1. GCSE English Literature Unit 1 Modern Texts
An Inspector Calls
by J B Priestley
LO: Can I explore the ways Priestley presents and develops Gerald’s character?.
Key words:
INFER DEDUCE TRUST COMPASSION
Make sure you pay close attention to the stage directions.

2. How am I doing? Check your answer against the mark scheme
‘Confident, Assured’ B
* confident and developed interpretations of texts
* engages with writers’ ideas and attitudes and provide perceptive interpretations using precisely selected supporting quotes or examples
analysis of aspects of language in convincing detail.
‘Clear, Consistent’ C
* clear understanding of significant meanings of the text
ability to explain writers’ ideas clearly using relevant and appropriate quotes or examples
* ability to show understanding of features of language

3. STARTER What facts do you know about Gerald?
What has Priestley inferred about Gerald? Quotes?
5 An Inspector Calls Gerald - YouTube

4. Act Two - Gerald & Sheila
Why does Gerald suggest that Sheila ought to be excused at the beginning of Act Two?
Why does Sheila refuse to leave?
What explanation does the inspector provide?
…if she leaves us now, and doesn’t hear any more, then she’ll feel she’s entirely to blame
Sheila has already accepted and acknowledged that she is at least partly to blame for Eva’s death and now she wants to know who else is implicated.

5. FAMILY QUESTIONS? Why is Sheila angry with Gerald’s behaviour?
According to Gerald
when did his affair with
Daisy end? What happened?
Find examples in Sheila’s text lines where she says she almost respects Gerald’s confession. What does this reveal about her?

6. Gerald Personality Evidence
We now learn of Gerald’s role in Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’s ruin.
What does the audience think of Gerald now?
Personality
Evidence
Worksheet Seventeen accompanies this slide.
Be prepared to share your ideas on Gerald and justify your views.

7. Gerald’s role
What arguments can you put forward to defend Gerald’s behaviour towards Daisy?
He obviously liked her as he describes her as ‘very pretty – soft brown hair and big dark eyes’.
He is upset when he suddenly realizes that it is she who is dead.
When they first met he had rescued her from a old womanizer.
When he realized she was hungry he got her food.
He provided her with somewhere to live when he found out she was being turned out of her room.
When he ended the affair he gave her some money to live on for a while.
When he has confessed all he goes out because he is genuinely upset about Daisy.
Worksheet Eighteen accompanies this slide.

8. How responsible was Gerald? 1 10
On a scale of 1-10 how responsible was Gerald in Eva’s death?
Write one paragraph to justify your response.
What does Gerald represent in the play? How does Priestley use him.