MME REVISE PREDICTED PAPER 2

Q1: AIC

In the morality play, ‘An Inspector Calls’, where it is set in 1912 but written in 1945, Priestley
utilises the character of The Inspector as his mouthpiece to present political viewpoints to the
audience through the construct of this character. Specifically, The Inspector potrays socialist
views which are exemplified through interesting utilisation of this character’s mysterious,
contrasting and outerworldly nature when seen during the interrogation of the Birling family.
Whilst Priestley does this to interest the audience and create mystery, he evokes thought into
the audience and lean them towards convincing socialist potrayals he presents.

To begin, Priestley uses the stage directions to introduce the Inspector to the audience as being
a figure with tough and hard nature, which immediately builds an impression of the inspector
being greatly different to the Birlings. THe stage directions depicts the Inspector as a character
who ‘speaks weightily’ and has a ‘disconcerting habit’ of ‘looking hard at the person he adresses
before actually speaking’. Firstly, the stage directions create a semantic field of solidity - this
conveys a sense of confidence for the Inspector, which shows how authoritative he would be.
The fact that this are the stage directions which dewcribe the Inspector to the audience gives a
hint to the audience about his domineering personality which becomes a key theme throughout
the rest of the play. To expand on this, the adverb ‘weightily’ connotes to hardness and
heaviness; this would therefore initiate a moral bedrock, which the play will have lied above for
the entirety of the duration. This use of foreshadowing which would prove to come true later in
the play already initiate the theme of the Inspector being a key character who completely shifts
the dynamic of the plot. The ‘disconcerting habit’ of ‘looking hard’ at the person he speaks to
shows how confident the inspector is when carrying out his job. The theme of cause and effect
is a major part of the play - the introduction of the Inspector, so abruptly enters the dynamic, is a
consequence of the immoral actions and the sheer ignorance of the Birling family and Gerald
Croft. Therefore, the inspector’s soul purpose is to correct these moral faults by teaching them
the correct morals that are derived from socialist views. This ‘disconcerting habit’ shows how he
intimidates the Birlings, and makes them uncomfortable. In addition, the fact that he is ‘looking
hard at the person he addresses’ links to the idea of the Inspector placing a metaphorical
spotlight on the immoral actions of the Birlings. This is also reinforced by the change in lightings
from ‘pink and intimate’ to ‘brighter and harder’ once the inspector has arrived. When all these
characteristics of the inspector are amalgamated, it is clear that the Inspector is very
knowledgeable - almost perhaps too knowledgeable for someone who mr. Birling has never met
before. This would create the first sign of doubt for the readers upon his knowledge of the
situation - he is presented as too confident and as if he knows something they do not. FInally,
the fact that this inspector is shown to be very solid, while Mr Birling seems to be weaker due to
the fact that his speech often contains a plethora of hyphens, creating a sense of doubtedness,
shows the ideas of socialism vs capitalism that this play deals with - Priesltey potrays socialism
to be dominant, and therefore as a more logical way in running society. He uses this character,
almost omniscient, to show how a socialist nation would be just as skilled at its work in fixing the
damages caused by the two world wars.
Secondly, the Inspector, is seen to be a character of mystery but with impactful moral
messages, potraying him as otherworldly as his words were of great significance to the
audience at the contemporary level and to Sheila and Eric, showing a great awareness of
convincing and an immense power to his name. We see this as he states ‘We don’t live alone.
We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’ TO begin, the Inspector puts
forward a didactic message of socialism - the belief that the economy should be owned and
controlled by community and society, but not businesses (unlike capitalism). We can firstly see
this sense of socialism and community through the anapohra of ‘we’; this shows how everything
should be done together with groups of others, even when learning about society. This would
inspire the audience to learn this didactic message of the play together and rebuild the nation
together after to collapse in economy and infastructure due to the two world wars. The triplet of
short sentences slows down the pace due to the repeated use of the full stop, making his
message more long-lasting, thereby impacting the audience and the characters srtronger.
Finally, Priestley uses an ecclesiastical (biblical) allusion to Corinthians and the word of Jesus
through his sentence ‘we are members of one body’, which mirrors how Jesus said ‘we are
baptized into one body’. This mirroring of significant sentences shows how these socialist
viewpoints are those that are almost encouraged even in the Bible and the New Testament -
this shows significance, increasing persuasiveness of the inspector’s speech. Through the use
of these techniques by the Inspector, he makes his message long lasting and impactful to the
audience. Perhaps they can therefore infer how the inspector foreshadowed the future - during
the 1940s, the labour prty had won a landslide victory during the general election, making
society in Britain as the Inspector said it would have been in 1912, when the play is set. This
omniscient nature of knowing the future would definately amplify suspicions on the Inspector
being different from the rest, perhaps otherworldly.

FInally, we can see the greatest example of the inspector being otherworldly through his final
speech, where he potrays a warning to society, and almost gives prophecies, which would have
come true much after when the play was set. The inspector states that ‘if men don’t learn their
lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish’. TO begin, the fact that the
Inspector uses the conditional tense, ‘if’, before the start of the prophecy shows how there will
only be 2 options for these people - either the good or the bad and suffering. This thereby
connotes to authority over them, as he makes these decisive statements as though he is so
sure about them. The Inspector shifts focus from the Birling’s to the general term of ‘men’ to
direct this message; this is not a warning to just the Birlings, but the entire audience, who he
evokes guilt and shakes in social responsibility for any immoral actions they have done in the
past. The prophetic language is displayed in the idea of there being suffering through ‘fire and
blood and anguish’. Firstly, Priestley uses a polysyndetic list here, with the repeated conjunction
‘and’, which emphasises the amount of consequences they will pay - it makes it seem
overwhelming to the audience, emphasising the consequences of the theme of cause and
effect. This suffering derives two allusions. On one hand, the idea of ‘fire and blood’ is a direct
reference to hell, and this links to Revelations Chapter 8 of the Bible, which mentions ‘fire
mingled with blood’ to describe hell. Perhaps the Inspector describes the consequence to be
bibical punishment. This would be culturally significant as a large proportion of the population,
and therefore the audience, would be Christian, thus impacting them to seek for social
responsibility. ALternatively, this is an allusion to warfare. The semantic field of violence in this
polysyndetic list of ‘fire’, ‘blood’, ‘anguish’ refers to war. This would be dramatic irony for the
audience, who not only came from one war, but two world wars. They would be able to see this
allusion come true with their own experience. THe fact that this prophetic language and imagery
comes true twice shows a cear sign of omniscience - he is otherworldy, and this would make the
audience seem convinced, due to the significant historical back-ups for this argument.

Finally, the symbolism of the naming convention of the Inspector, who is named Inspector Goole
would be significant. This is because his name, ‘Goole’, is a homophone to a ghost, with word
‘Ghoul’. This would show how the Inspector is a supernatural figure, especially when coupled
with the plot, as he is a ‘fake’ inspector at the end. The fact that the title centres around the
Inspector is also signifcant, as the title ‘An Inspector Calls’ refers to the Inspector; ‘inspector’
further has a hint, due to the hidden word ‘specter’ within it, which also is a ghost. This would
accumalate the idea of the supernatural being who is the inspector, concluding my argument,
making me agree strongly with the opinion expressed in the question.

In conclusion, i would strongly agree with the idea that the inspector is ‘otherworldly’ as he is
gradually displayed as so throughout the play. Finally, to add on to this, the fact that he
vanishes at the end of the play, and is a ‘fake’ would essentially confirm this, and potray him as
somewhat supernatural.

POETRY QUESTION POWER AND CONFLICT:

INTRO

To begin, both Tennyson and Owen potray themes of courage and bravery through the
structuring and the form of their respective poems. Tennyson, in his poem, uses a Ballad form
to present his poem. He uses this as it is typically sung and rhymes - this makes the poetry
rememberable, presenting how Tennyson wants everyone to rememember the sacrifice of the
soldiers in the Battle of Balaclava. This idea is further reinforced by the use of the refrain ‘six
hundred’, which appears at the end of each and every stanza of the poem. This use is
contextually significant, as 600 soldiers of the allies have been killed during the Light Brigade.
This epistrophe throughout the whole poem is of significance as it shows how their sacrifice is
noble - Tennyson honours them, and potrays their bravery, as they have fought for their contries
and have been killed in battle - they bled for their people. The use of irregular stanza lengths
potrays how the soldiers were defenceless as they were attacked - there were cannons coming
‘left’ and ‘right’ - they had been in an unpredicable losing battle. THis would potray them as
disadvantaged in the context of the battle, which is true to an extent as they were fighting even
when knowing about the inevitability of their death. The irregular rhyme scheme with rhyming
couplets in between indented lines shows how they are almost trapped in battle. They are
vulnerable, yet they are noble. Finally, their courage and bravery is explored through the use of
the dactylic dimeter, where one short syllable meets two or three long syllables. This would
mirror the sound which the horses’ hooves would make as they move forward to the enemy.
When considering the inevitability of their deaths, the use of this would make it seem as a noble
sacrifice - they will have done anything to obey their commanders, showing their nobility.
However, Wilfred Owen, in ‘Exposure’ uses different form and structure to convey the struggles,
and therefore the bravery of the soldiers. Owen uses a consistent rhyme scheme, in which the
fifth line of every stanza is stood out. The fifth line often conveys the poignant misery
represented by the narrator of the poem. It emphasises the harsh reality of war - their lives have
been reduced to nothing. The fact that there is a consistent rhyme scheme, with the rhyme
ABBAC, represents monotony of war. There is no signs of change, which would therefore
bbump the intensity of the poem. The use of bathos after each stanza shows how the soldiers
always expect something, yet they recieve nothing, seen through the bathos “But nothing
happens”. The poet utilises pararhymes, with rhyming harsh consonant sounds to convey an
uneasy feeling for the reader. This is seen through an example “knife us” … “nervous”. This
builds up a nervy anticipation, showing how they are always on the look out, even for nothing,
convey the possibility of shellshock and psychological damages they endure due to the constant
state of adreneline. Seen through the adreneline of the soldiers, and the psychological
consequences, they are seen to be courageious and powerful - they are seen to be strong and
brave for the battle, and therefore are shown to the audiences how miserable the condition of
war is really like.

Owens uses biblical allusions to represent the state of their minds in the war. This is because he
says ‘for the love of God seems dying”. This allusion to God and the symboilism of God shows
how the solider’s hopes of life are bleak - they have no support. On one hand, this would be
interpreted as the ‘love of God’ driving them through this psychological battle between the
soldiers and the nature in the play. But, this love would have disapeared. The metaphor of this
spiritual aspects ‘dying’ could be a link to how Owen witnesses a plethora of other soldiers die
beside him too. The fact that he witnesses so many dying would likely hinder his belief in an
omnibenevolent God - war is so signifcant where even faith and spiritual beliefs are modified by
it. This would show the harshness of war, as they fought, only with the spirit of the love of God,
all through the war in the trenches. The sheer psychological strenght required would be
immesureable, yet fath has driven them. This shows their courage, as they are followers of faith
and this has taken them far into battle, showing bravery to survive for their nation. Similarly,
Tennyson uses biblical allusions, but uses them for effect to display how the battle was intense,
and amplifies the respects to the soldiers. The first of these is seen in the phrase “into the valley
of death/rode the six hundred”. The allusion to psalms 23 which depicts the battle of David and
Goliath, which states ‘into the valley of the shadow of death’ is mirrored by the quote of
Tennyson in his poem. Clearly, the ‘six hundred’ were the representation of David, while the
russain soldiers were Goliath. The idea of them being referred to this is a colossal battle,
showing how they were filled with courage and have been driven to represent their nation.
Furthermore, the fact that the metaphor itself shows how they are walking into death shows the
inevitability of War.

Both poets also use juxtaposition to refer to the courage of the soldiers to be battling in
something that is so unevenly matched. To begin, Tennyson creates a contrast between the
military strength and power bwtween the allies soliders and their opponents. There is a contrast
between the ‘cannons’ used by the Russians, while ‘sabres’ are used by the allies. The fact that
cannons are technologically superior, as they are heavy machined artillery, when compared to
sabres, which are ancient method of figting with swords shows the heavy difference in military
powers. This literally depicts how the war is one sided - they cannot survive it and it is inevitable
that they do not live through this. FUrthermore, Tennyson depicts a hatred of war through this.
This is because ‘sabres’ connote to historic fights from ancient battles. They are also barbaric,
and this shows how the barabric nature of war, seen through history, does not change. Militaries
do not change their view on war. He therefore criticises the concept of war, but only subtly. This
is because contextually, Tennyson was the poet laureate, thus could not deflect much ccriticism
to the aristocracy and generals of military to avoid public outrage. Thus, these soldiers are
presented to be stoic, and brave and courageous to have ignored these odds, and to have
fought for their nation, no matter what, showing how even if a ‘blunder’ had occured, they would
do what they had to do to obey their commanders, displayign nobility. Alternatively, in the poem
‘exposure’, Owen presents a contrast and juxtaposition between the forces acting against the
soldiers in the battle. Owen subverts the idea that war’s biggest threat are killings of soldiers
between others, causing violence, to an idea that the real battle is the battle between soldiers
and the weather, and overall that the war is dehumanising and inhumane. The bullets shot were
‘less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow’. The juxtaposition that is extablished
between the comparative sentence of ‘less deadly’ shows how te warfare is nothing whenj
compared to the actual battle between nature and humanity. The use of the colour imagery to
depict the setting to be ‘black’ can connote to finality and a theme of death, as blackness
represents death in war poetry. Owen would have done this for two reasons. Firstly, it presents
the soldiers to have been courageous to go to war and survive in such battles and yet still obey
their commanders in battle. It shows how they have bravery, and survive through this for the
love of the land that they fight for. Alternatively, Owen does this to criticise Jessie Pope and her
potrayal of war through jingoistic attitudes seen through her poem ‘the call’. Owen does this, as
a WW1 soldier himself, to show the sufferage of soldiers, and to show how war is
dehumanising, and not jingoistic, and thus emphasises the bravery of the soldiers for surviving
through it.
UNSEEN POETRY QUESTIONS:

Q1:

Seamus Heaney potrays the theme of family and identity through the use of language and
structure in the poem, while reflecting upon his family’s history in digging in the poem ‘Digging’.

Structurally, Heaney utilises a rhyme scheme to present how he notices his family traditions of
digging and agriculture as poetic. The rhyme scheme seen through the second stanza, seen
through ‘sound’ and ‘ground’ shows how Heaney reflects upon his father’s efforts. THe caesura
in ‘my father, digging. I look down…’ in the line of the poem mirrors how he looks down the
window to see his father digging. This would show the theme of identity as it shows how the
focus of the poem will be centered around the theme of digging and farming, as the title of the
poem suggests. The enjambement seen abundant through every stanza (apart from the fifth)
depicts how Heamey unravels his experience with seeing his grandfather - the ‘old man’ of the
poet’s ‘old man’. This enjambement increases the pace of the poem as it is said, which reflects
how the poet becomes intriguied within learning and unraveling the family tradition. Finally, the
use of the cyclical structure of the ‘finger and my thumb/the squat pen rests’ shows how even
after the unraveling of his grandfather’s and his father’s identity, it comes back to the narrator,
who would potentially pass on this tradition, as he concludes this poem with “I’ll dig with it”.

In terms of language,Heamey potrays the work of his family, through the historic tradition of the
digging to have been the reason for a comfortable life that the poet has recieved now. Heamey
firstly uses the simile of ‘snug as a gun’ to show how the poet is comfortable. This is because
‘snug’ connotes to comfortable and cozy, showing how relaxed he is. This is contrasted with his
father, who is ‘digging’ as his ‘spade sinks into the gravely ground’. On one hand, the sibilance
of ‘spade sinks’ shows how it is smooth and how the poet is romanticising the actual idea of this
digging. He views it as art, as the sibilance creates a sense of fluidity and serenity. However,
this is contrasted with the harsh consonantal alliteration of ‘gravelly ground’ which shows how
he is intrigued, and fascinated by it, but also views it as physcaly challenging. The fact that the
dynamic of the poem shifts on line 16, to focus on ‘his old man’ shows how the family had been
doing this digging for generations, hence the idea of fascination by the poet is intriguing as they
discover the identity of their family’s sources of income through farming to support their lives.

Finally, the theme of identity is explored through the motif of ‘digging’, which is repeated
throughout the poem in most stanzas. This is a direct reference to the title, ‘Digging’, of the
poem. ُThis motif of the title shows a significance in discovering identity. THe poet sees the
importance of their ‘digging’. This motif symbolises importance, reflecting upon the strong family
tradition of this. Finally, the fact that the poem is a free verse shows how the freedom of the
poet is achieved, as he is ‘snug as a gun’, due to the hard labour that his history has faced,
showing importance of identity, and the importance of family, as he reflects upon how if he did’nt
have the gift of the family, he would not be ‘snug’ or comfortable.