AIBU to hate An Inspector Calls?

[Evasmithsghost]

English teacher so have to teach this dirge every year.

I hate the superior, haughty, lecturing tone taken throughout.

Hate Gerald and the way he’s partially let off the hook.

Hate the way Mrs Birling is given such harsh treatment by the playwright when in fact she is quite right and Eva did lie.

Really can’t stand this play!

@Alpacinoshoohaa

Why should just American texts be studied??. What about French authors, balzac, zola, what about the anead, the classics. All seems very narrow to me indeed. My dd has been given a beautifully broad list to read, old and modern texts and a variety of authors and countries (but still no balzac etc)

I studied the Aeneid, in Latin.

Friends who did French at A-Level studied French classic literature.

You study the book in the orignal language. Otherwise we'd be reading weird modernised versions of the Canterbury Tales (and they would probably edit all the smut out too).

I studied this in English 25 years ago, how the hell is it still the same text?!
As an early years teacher I'm so glad I can choose whichever books I want every year.

Silas Marner? I had insomnia in my teens (undiagnosed mental health issues) and I used to keep that by the bed to put me to sleep!

Should try it again, actually.

I really like it!(probably less if I had to teach it though)took my ds to London to see it on a cheap sat aft seat.we all got moved to a better seat as not busy. He loved it .I think reading from the same play is boring for you though. Should be some variety there.there was a tv adaptation on c4 a short while back .maybe have a look if this is still available. It has a moral which seems as useful if not more today than when written

Well if you wanted you could teach DNA, OP. Or the History Boys.

I've taught DNA a couple of times now but it's really quite spectacularly violent.

IME most kids really like Inspector.

Blasted women encompassing at least 4 of the deadly sons between them and actually I'm sure I forgot to list sloath in my blasted easy 30 years ago.

Who does that girl think she is.. taking the Birling name.. associating herself woth her betters. daring to be pretty..

Yuck. Priestley was just an unsubtle , myogiinistic socialist. Not surprising the blasted thing was staged in Communist Russia first of all

@DoctorSnortles

Love teaching AIC. All the kids understand it, they all get embroiled in discussing the issues raised and I think it's a useful text for teaching about the creation of the welfare state and the NHS and the changes in society wrought by WW2. It's a shame you don't like it, OP, as your lack of enthusiasm will wreck it for your students.

Absolutely agree.

I saw it at the theatre a couple of years ago and I absolutely loved it. I'd never studied it though.

@ducksalive

We did mice and men and death of salesman as well as AIC.

Death of Salesman I particularly enjoyed and we saw it on stage as well.

No American Lit allowed on GCSE syllabus now (apart from the private schools - CIE, IGCSE - who are, of course)

Oh, that is a real shame, how narrow minded.
Ironically my dc are doing igcse in the USA so hopefully will get to study a broader range.

Love the play. Ds really enjoyed studying it last year. I've seen it on stage and myself and ds watched the film version from the fifties.

Listsandbudgets is that a joke?!

Hated it.
So many amazing, diverse, relevant texts it there
Why I had to do this one I don't know...

Love it, one of my favourite of his "time" plays.

Says a great deal about society and is still relevant today.

I love it. DS did it the year the exam question was on gender, so was able to discuss how constrained Sheila’s power was.

Like Animal Farm, its simplicity makes it suitable for the age group.

Would it help if I told you for GCSE I had to write a diary as if I were Eva: I managed to make it all about lesbian sex (I was in denial )

I have fond memories of teaching AIC in the UK.

An aspect of teaching in Victoria is the commitment to Australian texts. At all costs. Think big island, small country.

There are good texts, and the poetry ( never used ) is peerless, but the fecking novels. So many used in secondary schools are so thin, and bloody badly-written.

I refer you to my username and rest my case

Though, TBF, it's been made more relevant in recent years due to #MeToo and Jeffrey Epstein, cuts to Universal Credit, growth of food banks etc. I just get so utterly sick of trying to explain the difference between socialism and capitalism to teenagers who have zero political awareness and care even less.