Unit 1 exam: Exploring modern texts
Section A: Modern prose or drama
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
You are advised to spend 45 minutes
on questions in this section.
Possible question
Past question
Higher
Up here is the name of the text
from Section A – check that it is
the one that you have studied!
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
Up in the top right corner is
whether the question is from a
Higher or Foundation paper –
make sure you practice with
questions from the paper you
are entered for.
Down here tells you whether the
question comes from a past
paper or whether it is a
speculative question that COULD
come up in January.
How does Priestley present Eric
in An Inspector Calls.
You should write about:
•
what Eric says and does
•
how other characters respond to him
•
the methods Priestley uses to present Eric.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
Write about the differences
between Sheila and Sybil Birling
in the play An Inspector Calls.
You should write about:
•
what they say and do
•
their different attitudes
•
the methods Priestley uses to present Sheila and Sybil Birling.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
How does Priestley present
Gerald in An Inspector Calls?
Write about:
•
what Gerald says and does
•
how other characters respond to him
•
the methods Priestley uses to present Gerald.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
What do you think Priestley is
trying to tell us about
responsibility in the play An
Inspector Calls?
Write about:
• what some of the characters say and do
• the methods Priestley uses to present his ideas on
responsibility.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
How does Priestley present the
Inspector in An Inspector Calls?
Write about:
• what the Inspector says and does
• the methods Priestley uses to present the Inspector.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
Write about the differences
between Arthur Birling and Eric
Birling in the play An Inspector
Calls.
You should write about:
•
what Arthur and Eric Birling are like
•
their different attitudes
•
the methods Priestley uses to present Arthur and Eric Birling.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
How does Priestley present
Arthur Birling in An Inspector
Calls?
You should write about:
• what Arthur Birling says and does
• the methods Priestley uses to present him.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
In An Inspector Calls Eric and
Sheila Birling are brother and
sister. How are they alike and
how are they different?
You should write about:
•
what Eric and Sheila say and do
•
similarities and differences between them
•
the methods Priestley uses to present Eric and Sheila.
Past question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
How does Priestley present Sybil
Birling in An Inspector Calls?
You should write about:
• what Sybil Birling says and does
• the methods Priestley uses to present her.
Possible question
How does Priestley present
Sheila Birling in An Inspector
Calls?
You should write about:
• what Sheila Birling says and does
• the methods Priestley uses to present her.
Possible question
Foundation
An Inspector Calls
How does Priestley show that
tension is at the heart of the
Birling family?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls
Higher
An Inspector Calls
Priestley criticises the selfishness
of people like the Birlings. What
methods does he use to present
this selfishness?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls has been
called ‘a play of contrasts’.
Write about how Priestley
presents some of the contrasts in
the play.
Past question
How does Priestley present the
change in Sheila during the
course of the play An Inspector
Calls? How do you think this
change reflects some of
Priestley’s ideas?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls
Higher
An Inspector Calls
Arthur Birling says, ‘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?’
How does Priestley present ideas about
responsibility in An Inspector Calls?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls
How do you respond to Gerald in
An Inspector Calls? How does
Priestley make you respond as
you do by the ways he writes?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls
How do you respond to Eric in An
Inspector Calls? How does
Priestley make you respond as
you do by the ways he writes?
Possible question
What do you think is the
importance of Inspector Goole
and how does Priestley present
him?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls
Higher
An Inspector Calls
What do you think is the
importance of Mrs Birling and
how does Priestley present her?
Past question
Remind yourself of the stage
directions from the start of Act 1,
from ‘The dining-room…’ up to
‘…pleased with themselves’.
In the rest of the play, how does
Priestley present and develop
some of the ideas shown here?
Past question
Higher
An Inspector Calls