How Is Arthur Birling Presented In Act One?

Hiya,
I'm in Year 10 and am currently studying An Inspector Calls (AQA) My Literature Teacher set my class an essay to complete over the holidays entitled 'How is Arthur Birling Presented In Act One?' You have to make links to context and write 2 A4 sides. This is what I've written so far:

In the opening stage directions, Mr Birling is described as a 'heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in his speech.' The use of the description 'hard-headed' gives the impression that Birling looks rather threatening as the adjective 'hard' has connotations of being strong and tough. This suggests his appearance will reflect his personality.
Priestley presents Mr Birling as a secretive and unforthcoming character. This can be seen when Birling is talking to Gerald 'without any pretences' The noun 'pretences' has connotations of lying and of acting, suggesting that normally he hides things and often pretends. This gives the impression that Birling is untrustworthy.
Priestley also gives the impression that Mr Birling is an arrogant and opinionated character. This can be seen in the quotation 'And I say there isn't a chance of war. The world's developing so fast that it'll make war impossible.' Here, the fact that he repeats his idea shows the confidence that he has in his theory. However, the audience are aware that just two years after this speech, World War One will begin. This undermines Birling's idea and instead makes him appear even more idiotic than he already seems.
Further on in the Act One, Mr Birling declares that the Titanic was 'unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable' Priestley's reference to the Titanic (which sank, despite Mr Birling's faith in its sturdiness) further proves his arrogance and pompous attitude. This can be seen through the use of the adverb 'absolutely', which has connotations of being almost impregnable. However, an alternative interpretation may be that the ship is a symbol of wealth. The Titanic was a ship for the rich aristocrats of 1912, those who thought they were the hierarchy of society, much like what Mr Birling would like to see himself as. Therefore, the fact that Priestley chooses to use the Titanic as an example may further support the fact that Birling is also an arrogant and pompous character.

I need to try and include a couple more points (and reach a conclusion) but am struggling to think of what to write and conclude with - Any help would be much appreciated!
Do you think I need to add//improve anything? (Be as critical as you like)

this is way better than a lot of the people in my class do-and ive done the exam for aic now. i think you included a good range of language analysis and understood priestley's intentions as a writer along with bringing in contextual information so that was good. a lot of people tend to forget to do language analysis like the time i got 8/34 because i forgot i had a lit mock and so i had no quotes for the exam. you made good links to the question and i think that's an ao or something so that was also pretty good.

overall, i don't know what i'd improve-usually there's two bullet points in the exam question that asks you to look at one thing then the play in general or priestley's message etc. so i split my essay up into 2 detailed paragraphs each and wrote 4 in the real thing...(hoping it was good enough for an 8 or 9 but i dont think so) yeah, just maybe write more because everything else seems great!

i couldn't provide you with more stuff to write so im sorry about that-i literally just try to forget everything about a topic after that exam is done and all of literature is finished for me now anyway-good luck for when you're in year 11, if you carry on writing like that and improving im sure you'll get the top grades!

This is some really good stuff- I wish I could write like this when I was in Year 10! One thing AQA looks for is a 'conceptualised' response in which you come up with a thesis, a line of argument. Now what you need to is a good solid introduction setting out your thesis-how do you feel Mr Birling is presented as? This helps to establish your thought and pinpoint exactly how Birling is presented, otherwise, the examiner is left slightly lost.
I would say the first sentence is not needed unless you explain what the effect of this is; AQA looks for judicious quotations and this just seems to be thrown in there for no reason. It also feels out of place as you jump to 'hard-headed', leaving the examiner wondering what was the point in your first sentence. Your answer lacks coherence and jumps from quote to quote without an overarching theme, a thesis(sorry if I'm being harsh). Obviously, you're in Year 10 so you've got a year to go to master that.
Another important thing to note, you have some really good language analysis but there is no structure of form analysis (again you're in Year 10 so your teacher cannot expect too much). You do have contextual information but it kind of feels somewhat tacked on at the end, try to incorporate context throughout your answer. Talk about Birling embodying capitalist values- you've kind of done so through your language analysis- and why Priestley does this.
Make it clear to the examiner you know structure so even though you have discussed Birling repeating a similar thought, reinforce it as it is not that clear. A good way of opening paragraphs is 'Priestley presents the character of Birling as arrogant through the structural technique of anaphora (repeating). (insert quote) This has the effect of... Priestley does this to suggest that all Capitalists are selfish and arrogant, forcing the audience to accept Socialism over Capitalism.
'However, the audience are aware that just two years after this speech, World War One will begin.' This is called dramatic irony, something that Priestley uses extensively to enforce the ignorance of Birling and the bourgeoisie society he epitomises.
Another critique is terminology. Although you have used 'noun' and 'adverb' you are still lacking somewhat with terminology, you'll learn some more 'fancy' words to use over time. When I was in Year 10 I never used terminology in my answer so you should be proud that you can do more than the vast majority.
It's difficult to explain, your answer feels unorganised and a collection of thoughts instead of a structured response. Try and set out your idea with an introduction to guide the examiner.
Overall, your answer is good (especially as you are in Year 10) but it may struggle to achieve a Grade 7 and you will need a 'conceptualised' response for grades 8 & 9 (don't take my word for it though as I'm not an examiner). Just re-read your answer and tell yourself what is the overall message you are trying to get across. If you need any structural ideas just say as I feel I have rambled on long enough!

If you need any more points...
One of them can be he is insecure: "Lady Croft - while she doesn't object to my girl, feels you might have done better for yourself, socially" - Mr Birling tries to impress Gerald with how he is getting "just a Knighthood, of course". This has good context about the upper class always looking to climb the social ladder. Language analysis (LA): "my" girl, possessive. Dashes create a hesitant structure showing his discomfort/unease at discussing something he'd rather keep private.

Also if you are talking about the whole of act one, you can talk about how he is a selfish (capitalist), when he talks about how a "man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own - and - (we hear the sharp ring of a doorbell)", also adding "and his family too, of course". Lots to say about Priestley's intention here. LA: Polysyndeton. Also the significance of the doorbell, and what this represents - a challenge to Birling and his ideals. Furthermore, he doesn't want to be like "bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense". LA: Bee simile, Mr B fears the idea of an environment where everyone are workers (like bees) and there is very little hierarchy to abuse. Moreover his greed for money overtakes his daughter's own engagement dinner (and his little toast): "now you've brought us together", they "may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together - for lower costs and higher prices". LA: He talks about bringing "us" together - yet this refers to their businesses, not Sheila and Gerald. What does this say about Mr B's views to business, especially when this is supposed to be a celebration of their engagement?

He is uncaring especially when the Inspector comes to report the news of the suicide: "(Rather impatiently) Yes, yes. Horrible business. But i dont understand why you should come here, Inspector -". LA: Brevity of sentences attempts to dismiss the matter of the girls suicide. His real worry is over why the Inspector chose to come to his house, not over a girl dying. Talk about the stage directions. You can build on this point with his tendency to deny all responsibility when the Inspector asks him why he does it: "If you don't come down sharply on some of these people, they'd soon be asking for the earth!" Context about Upper Class only looking out for themselves etc. LA: Hyperbole - this one is quite easy to talk about.

He is fairly sexist/patronising. To Sheila, he tells her its "Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along." LA: "Run along" - childlike connotations, he treats Sheila like a child throughout. Context about women being treated as inferiors, especially young women. Also Mr B notes that "clothes mean something quite different to a women", as it "makes 'em look prettier". Just building on sexist views. Not a major point, but still good if you want to talk about context about women.

Instead of you saying he is an arrogant and opinionated character as one point for your "there isn't a chance of war" quote, you could split it into two: One point can be he is.. 1. Self-confident and opinionated (include the there isnt a chance of war quote and all that stuff). Btw the technique is called "dramatic irony" when the audience knows something (i.e. the upcoming war) that the characters don't. 2. The second point can be he is arrogant, evident when he tries to overawe the Inspector: "I was alderman for years - and Lord Mayor two years ago - and i'm still on the bench - so i know the Brumley police officers pretty well". LA: talk about structure of the sentence and what it implies. He is trying to fluster and intimidate an officer of law....

You seem to be talking very heavily about the beginning of act 1 and not the rest of it. If you are allowed to talk about the whole thing, you should.

Theres also a nice quote about hard-headed which you mention, but there's another one which Mr B says himself: "Im talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business". LA: Alliteration, cold tone, mimics coldness to his workers. Mr B behaves as a patriarch. He thinks with his "head", not his heart.

Overall, the different points are: Selfish, callous, foolish, self-confident, arrogant, uncaring, insecure, and any more you or i have already mentioned that i forgot.
In your conclusion just summarise all these qualities and how he is presented, and probably even better, WHY he is presented like that. What is his purpose in act 1 and the play as a whole - why has Priestley presented him as such an unattractive character?
Crunch my quotes down into shorter phrases and try to integrate them smoothly.

Hope this is helpful!

Do you think this is ok? Any final changes//improvements required? I still feel like I'm just giving a series of points and not linking them together....

I believe that Priestley presents Mr Birling as a striking and arrogant character who likes to voice his opinions.
In the opening stage directions, Priestley presents the character of Birling as being striking through the use of adjectives. This can be seen when Birling is described as a 'heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in his speech.' The use of the description 'heavy - looking' gives the impression that Birling looks rather threatening as the adjective 'heavy' has connotations of being prodigious and sizeable.
Secondly, Priestley presents Mr Birling as a secretive and unforthcoming character. This can be seen when Birling is talking to Gerald 'without any pretences' The noun 'pretences' has connotations of lying and of acting, suggesting that normally he hides things and often pretends. This gives the impression that Birling is untrustworthy.
Priestley also gives the impression that Mr Birling is an opinionated character, who sees himself as superior to everyone else. This can be seen in the quotation 'And I say there isn't a chance of war. The world's developing so fast that it'll make war impossible.' Here, the fact that he repeats his idea shows the confidence that he has in his theory. However, the audience are aware that just two years after this speech, World War One will begin. Priestley's effective use of dramatic irony here undermines Birling's idea and instead makes him appear even more idiotic than he already seems and his opinions are instantly devalued.
Similarly, further on in the Act One, Mr Birling declares that the Titanic is 'unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable' Here, through the use of dramatic irony, Priestley's reference to the Titanic (which sank, despite Mr Birling's faith in its sturdiness) further proves his arrogance and pompous attitude. This can be seen through the use of the adverb 'absolutely', which has connotations of being almost impregnable, showing the belief Birling has in his idea. On the other hand, an alternative interpretation may be that the ship is a symbol of the Birling's, specifically Arthur Birling. The Titanic was a ship for the rich aristocrats of 1912, those who thought they were the hierarchy of society, much like what Birling would like to see himself as. Therefore, the fact that Priestley chooses to use the Titanic as an example may further support the fact that Birling is an conceited and imperious character.
However, whilst Priestley presents Birling as a self-confident character, I also believe that thryd is an insecure side to him. This can be seen in the quotation 'Lady Croft - while she doesn't object to my girl, feels you might have done better for yourself, socially' This quotation shows the pressure that the upper class constantly felt about the need to climb the social ladder which links to why Birling felt such pressure to try and get to the top. Dashes have also been used here to create a hesitant structure, showing Birlings discomfort and unease at discussing something he'd rather keep private.
Overall, Priestley appears to use the character of Mr Birling to present the consequences of social inequality in England that led to massive disparity between classes through wealth and class divisions etc. From this, Priestley has given Birling various attributes, like selfishness and irresponsibility, to try and reflect that things need changing. By making him so unattractive, Priestley allows the audience to reject his character and his attitudes so that they can led a better life and rebuild Britain. He has used the character of Mr Birling to show that things need changing.

If you really wanna tweak anything, i would reduce the amount of "this can be seen...". Use a synonym like "this is evident when" or "this is displayed through". Also 'idiotic' is too critical, change it to 'foolish'
I sat my paper with OCR, and they love it when you integrate quotes as best as you can. I imagine you would get more marks for it for AQA too, and even if you don't, it reads better. It's easier to do it with short quotes rather than longer ones. So for example you could say
He believes that "there isn't a chance of war" since "the world's developing so fast that it'll make war impossible". Here, the fact that he....
It sounds more natural than just saying "this can be seen in the quotation 'There isn't a chance of war'". If you can read the sentence aloud without knowing its a quote, then that's natural and good in an essay.

Onto more pressing matters. I know your essay is a bit full, but i cannot emphasise how much you need a paragraph on how he is presented as uncaring. Fit this in, perhaps as your first paragraph.

Mr Birling is presented as insensitive, displayed in his reaction to the Inspector's news of a suicide, when Birling says, "(rather impatiently)", "Yes, yes. Horrid business. But I don't understand why you should come here, Inspector". Immediately his indifference towards Eva's death generates irritation from the audience. The repetition of 'yes' indicates that he is trying to brush away the topic by hurrying the Inspector. And so, although he feigns care, calling it "horrid business", the abruptness of starting the next line with the co-ordinating conjunction "But" highlights his real concern is over why the Inspector came to his house, rather than any sympathy for the death of the girl. This is further bolstered by how he spoke "impatiently", implying that this lower class girl's suicide does not merit any of his attention or time. Priestley utilises Mr Birling as an embodiment for the lack of sympathy the upper class had for the workers at the time. This lack of care resulted in deep-rooted class divisions, where the rich like the Birlings led comfortable lives while the poor suffered greatly with no one to help. This problem is one that Priestley urges the audience to address in his play, by promoting Socialism and mutual responsibility over the flawed Capitalism that Mr Birling endorses.

This PEA includes analysis of structure (beginning a sentence with But and repetition) and language (impatiently) and techniques too. It also mentions relevant context. In your essay you have addressed how he is self-confident, arrogant, foolish and even sneaky. But in terms of how Priestley presents Birling, none of this matters until we see what Birling did wrong. He was callous and cold towards Eva and all his workers and the lower class, which is what deserves our hatred. It's all well and good saying that he is 'striking', 'conniving', 'idiotic', 'selfish', 'arrogant', 'insecure'. This makes us hate him. But the reason for us hating his character is because of how cruel he was to the lower class, something Priestley presents through Mr Birling's careless attitude towards those he considers beneath him. I think this is what your essay is lacking, and until you add it, you can't really say in your conclusion that there is massive disparity between classes, and his audience need to change their ways to rebuild a war-torn Britain. The only way you can say this is if you show what attitudes and ways need to be changed (the carelessness and lack of sympathy).

Ill show you an example of what i mean. You said this:
'Priestley emphasises Birling's selfishness and arrogance by using the Inspector as Birling's antithesis. This can be seen through the use of Juxtaposition between the inspector and Birling and through the use of personal pronouns. Birling uses the personal pronouns 'I... me... mine' frequently, whilst the Inspector uses 'our...we...ourselves' instead. Priestley does this to paint Capitalism in a bad light, exploiting the audience to make them decide between Capitalism (which is depicted as bad) and Socialism (which is depicted as good).'
Firstly juxtaposition isn't really an ideal word here - contrast would be better. Although less fancy, juxtaposition should be reserved for words which have interesting placement when placed together (in one sentence). The personal pronouns were not close together in one quote, they are scattered throughout the play. Therefore it's a general contrast. Also, yes it's true that the Inspector is his antithesis and foil (i attached a link below for this word for you) but simply contrasting their use of personal pronouns does not in itself paint Capitalism in a bad light. If you want to do this, you have to either first show HOW the Inspector champions socialism (which comes up heavily in Act 3, less so in Act 1, e.g. with 'We do not live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for eachother.". But since your essay is focused on Act 1, it's harder to show how socialism is good, so show how capitalism is bad. Do this through the quote i gave you, showing the upper class business men to be careless. Or pick one of the other countless quotes that portrays Mr Birling as a selfish evil capitalist in Act 1, then you can safely say Priestley wanted to show Capitalism as being bad, and socialism as being good. You cannot simply infer that Capitalism is bad just because Mr Birling is foolish for saying the titanic is 'unsinkable', or because he is arrogant.
Irresponsibility and lack of sympathy are the two biggest reasons to hate Mr Birling, and you need to focus first and foremost on this. Really good quotes include:
- The one in my example
- "If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we'd had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn't it?" - this is such an easy quote to analyse for both content (what it literally says) and for language/structure. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY is the a very very very big theme, if not the biggest, in An Inspector Calls. (The main themes, for future reference, are 1. Responsibility 2. Class 3. Age 4. Gender. There might be more, but nothing as big as those). Mr Birling refuses to accept his responsibility not only in Eva's death, but in SOCIETY, and this is want Priestley wants to expose. A good quote for future reference is: "(massively) Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges". Said by the Inspector himself. (Not so relevant in your essay though, just for future)
- "If you don't come down sharply on some of these people, they'd soon be asking for the earth". This literally summarises his capitalistic views - every man for himself. He fears the advancement of those below him, those who he needed to exploit in order to be where he is now. This fear is captured in this quote especially: "She'd had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go". This is a quote when he explains why he fired her in Act 1. Quite tautologic, expressing his fear, as well as the fragmented sentence structure.
- he doesn't want to be "mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense". This quote highlights his complete rejection of Socialism. Priestley presents Mr Birling as an avid critic and objector to Socialism. That is a point in how he is presented. Another point in how he is presented, which is the essay title, is how he is a Capitalist. In the end, its a play on Capitalism vs Socialism, so focus on these themes. This quote is so easy to get analysis points for: the simile of bees, where everyone is workers (except the queen's requisite leadership), where there is little hierarchy to abuse. Furthermore Birling reject's the idea of "community" - this isn't an ideal exclusive to socialism, its an ideal present in every belief and community, but the fact that he rejects even the notion of being linked and responsible for others conveys him in a very selfish light, without a care for those around him.

To summarise, give us a reason to hate capitalism, which i don't think you have done yet.
'I believe that Priestley does this to criticise Capitalism and subconsciously turn the audience away from Capitalist values.' Why?
'Priestley does this to paint Capitalism in a bad light' Why?????
'To make them decide between Capitalism (which is depicted as bad)' How is it depicted as bad??
'believed that Capitalism was a real threat to society' You explain what Priestley intended in a wider context, but you didn't show how it was a threat to society in the play itself. Mr Birling being arrogant and insecure and whatever doesn't matter until you tell us what he did WRONG so we can hate him for being arrogant and selfish and insecure and be put off by him and his ideals.

Lastly, 'those who thought they were the hierarchy of society,' They themselves are not the hierarchy of society (that doesn't make sense). They can be at the top of it, though.

Considering you have studied AIC for less than a year, what you have is really good. Although in an essay you want to talk about the major themes. sociaaaaaalllll responsibilittyyyyy

Sorry for very very very long reply! Good luck with any final edits.



Also, google 'foil literary term'.
Foil: Better term than antithesis when you aren't actually comparing two solid quotes, one from Birling one from Inspector. So if you just want to talk about the Inspector being his opposite in general, say he is his foil.https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=foil+english+literary+terms&oq=foil&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j0l4.2005j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Pervy