Paper 1 AIC: Choice of two questions character or themes
Characters: Mr Birling; Mrs Birling, Sheila Birling, Eric Birling, Gerald Croft,
Eva Smith/Daisy Renton, Edna, Inspector.
Engagement/celebration, inspector calls, interrogates character 1:1. Suicide.
Older generation, Mrs B, Mr B– arrogant, selfish, hypocritical, will not change.
SB, EB younger generation feel guilt, change +hope for future. Gerald - aristocracy sides with older generation.
Moral—capitalism wrong—Socialism right. Philanthropy—care for others.
Set 1912, written 1946—just after 2 wars. Time for change. Labour landslide
victory—Welfare state, NHS.
Hierarchy—aristocracy—power = money –upper class + industrialists.
Working class only power is their labour—strike.
Woman—fragile (middle and upper class)—working class had to work—abused
by male society seen as sex and work objects.
Hypocrisy of responsibility—MRB Mrs B—not good parents /not good employers, pretence. Status in society is all that matters—public face.
Dramatic devices—lighting - gentle first then harsh to expose truth.
Dramatic irony—Mr B talks of Titanic, war and Russia—audience knows this is
wrong—we think he is foolish.
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Paper 2 unseen poetry—read an unknown poem and write
about it.
Title-- Ponder the title before reading the poem
Structure - stanzas, punctuation, lines , shape
Language—words, phrases, metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia,
what do they make the reader think and feel
Imagery—what pictures in your mind?
Meaning—what is the poet trying to say?—what is his message
or purpose? Can you sum it up in one sentence?
Tone—what emotion do you get from the poem?—angry, sad,
happy
Who is the voice in the poet? - the poet or a character? Who is it
talking to?
Connotation: What do the words mean beyond the obvious?
What are the implications, the hints, the suggestions of these
particular word choices? Note anything that is repeated, either
individual words or complete phrases. Anything said more than
once may be crucial to interpretation.
Paper 1 OMM: choice of two questions character or themes.
Characters: George, Lennie, Slim, Curley, Candy, Crooks, C’s Wife, Whit, Carlson.
Travelling workers find work on ranch. Travel together - friends.
Set during the Great depression—widespread poverty, everyman for himself.
Dreams and plans for future almost come true— the American Dream—dashed . People only
useful when they can work. Money equals power— boss has power. People’s value only their
ability to work. Weak in society have no one to stand up for them and no value.
Nature versus man—nature =survival of the fittest—heron eats snake.
Animal imagery used to describe characters—Lennie—bear, bull, horse.
Foreshadowing—candy’s dog shot—echoes in shooting of Lennie—both powerless, innocent
and doomed. Candy recognises should have shot dog himself—George shoots Lennie ‘You
hadda George’. Pessimistic message about society from Steinbeck. Weather harsh dry heat from
the sun. Bunkhouse dark , with no luxury. Life is harsh. Crooks represents the prejudice and discrimination of blacks in America—outsider—also crooked. C’s wife represents women—no
name, a possession. Only route is to find a man.
Reader wants G&L dream to become real. Steinbeck builds up anticipation between Candy,
G&L. ‘We can do it’. Juxtaposed against Curley’s entry and fight with Lennie. Dashes hopes of
reader.
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Poetry Anthology: 16 poems—choice of two questions—2 titles given or choose one.
If—advice from father to son about how to live a life, Prayer before birth– voice of unborn child about fear of
cruel life and what it might become. Asks for protection or death. Half past two—child’s perspective of time left
alone without any knowledge of how to measure time. Piano—music transforms the poet through memory to
childhood with fond memories of mother. Hide and Seek—child’s game sounds and smells of beach with link to
DD landings. Sonnet 116—true love conquers all, nothing can alter its course. La Belle Dans...fanatasy romantic tale of a knight ravished by an elven lady. Poem at 39 -memories of a father who taught the poet lots and
now she is like him, Telephone conversation—use of language only to highlight prejudice based on stereotypes., Once upon a time—Regret of father who feels people are hard a and cruel as they grow older—link to
colonialism. War photographer images of horror captured through camera for people to look at and then forget,
photographer has to distance himself to do his job. The Tiger—images of creation in a blacksmiths—link to God
and good and evil within mankind. My Last Duchess—voice of cruel Duke who collects wives as possessions
like art. When he is bored he gets rid of them. A Mother in a refugee camp—images of mother nursing dead
child, pathetic but powerful image of a mother’s love. Do not go gentle—son angry at father’s death, lesson to
live life to the full. Remember. Lover to lover advice not to mourn but rejoice at memories but also ok to forget.
See advice on unseen poetry—do all that and more....
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