Hello and welcome to today's English lesson.

My name is Mrs. Butterworth, and I will be guiding you through the learning.

Now, today's lesson is all about our analytical writing, and we'll be writing about "An Inspector Calls." So it's important that you have access to the text 'cause we will need that throughout the lesson.

And we'll be focusing on the topic of the older generation within the play.

So let's get started.

So in this lesson, you will create a thesis statement and topic sentences to explain how Priestley presents the older generation and their attitudes towards social responsibility.

Let's look at some keywords first.

Now, these words will pop up in the lesson, so do keep an eye out for those.

The words are dismissive, self-righteous, individualistic, and cohesive.

Now, to be dismissive means that you show little respect or consideration for others' ideas or feelings; you dismiss them.

Self-righteous means you believe you are morally better than others and often judge them.

Individualistic is focused on personal independence and self-interest rather than group needs.

So we will be thinking about this word in reference to those older generation, the older generation of the Birlings.

And then cohesive is when ideas in a paragraph or text flow smoothly and are logically connected.

So we want to think about making our paragraphs cohesive in our writing.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this: We're going to begin by considering how to form an argument.

Then we'll going to move on to thesis statements and topic sentences before thinking about the organisation of a paragraph.

So let's start with forming an argument.

So today, we are going to be considering this question: How does Priestley present the older generation and their attitudes towards social responsibility in "An Inspector Calls"? So, I want you to discuss now.

Which parts of the play do you think would be useful in answering this question and why.

So in a moment, you'll need to pause the video to give yourself time to discuss these questions.

If you're working by yourself, you might just want to think quietly or even jot down some ideas.

So pause the video and get discussing.

Okay, so here is some ideas.

You may have something different, and that's fine.

It's just all about considering the question and those key parts in the play.

So you might have said: Act 1 - Mr. Birling's dramatic monologues and speeches; Act 2 - Mrs. Birling's interrogation; and Act 3 - reactions to the revelations about the Inspector.

Now, all of these are ways that we could explore that question about the older generation and their attitudes towards social responsibility.

Now, I have gathered some quotations from Act 1.

Let's read them together.

So Mr. Birling describes the concept of social responsibility as "nonsense" and those that advocate for it as "cranks." Mr. Birling repeats the words "own" and "himself." And Mr. Birling uses a simile comparing "community" to "bees." So thinking about these quotes, I'd like you now to discuss what adjectives would you use to describe how Priestley presents Mr. Birling and his feelings about social responsibility here.

Let me just repeat that question again.

So we're considering those quotes, what adjectives would you use to describe how Priestley presents Mr. Birling and his feelings about social responsibility here? So, as you know, you'll gonna need to pause the video so you got time to discuss your answers or think quietly to yourself.

So get going.

Great.

Some really perceptive ideas there.

So here's some of the things I came up with.

So hopefully, you have something similar, or you may even have something better.

So you might have said things like: it shows us that he's self-centered, individualistic, dismissive, and arrogant.

True or false time.

Mr. Birling's feelings towards social responsibility are presented as arrogant in Act 1.

Is that true or false? It's true, yes, of course, but you now need to explain why that statement is true.

So can I hear your answer now, please? Okay, so here's what I said.

Maybe you had something similar.

So Mr. Birling dismisses the very idea of it with disdain, believing it to be nonsense.

He also criticises those who advocate for social responsibility as cranks.

Yes, I think Mr. Birling makes his feelings very clear about social responsibility in that first act, doesn't he? We have some more quotations here, this time they're from Act 2 and focus on Mrs. Birling.

Let's read them through together.

So Mrs. Birling refuses to take any responsibility, instead suggests Eva Smith can only "blame" herself and that the father should be "severely" dealt with.

Mrs. Birling states that she's not "ashamed." And finally, Mrs. Birling admits to "prejudice." So I'd like you to discuss, please, like we just did with Mr. Birling, what adjectives would you use to describe how Priestley presents Mrs. Birling and her feelings about social responsibility here.

So, pause the video to give yourself time to discuss your answers, think quietly to yourself, or jot down some ideas.

We'll share some ideas together in a moment.

Off you go.

Okay, some excellent suggestions.

I'm gonna give you some now as well.

So like I said, you may have something different, you may have something even better, but it's always nice to share our ideas, isn't it? Son you might have said things like self-righteous, unempathetic, and judgmental.

So true or false.

Mrs. Birling is presented as empathetic and an advocate of social responsibility in Act 2.

Is that true or false? Of course, it's false.

Well done to everyone that noticed that it was false, but you now need to explain why that is false, and I'd like to hear your answer now, please.

Okay, so hopefully, you thought of something like this, that Mrs. Birling is presented as unempathetic and rejects social responsibility in Act 2.

She blames Eva Smith for her own fate, admits to prejudice, and refuses to accept any accountability for her role in the girl's death.

So your first practise task.

I would like you, please, thinking about the discussions that we have had so far, I'd like you to discuss the following questions: So what are the similarities between how Mr. Birling and Mrs. Birling are presented in Act 1 and Act 2? What are the differences between Mr. and Mrs. Birling, Sheila and Eric, and their attitudes towards social responsibility? And then finally, the Inspector draws out confessions from all of the Birlings, an upper-class family, forcing them to confront their actions.

What conclusions might we draw about Priestley's comments on society and the role of social responsibility? So there's lot to think about there.

If you are unable to discuss and need to work alone, you could write down your answers to these questions or think quietly to yourself.

Pause the video, and I can't wait to hear what you come up with.

Off you go.

Thank you, everyone, for your hard work there.

There were some difficult questions there, so I really appreciate you grappling with some of those bigger ideas to do with Priestley's purpose and message.

So we are now going to look at some of our Oak pupils and their responses to these questions.

So let's have a look, and I just want you to think as you are looking at these examples how well they align with your own ideas.

So, here's Jacob's answer to question one: What are the similarities between Mr. and Mrs. Birling and how they are presented in Act 1 and Act 2? So Jacob has said: "In both Act 1 and Act 2, Mr. and Mrs. Birling are presented as arrogant, self-centered, and dismissive of social responsibility.

They both prioritise their social status and refuse to accept any blame for Eva Smith's death, demonstrating their lack of empathy.

Here is Jacob's answer to question two.

So again, as I'm reading through, just think about how it aligns with your own ideas.

So what are the differences between Mr. and Mrs. Birling, Sheila and Eric, and their attitudes towards social responsibility? "Mr. and Mrs. Birling reject social responsibility, prioritising their status and wealth and blaming others.

In contrast, Sheila and Eric show a growing sense of guilt and accountability.

Sheila is more empathetic and willing to change, while Eric takes responsibility for his actions, reflecting their more progressive attitudes." And then finally, this tricky question at the end.

Again, let's look at Jacob's answer, and you can consider how well it aligns with your own ideas.

So let's remind ourselves of the question.

The Inspector draws out confessions from all of the Birlings, an upper-class family, forcing them to confront their actions.

What conclusions might we draw about Priestley's comments on society and the role of social responsibility? And Jacob's response is: "Priestley uses the Inspector to critique the selfishness and moral blindness of the upper class, in particular the older generation, suggesting that they must take responsibility for their actions, as their privilege often harms the vulnerable.

He argues that true responsibility transcends class and should involve caring for others regardless of status." So you may just want to take a few moments just to think about that answer and how well it aligns with your own ideas.

Well, we have now reached the second part of our lesson, and this part of the lesson is all focused on those all-important thesis statements and topic sentences.

So to open your analytical argument, so the whole of your argument, you want to include a thesis statement.

So a thesis statement, what is it? Well, it's the overarching argument of your essay, is a sentence or two that summarises the main focus of your response, and it tells the reader why your argument is important.

So it considers maybe the bigger picture.

It includes the name of the writer and the title of the play.

So let's look at an example of a thesis statement.

We'll read it through together.

"By presenting Mr. and Mrs. Birling's attitude towards social responsibility as dismissive in "An Inspector Calls", Priestley reveals how the older generation of Birlings are individualistic and therefore critiques the attitudes and values of the Edwardian upper classes, which in turn serves as a warning for more contemporary audiences and the betterment of society." So you can see that this thesis statement has used, has mentioned the play, the title of the play, and the writer's name.

We can see the argument is presented there about the ideas in the play, and it's also linked to the question about the older generation and their specific attitudes.

And then finally, why the argument is important and what it says about society.

So to make your thesis statement effective, you could try to include the following: So you could try to use specific adjectives to give focus to your argument.

Words such as 'reveals', 'depicts', 'explores' are really useful to evaluate statements about bigger ideas.

And you can use phrases such as "through the presentation of" or "through the characterization of" to directly relate to the question, okay? So, again, let's just look at the example and where it does that.

So we've got the specific adjectives there.

We've got the "individualistic" and "dismissive" to describe their attitudes towards social responsibility, which links to the question, doesn't it? We've used those words "by presenting Mr. And Mrs. Birling's attitude" and "reveals" to show, to link to the question and to show what the argument is all about.

So true or false.

You might use your thesis statement to suggest why your argument is important.

Is that true or false? Well done everyone that said true, but can you explain why the answer is true? Okay, so perhaps you have something like, "By commenting on why it's important, you might convey to the reader what your argument suggests about wider society and the bigger picture." So we've thought about our overall thesis statement, and now I want us to think about topic sentences, be cause effective analytical writing will also include topic sentences.

Now, a topic sentence is the first sentence of each paragraph.

So whereas a thesis statement will appear in your introduction and only once, a topic sentence will appear at the start of every single paragraph.

It supports the thesis statement while explaining the specific focus of the paragraph.

So let's look at an example of a topic sentence.

"Whilst Mr. Birling's dismissive and individualistic perspective is revealed even before the Inspector arrives, it isn't until Act 2 that Priestley reveals Mrs. Birling's self-righteous attitude." So you can see I've supported my thesis there.

So I've talked about this dismissive and individualistic perspective, which I talked about in my thesis statement, but I've made it more specific to the paragraph because I've shown here in my topic sentence that I'm focusing on Act 2 and Mrs. Birling's attitude in this paragraph.

So you can see that it's much more specific than the thesis statement for the overall argument.

So that topic sentence is really specific.

This is what my paragraph is gonna focus on and this is the part it's going to focus on.

So A, B, C, which of the following should the topic sentence do? I'd like to hear your answers now, please.

Who's feeling confident? Lots of you? Well done to everyone who said B.

The topic sentence should explain the main focus of your paragraph.

SO now, it' is over to you.

So what I would like you to do for your second practise task is to first consider our earlier ideas.

So earlier, we talked about how in Act 1, Mr. Birling, his attitude towards social responsibility is that he's actually self-centered, individualistic, dismissive, and arrogant.

Act 2, Mrs. Birling is self-righteous, unempathetic, and judgmental.

And then we've got this idea about the older generation, how they critiqued, and that Priestley suggesting that social responsibility should transcend class.

So we've got lots of ideas that we have discussed already.

So what I would like you to do, please, is I would like you to write the thesis statement for your argument and at least two topic sentences in response to the question, how does Priestley present the older generation and their attitudes towards social responsibility in "An Inspector Calls"? So remember, you are creating your thesis statement, so your overarching argument, and then at least two topic sentences in response to that question.

So lots to do.

So I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Pause the video, make sure you've got everything you need to get this task completed, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Pause the video.

Off you go.

Well done, everyone.

That can be quite tricky, can't it, thinking about thesis statements and topic sentences, and you have done fantastically, so well done.

Again, like with all these things, the more you do and the more you practise them, the easier it becomes.

Sometimes just trying to understand the purpose of a thesis and a topic sentence can be tricky by itself.

So once you've established that, that's part of the battle.

So you are doing really, really well.

So what I'd like you to do, please, is to read back over your thesis statement and your topic sentences and reflect on the following questions.

So just make sure you've done these things.

Does your thesis statement show your overarching argument? Does your thesis statement consider why your argument is important? Does it include specific adjectives to focus your argument? Does your thesis statement use words such as 'reveals,' 'depicts,' 'explores' to elevate those statements about the bigger ideas? Does it use phrases such as "through the presentation of" or "through the characterization of" to directly relate to the question? And finally, your topic sentences, do they link to your thesis statement and do they explain the main focus of your potential paragraph? So lots to think about there, so do pause the video just to give yourself time to really reflect properly on your thesis statement and topic sentences.

Off you go.

Okay, thank you so much for your hard work so far.

We are almost there.

We just have one final bit of the lesson to complete, and this is all about organising a paragraph.

So in order to make your argument effective, you want to construct cohesive paragraphs.

So one way to help you do this is to plan your paragraphs using single paragraph outlines so they look like this: So you can see we've got a space for our topic sentence there, which we know explains the main focus of the paragraph.

Then we've got space to think about our supporting detail, so analysis of methods.

So anything in that supportive detail is going to help us to do that.

And then finally, we have a space for our concluding sentence.

So your concluding sentence will summarise your findings or the main focus of your paragraph.

Just think of it as bringing your paragraph to a nice close.

So let's look at an example here.

So you can see here how this single paragraph outline has been filled out.

So my topic sentence is: "While Mr. Birling's dismissive and individualistic perspective is revealed even before the Inspector arrives, it isn't until Act 2 that Priestley reveals Mrs. Birling's self-righteous attitude." So that's my topic sentence.

And you can see here I've selected three pieces of supporting detail.

I've got my quotations, so "prejudiced," "naturally," and "ashamed." And that "prejudice," you know, show, I've made a comment there of what that show, the disdain for the lower classes, how "naturally" presents Mrs. Birling's viewpoint on social hierarchies, and the "ashamed" shows how she refuses to hold herself accountable.

So you can see here how the supporting details section is filled out.

I've got my quotations and then a quick explanation of what I'm going to say about them.

And then finally, my concluding sentence, you can see how it brings it all together.

"This highlights how Priestley uses Mr. and Mrs. Birling in Act 2 to embody a stubborn refusal by the older generation to accept social responsibility, reinforcing his critique of the complacency and moral failings of the upper class.

So you can see how that concluding sentence mirrors some of the ideas in my topic sentence while bringing everything to a nice close.

So what I would like you to do here is I would like you to fill in the gaps in the single paragraph outline definition.

So you can see those gaps there, what is missing? Off you go.

Okay, so the first one topic sentence explains main focus of the paragraph, supporting detail is all about analysis of methods, and then finally, your concluding sentence summarises the main focus of the paragraph.

Well done, everyone.

So we have made it to our final practise task.

So what I would like you to do is I would like you to choose one of your topic sentences from Task B and create a single paragraph outline around it.

Okay, so you've already written two fantastic topic sentences.

Choose one of those, and then I would like you to create the rest of the single paragraph outline around it.

Okay? Great.

So make sure you've got everything you need to do this task well, and pause the video and get going.

Okay, good work, and thank you so much.

Hopefully, you can see how useful a single paragraph outline is.

So that planning process and practising that planning process is such an important part of writing.

And as I've already said once this lesson, the more you do it, the easier it will become, and you'll see how much easier it is to write the paragraphs up in full once you've done the planning.

So here's an example from one of our Oak pupils.

This might be a good time to look at your own single paragraph outline.

You may want to change some things, add some things, but let's just read through this first.

So the topic sentence is: "Priestley establishes Mr. Birling's individualistic and arrogant attitude in Act 1." The supporting detail is, he describes the Titanic as 'unsinkable' and the war as 'fiddlesticks'.

We've got 'dramatic irony reveals complacency'.

So you can see there how the supporting detail is explaining how those quotations are going to work.

The 'nonsense' and 'cranks' to describe the advocates for social responsibility really emphasises his dismissive attitude.

And then finally, this pupil is going to talk about dramatic monologues to show Mr. Birling's commanding attention and sense of self-importance.

And then let's look at the concluding sentence and how it links to the topic sentence.

This portrayal underscores Priestley's criticism of self-centered capitalist ideals and sets the stage for the broader moral lessons about accountability and social responsibility.

Well done, everyone.

Here is the end of the lesson.

You have worked really hard and I know that can be a difficult thing to do, but as I said, this is the third time I'm saying it in this lesson, the more you practise, the easier it will become.

So we know that a thesis statement is an overarching argument and should refer to the writer's intent.

The thesis statement is also an opportunity to show how your argument relates to the bigger picture.

A topic sentence explains the main focus of your paragraph.

An effective analytical essay includes topic sentences, supporting detail, and concluding sentences.

And then finally, Priestley uses Mr. and Mrs. Birling to represent the older generation and their attitudes towards social responsibility.

So, a great lesson, everyone.

I really, really hope you will join me again soon for another fantastic lesson.

I'll see you then.

Goodbye!.