Intro Quiz: Mrs Birling and her children

Video: Mrs Birling and her children

﻿Hello, my name is Ms. Phillips. Welcome to our next lesson. We are looking at the play on Inspector Calls by J.B Priestley. And in today's lesson, we will be looking at Mrs. Birling and her children. So clear distractions around you have a pen and paper ready, and let's make a start. So our key question today, how does Priestly present Mrs. Burling's relationship with her children? So let's have a look at our lesson structure today. Part one key vocabulary and terminology, part two key context, part three, reading and questions. Part four, applying our learning part five review quiz. Part one, key vocabulary. So the words that we are going to look at today as part of our terminology is the word etiquette and obstinate. So let's first of all, look at the word etiquette. Definition, a set of polite rules in society. So if you're unfamiliar with that word, you might want to take an opportunity now to pause the video and write down the definition of etiquette. Our second word is the word obstinate. Definition, refusing to change an opinion or action, despite someone's attempts to persuade you to do so. We will also be making use of these words from previous lessons. If you aren't familiar with any of these, you may wish to note their definitions. We've got the word supremacy, the state of being superior to all others in authority, power, or status. The word fractious, a character in a novel or play who voices, the central theme or idea. Social responsibility, a duty to act for the best interest of everyone in society. So which option correctly uses the term etiquette? We have option one, the man concluded that the car's etiquette was broken. Or is it option two? The mother reminded her daughter to follow the social etiquettes. I'll countdown your answer now. In three, two, one, go. And the answer is, the mother reminded her daughter to follow the social etiquettes. Which option correctly uses the term obstinate. We've got option one and option two, the man had decided to be obstinate because he did not agree with the new rules. Or is it option two? The man wanted to buy some obstinate goods from the shop because he was tired of purchasing poor quality goods. So I'll count down your answer now. In three, two, one, go. And the answer there is option one. The man had decided to be obstinate because he did not agree with the new rules. Part two, key context. Charity and Welfare in the Edwardian Era. Charity organisations were stablish as a way for upper class women to undertake useful work. Charity work gave many women a sense of achievement at a time when opportunities for women to make a contribution to society were very rare. These charities were in place to help the most deserving in society. However, these decisions would often be made by a board of women who were not able to empathise with those that they were there to help. The Labour government established the Welfare State. When they were elected in 1945, they vowed to tackle poverty and make significant changes to the ways in which welfare was offered in society. So you might want to pause the video here and just take an opportunity to write down a few of these ideas, linked to charity and welfare in the Edwardian era. When you've done that you can resume the video. Part three, reading and questions. So we're going to watch a quick video now, which will inform us a little bit more about the character of Mrs. Birling.

Mrs. Birling follows the social etiquette of the period. Social class is far more important to her than morality. What an expression, Sheila. Really the things you girls pick up these days. Mrs. Birling refuses to accept any social responsibility for the death of Eva Smith. Mrs. Birling sharply, Sheila, don't talk such nonsense. Mrs. Birling was involved with the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation. It was her job to offer charity to the most deserving cases.

Then you killed her. She came to you to protect me and you turned her away.

Okay, so just some key information there on the character of Mrs. Birling. Mrs. Birling is obstinate. Inspector harshly, yes, she's dead. Sheila, and probably between us. We killed her Mrs. Birling sharply, Sheila don't talk nonsense. Priestley uses a stage direction sharply to showcase Mrs. Birling's obstinate attitude and displeasure. This is teamed with the imperative command, don't talk nonsense. This is Mrs. Birling's way of trying to keep control over her daughter's behaviour. She certainly does not want to hear Sheila preaching socialist ideology. Mrs. Birling adheres to social etiquette. Sheila, you're squiffy. Eric, I'm not. Mrs. Birling, what an expression, Sheila. Really the things you girls pick up these days. In Act One Mrs. Birling scolds Sheila for using the slang term squiffy, which would not adhere to the expected etiquette of an upper-class lady. Mrs. Birling rated the importance of social class and reputation above anything else. The exclamation marks used by Priestly here, highlight Mrs. Birling's irritation and horror here. Eric's fury, Eric, nearly at breaking point. Then you killed her. She came to you to protect me. And you turned her away. Yes, and you killed her and the child she'd have had too, my child, your grandchild. You killed them both. Damn you, damn you. Eric is furious when he discovers that Mrs. Birling failed to help Eva Smith at the Brumley Women's Charity. He directly blamed his mother for Eva's death and the death of his unborn child. So your question then, why does Priestley repeat the second person pronoun you throughout Eric's outburst? So pause the video here and use this as an opportunity to answer that question. When you finish, you can resume the video. Okay, so let's explore a possible answer then here. The repeated use of second person pronoun you is Priestley's way of showing Eric's transformation in the play. Eric now acknowledges the importance of social responsibility and demands that his mother accepts hers. He's enraged by her obstinate attitude and the use of these pronouns places the blame on Eva's death, firmly into Mrs. Birling's hands. So you might want to pause the video here and just use this opportunity to use the answer to correct and amend your original response, when you've done that you can see in the video. Okay, so let's explore a couple of multiple choice questions then. Here we're going to focus on the quotation Mrs. Birling to Sheila, don't talk nonsense. Why does Mrs. Birling use an imperative command here when speaking to Sheila? We've got two options here. Option one and option two. Option one, the imperative command, don't talk nonsense, is Mrs. Birling's way of trying to keep control over her daughter's behaviour. She certainly does not want to hear Sheila preaching socialist ideology. Or is it option two? The imperative command, don't talk nonsense, is Mrs. Birling's way of trying to ensure that Sheila respects the Inspector. So make your decision now, is option one or option two? I'll count down your answer. In three, two, one, go. And the answer is option one. Don't talk nonsense, is Mrs. Birling's way of trying to keep control over her daughter's behaviour. She doesn't want Sheila to become a socialist and begin to preach socialist ideology. Okay, let's look at our next quotation there. Mrs. Birling, what an expression, Sheila. Why does Priestley use an exclamation mark in Mrs. Birling's speech? We've got two options here. Option one, Priestley uses the exclamation mark to highlight Mrs. Birling's irritation and horror here as Sheila uses a slang term squiffy. Or is it option two, Priestly uses the exclamation mark here to highlight Mrs. Birling's praise towards Sheila using the slang term squiffy. So make your decision. Is it option one or is it option two? And I'll count on your answer. In three, two, one, go. And the answer is option one, Priestley uses the exclamation mark to highlight Mrs. Birling's irritation and horror. She absolutely detest Sheila using the slang term squiffy. Okay, so we've reached part four of our lesson then now, which is applying our learning. So just to remind ourselves of our key question, how does priestly present Mrs. Birling's relationship with her children? Write a short response to the question above and spend 15 minutes writing, be sure to include reference to context, reference to key words and terminology, reference to key parts of the play, key language choices by Priestley. And just to remind you of some of those words and terms, we have the words, etiquette, obstinate, social responsibility, fractures, and social responsibility. So try to use those words in your response. So pause the video now spent 15 minutes responding, and when you've done that you can resume the video. So quick question then, why does Priestly show that etiquette is important to Mrs. Birling. We've got option one or option two. Priestly shows that Mrs. Birling rated the importance of social class and reputation above anything else. Therefore, Mrs. Birling wanted to ensure that Sheila and Eric displayed good etiquette in front of the Inspector. Or is it option two priestly shows that Mrs. Birling rated the importance of social class and reputation above anything else. Therefore, the need to have good etiquette is imperative to Mrs. Birling. So make your decision now, is it option one or is it option two? And I'll count down your answer. In three, two, one, go. And the answer is option two, Priestly shows that Mrs. Birling rated the importance of social class reputation above anything else. Therefore, the need to have good etiquette is imperative to Mrs. Birling. So we've reached part five then of our lesson today, which is your review quiz. So I'd really encourage you to have a go at the review quiz, and that will test some of your knowledge from the lesson today. References, An Inspector Calls, JB Priestly, Penguin, Random House,

Exit Quiz: Mrs Birling and her children

Completed: Mrs Birling and her children

In this lesson, we will explore the character of Mrs Birling and the relationship that she has with her children throughout the play.

English

Y10 English

Key Stage 4

Year 10

Mrs Birling and her children

An Inspector Calls 

First Teaching

THEME

UNIT

Class, Capitalism and Socialism: 1912-1946

Priestley's background

Staging the Play: Set design and stage directions

Character introductions

Mr Birling's perspective

Introduction of the Inspector

Mr Birling's interrogation

Sheila's interrogation

Sheila reflects and changes

Gerald's interrogation

Mrs Birling's interrogation

Mrs Birling blames the father

Eric's interrogation

The Inspector's final speech

The family look to blame

The generational divide

The Inspector's identity

Hope for change and the younger generation

Collective social responsibility and class

English

Mrs Birling and her children

Introductory Quiz

Video

Final Quiz

Lesson Complete