“An Inspector Calls” GCSE exam-style essay questions:
You will be given a choice of EITHER a passage-based question (the passage will be printed in the
exam paper) or
an essay question which should be based on the whole play, NOT on the printed passage. In the
exam you have
45 minutes to plan, write and check your essay.
Passage-based essay questions
1. Passage: BIRLING: (triumphantly) There you are! Proof Positive…to…. As they stare guiltily
and dumbfounded, the curtain falls.
Question: How does Priestley make this such a striking ending to the play?
2. Passage: GERALD: I hope you don’t mind my coming back? … to …. GERALD: That’s all right, I
don’t want to.
Question: Explore the ways in which Priestley makes this such a dramatic and significant
moment in the play.
3. Passage: MRS BIRLING (to BIRLING) I’m sorry, Arthur, but I simply couldn’t…to…. INSPECTOR:
…you had in your power to grant her.
Question: In what way does Priestley make this such a dramatic and important moment in
the play?
Essay questions:
Does Priestley’s portrayal encourage you to feel sympathy for Eric at any point in the play?
Remember to support your ideas with details from the play.
Explore how Priestley’s portrayal of Gerald Croft contributes to the dramatic impact of the play.
Remember to support your ideas with details from the play.
Explore one or two moments in the play when Priestley makes the Inspector’s presence on the stage
particularly powerful.
Remember to support your ideas with details from the play.
In what ways does Priestley make the relationship between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft such an
important part of the play?
How is the mother/daughter relationship in this play explored?
How successfully has the writer portrayed a class-ridden and hypocritical society?
At one point in the play the Inspector says: “We don’t live alone. We are all members of one body.
We are responsible for each other.”
How successfully is the idea of collective responsibility explored in this play, through the use of the
Inspector?
How important is the role of Eric in this play?