AIC quotes/effects/techniques

Inspector Goole interrupts Birling’s monologue.

Technique: Stage direction. Effect: Shows immediate authority and disrupts capitalist ideology.

An impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.

Technique: Abstract nouns. Effect: Makes Inspector Goole seem powerful and symbolic of moral authority.

Lighting becomes brighter and harder upon Inspector’s arrival.

Technique: Symbolism (lighting). Effect: Truth is being revealed; characters cannot hide guilt.

We are members of one body.

Technique: Metaphor. Effect: Shows socialist message that society is interconnected.

There are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us.

Technique: Hyperbole + common names. Effect: Eva represents the whole working class.

Each of you helped to kill her.

Technique: Direct address + blunt verb. Effect: Forces collective responsibility.

Their lives, their hopes and fears… intertwined with our lives.

Technique: Metaphor. Effect: Shows all social classes depend on each other.

They will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.

Technique: Tricolon + violent imagery. Effect: Sounds like a warning → foreshadows war and suffering.

I’m a hard-headed practical man of business.

Technique: Adjective phrase. Effect: Shows capitalist values and lack of empathy.

The Titanic… unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.

Technique: Dramatic irony. Effect: Makes Mr. Birling look foolish; audience knows he is wrong.

The Germans don’t want war.

Technique: Dramatic irony. Effect: Shows Mr. Birling's political ignorance and false confidence.

It’s my duty to keep labour costs down.

Technique: Modal verb (‘duty’). Effect: Justifies cruelty through business language.

I can’t accept any responsibility.

Technique: Repetition of negation. Effect: Shows refusal to change.

There’ll be a public scandal.

Technique: Noun phrase. Effect: Shows Mr. Birling cares about reputation, not morality.

The whole story’s just a lot of moonshine.

Technique: Colloquial language. Effect: Dismisses lesson; shows he has learned nothing.

A rather cold woman.

Technique: Adjective phrase. Effect: Shows emotional distance and lack of compassion (Mrs. Birling).

Girls of that class.

Technique: Demonstrative pronoun. Effect: Dehumanises Eva and shows Mrs. Birling's snobbery.

I did nothing I’m ashamed of.

Technique: Absolute statement. Effect: Shows pride and moral blindness (Mrs. Birling).

As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!

Technique: Exclamatory sentence. Effect: Shows stereotyping of working-class women (Mrs. Birling).

I told her it was her business.

Technique: Short declarative. Effect: Shows lack of empathy and responsibility (Mrs. Birling).

I accept no blame for it at all.

Technique: Repetition of negation. Effect: Refuses responsibility like her husband (Mrs. Birling).

I was perfectly justified.

Technique: Intensifying adverb. Effect: Shows arrogance and dramatic irony (Mrs. Birling).

Mummy… Daddy…

Technique: Childlike language. Effect: Shows immaturity at the start (Sheila).

Very pleased with life.

Technique: Stage direction. Effect: Shows sheltered privilege (Sheila).

Is it the one you wanted me to have?

Technique: Question. Effect: Shows desire to please and dependence (Sheila).

These girls aren’t cheap labour — they’re people.

Technique: Contrast. Effect: Shows moral growth and empathy (Sheila).

I know I’m to blame — and I’m desperately sorry.

Technique: Emotive language. Effect: Accepts responsibility → Priestley supports this attitude (Sheila).

He’s giving us the rope — so that we’ll hang ourselves.

Technique: Metaphor. Effect: Shows intelligence and understanding of Inspector’s method (Sheila).

It frightens me the way you talk.

Technique: Verb ‘frightens’. Effect: Shows moral divide between generations (Sheila).

You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl.

Technique: Metaphor (wall). Effect: Represents class division; Sheila rejects it.

An attractive chap about town.

Technique: Stage direction. Effect: Shows charm and status (Gerald).

Everything’s all right now, Sheila.

Technique: Repetition. Effect: Tries to return to normal and avoid responsibility (Gerald).

She was young and fresh and charming.

Technique: Tricolon. Effect: Objectifies Eva and romanticises her (Gerald).

I didn’t feel about her as she felt about me.

Technique: Contrast. Effect: Shows emotional imbalance and exploitation (Gerald).

I became at once the most important person in her life.

Technique: Hyperbole. Effect: Shows power and control over Eva (Gerald).

We’ve been had.

Technique: Colloquial language. Effect: Focuses on being tricked, not Eva’s death (Gerald).