Tackling Gcse English Literature Revision Volume #1

I have had the pleasure of doing classes on Inspector Calls as a teacher in a class and as a private tutor in a one on one setting. I have seen how some teachers will approach the play Act by Act and Scene by Scene. However I really believe that for revision one needs to understand the context of the play and have a big picture perspective and then everything else can fit and make sense to the student living in the social media dominated world of today.

The play is essentially a critique of unfettered capitalism and deep inequalities in English society prior to World War One. It is amazingly relevant to the current situation in England today. The play essentially revolves around a particularly awkward evening in which the Birling family in a middle class setting are visited by an "Inspector". The topic for interrogation is the suicide of vulnerable exploited lady called Eva Smith. She represents the exploited working class, shorn of any joy in life and continually facing the stress of dismissals from jobs, dependency on male suiters like Eric and totally bereft of any family support.

This means that she saw no way out of a complex situation and so committed suicide. The inspector is the manifestation of morality in the play and comes up against Mr. Birling the symbol of capitalist without a conscience. His daughter Sheila represents the younger generation who feel deeply the responsibility for the predicament of someone like Eva Smith.Themes like love, social responsibility and exploitation come to the surface through the dialogue. The key point for the GCSE student is to find the evidence for these themes. Page numbers and quotes can be put in a table with themes and evidence at the top.

The next part of revision is to go the past papers and the mark schemes to see what the focus is and then to move into building skills in answering the questions. The tutor`s role in all of this is for human guidance to take place. Evaluating, tracking progress, monitoring different areas of improvement-those would be some of the skills a student revising the GCSE needs in a tutor.