1945
280. 14:07when millions of men are still in the
281. 14:09theater of war, as it is called. They
282. 14:12haven't been brought back and demobbed,
283. 14:15which means made back into civilians.
284. 14:18Most of the audience would have been
285. 14:21>> [clears throat]
286. 14:21>> the kind of older people, the Mr. and
287. 14:23Mrs. Birling.
288. 14:24Priestley's talking to them, isn't he?
289. 14:26Change your ways.
290. 14:28But he's also talking to the female
291. 14:30audience who would have been younger
292. 14:31[clears throat] and he's saying,
293. 14:34"If they don't change their ways, you
294. 14:36can force them. Just vote for socialist
295. 14:38government.
296. 14:39Vote Labour."
297. 14:41Now, let's get really deep.
298. 14:44Who is most to blame for Eva's tragedy?
299. 14:48You might think it gets worse and worse
300. 14:50with each character and so the final
301. 14:53character we hear about is Mrs. Birling.
302. 14:55She's the one who had the last chance to
303. 14:57save Eva and she didn't and therefore
304. 15:01she is the worst. Eric certainly blames
305. 15:04her. He thinks she's the worst. But that
306. 15:06is to ignore
307. 15:08the patriarchal
308. 15:10society.
309. 15:12Let's actually look at what Priestley
310. 15:15means.
311. 15:16The worst consequence
312. 15:19for Eva is what leads to her death.
313. 15:24So, let's consider this.
314. 15:28Bleach.
315. 15:30Bleach is a cleaner.
316. 15:34What is Eva trying to clean?
317. 15:40Eric, and what Eric has done to her.
318. 15:44Think about this.
319. 15:47Eva is not going to be the first person
320. 15:50who dies because of the bleach.
321. 15:54You can work out who that is,
322. 15:57and what that has to do with Eric.
323. 16:00Clearly, there is no other way of
324. 16:03interpreting this other than to say, in
325. 16:07Eva's mind, the worst sinner, the worst
326. 16:12abuser,
327. 16:13that is Eric.
328. 16:16What's Priestley's point? Men have the
329. 16:19most power in society to do good,
330. 16:23but because it is a patriarchal society,
331. 16:26they also have the most power in society
332. 16:30to do evil and bad.
333. 16:34Yes, Eric says, "Oh, I wanted to marry
334. 16:38her. I don't love her, but I offered to
335. 16:40marry her. I gave her money. Well, it
336. 16:43wasn't my money. I stole it."
337. 16:45You can see he is bad through and
338. 16:49through. He's also an alcoholic.
339. 16:53Do we trust him?
340. 16:56Priestley
341. 16:57says no. Do not trust the patriarchal
342. 17:00society. We need a balanced society with
343. 17:03social responsibility where women have a
344. 17:06voice.
345. 17:08If you have understood these six ideas,
346. 17:13which I hope I have made simple, you are
347. 17:17now able to master the complexity
348. 17:21of any essay at grade nine. If you do it
349. 17:25badly,
350. 17:27grade seven's going to be easy.
351. 17:31Now,
352. 17:32if you would like to see these bits of
353. 17:34vocabulary in quotations and in an
354. 17:38essay, well, I've got that for you in
355. 17:41the link below.