The Government Inspector

The Government Inspector by Nikolay Gogol satirizes the extensive corruption and lack of morals in the political bureaucracy of early 19th-century Tsarist Russia. In the story, officials in a small Russian town are thrown into a panic when they hear that a government inspector is coming incognito, leading to a case of mistaken identity and exposing the widespread dysfunction and dishonesty among the town’s authorities. High school students find the play incredibly engaging as the work raises many issues but is also playful and entertaining.

The Government Inspector is currently an optional text for the IGCSE World Literature Course, assessed on Paper 3. Nikolay Gogol is also a Russian writer on the IB PRL, meaning a study of the play can fulfill not only a text in translation requirement, but also an era requirement since it was originally performed in 1836.

This unit on The Visit is designed to develop…

• close reading skills through extract selection and analysis
• appreciation for dramatists’ choices and the ways in which they develop characters and create humor.
• an understanding of satire and the ways in which writers criticize society and government through drama.

The resources in this unit include:

• An activity portfolio structured by act.
• A group presentation assignment examining paired extracts from the work.
• An extract portfolio
• An extract analysis assessment with markshceme
• An essay assessment

Teaching Resources (PDF)

Teaching Resources (Word)

A Note about the Resources

Activity Portfolio
The activity portfolio contains questions, analysis charts, and activities that are organized by act and prompt students to appreciate the ways in which Gogol uses dramatic devices to present characters and their relationships. Because the play is a satire, there is a further focus on dramatic choices that create humor, such as irony, hyperbole, and stage directions.

Extract Portfolio
Choosing extracts is a key literacy skill and helps students reflect on important moments in the work as well as have discussions with their peers about what they are identifying as “significant” and why. Not only does selecting an extract provide accountability for the homework reading, but sharing extracts as a warm-up activity helps students reflect on themselves as readers, honoring their personal response to the work while learning about others’ perspectives. Ultimately, these discussions authentically develop students’ critical thinking and reading skills as they reach an understanding that literary meaning and effects are an active negotiation process.

Group Presentation Assignment
Students work in small groups to find comparative extracts that fulfill specific parameters. This task invites students to think about the ways Gogol develops characters and themes, but also how he uses contradiction to raise ideas about corruption and create humor. Each group has a different focus for their presentation to ensure a range of issues and features are covered through the presentation assignment.

Assessment
Two individual assessment tasks are provided: one is an extract analysis and one is a literary essay. For the extract analysis, a markscheme is provided which can be helpful to share with students after the assessment so they may more specifically reflect on their strenghts and areas of growth. For more details on assessment reflections, see this post.

Image citation: “Charcoal Drawing of Aristocratic Rat in 19th Century Russian Hotel Room.” DALL-E by Open AI, 20 October 2023.

Other units that pair well with this one…