1. As you’re waiting for the lesson to begin… What happens in Act 1 of An Inspector Calls? Make a list of AT LEAST 5 bullet points showing the key events Extension: Add to each bullet point the relevance of each event on the plot…

2. Sheila Think about what we have learnt about Sheila… What is she like as a character? How does the Inspector exploit this? Ensure that your character table is completed for Sheila and Mr Birling…

3. Find this section of the play… GERALD … In fact, I insist upon being one of the family now. I’ve been trying long enough, haven’t I? (As she does not reply, with more insistence.) Haven’t I? You know I have. MRS B. (smiling) Of course she does. SHEILA (half serious, half playful) Yes – except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you. GERALD And I’ve told you – I was awfully busy at the works all that time. SHEILA (same tone as before) Yes, that’s what you say. MRS B. Now, Sheila, don’t tease him. When you’re married you’ll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get used to that, just as I had. SHEILA I don’t believe I will. (Half playful, half serious to Gerald) So you be careful. GERALD Oh – I will, I will.

4. Gerald and Shelia Why are these two getting married? Is it true love? What else? What does Gerald’s comment that he has ‘been trying long enough’ tell us about the relationship? How do you think Gerald feels when Sheila ignores him? Why does she ignore him? Why is Sheila ‘half playful, half serious’? Was Gerald at work ‘all last summer’? How do we know that Sheila has questioned Gerald on this matter before? How does Gerald feel about being questioned? Does Sheila believe him? Do you believe him? Where was he? Is Sheila (as Mrs. B thinks) teasing Gerald or is she accusing him? How do you know? Does Sheila share her mother’s notion of how she should accept her role as the wife of a businessman? What part does Mrs. Birling play here?

5. Which version seems more in keeping with Priestley’s intentions? Sheila and Gerald are truly in love. Nothing or no one else matters. (Version 1) Sheila and Gerald are fond of one another (maybe even love?) but there is also underlying tension between the couple – perhaps stemming from issues and ideas linked to class, business and family – and also their own private and personal insecurities. (Version 2) Sheila and Gerald do not even like one another. The engagement is a duty-fuelled business transaction, nothing more. (Version 3)

6. Act 2 Let’s read Act 2 What more do we learn about the Inspector and Sheila and the Inspector’s impact on Sheila?

7. Act 2 Let’s read Act 2 What do we learn about Gerald? Use the questions on your character worksheet to focus your answers…

8. Let’s continue to read… We’re going to focus on Mrs Birling – use your character worksheet as a guide!

9. Reflection Reflect on the development of Sheila’s character and how the audience’s response to her changes over the course of the play. Come up with a list of adjectives (in chronological order) showing how she is presented and how we respond to her: E.g. vain, spoilt = critical, unsympathetic. Do we respect her more now than we did?

10. What do we understand by a Welfare State?

11. Review: How has Priestly created a climax at the end of this scene? How has the Inspector manipulated the situation for maximum impact? What do we, as the audience, expect from the beginning of Act 3?

12. Drama Create a tableau of the end of Act 2. Be prepared to thought track each of the characters’ thoughts and feelings…