1. Introduction
2. Section A: Shakespeare
3. Section B: Drama and Poetry
4. Exemplars
5. Conclusion

Introduction

I think it is important to acknowledge at the outset that this is not an especially easy examination for which to prepare students. In my experience, no matter how much work you do with them on your chosen texts, even the most diligent and able of your pupils are going to enter the exam room with somewhat of a sense of unease; indeed, I’ve found that the more hard-work the pupil puts in, the more ideas...

1. Introduction
2. Section A: Shakespeare
3. Section B: Drama and Poetry
4. Exemplars
5. Conclusion

There’s a plethora of information out there about the individual texts that you may choose to study, so I don’t intend to spend too long here on the content of what you can teach.

However, there are some teaching ideas and strategies below that you may find useful when ensuring that you are meeting the demands of the examination.

AO3 and AO4 Critics and Contexts

All four of the assessment objectives are,...

1. Introduction
2. Section A: Shakespeare
3. Section B: Drama and Poetry
4. Exemplars
5. Conclusion

The examination board believes you should be familiar with the technical terms below. Please make sure you do not find yourself in an examination not knowing how to use any of these . . .

A

ALLITERATION, ALLEGORY, ALLUSION, ANAPHORA, ANTITHESIS, APOSTROPHE, ASSONANCE

B

BALLAD, BATHOS, BLANK VERSE

C

CAESURA, CHIASMUS, COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE, CONCEIT, CONNOTATION, COUPLET

D

DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE, DISSONANCE

E

ELEGY,...

1. Introduction
2. Section A: Shakespeare
3. Section B: Drama and Poetry
4. Exemplars
5. Conclusion

What does a good response to the Shakespeare question look like?

Here are two examples of introductions, with annotations, of work I have received from students this year. Obviously, these extracts are addressing Othello – but hopefully you can see how the particular approach I have outlined above works.

‘If the play were never to leave Venice, there would be no tragedy’. How far and to what extent do you find...

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Hamlet Scheme of Work LITB2.doc

This is an interactive assignment on Shakespeare and you have been asked by a production company to help them complete a short film on the famous playwright.

Watch the video.

Discuss it with your classmates.

• What messages are coming across in this short film?
• What does the title suggest “The Bard and The Barred”? Who is The Bard and who might be The Barred?
• What do you think about the comments of the girls?
• How do you respond to the man’s comment at the end?
• The film was shot in two locations. Where are they? Why are they important...

A play’s ‘source’ is the thing that influenced it. It might mean that a similar play or story existed before and has been adapted by the playwright or that the playwright is responding to a person, event or theme in recent history.

The Merchant of Venice is based on The Jew of Malta

Richard III is a direct reply and homage to Edward II.

King Lear and Hamlet are both reworkings of earlier popular plays. ‘

Macbeth was written for James I/VI and the porter scene is no longer funny as it is a satire on one of the leading figures in The...

The Person

[The information below was kindly contributed by Sue Shearman. All rights are reserved and subject to the consent of the author.] © 2006

Q. ‘But we don’t know anything about Shakespeare’.

A. Actually, we know quite a lot, but it’s much more fun to pretend there’s a mystery.

The ‘curse’ on Shakespeare’s grave

It is true that we don’t know exactly when he was born, but there is a record of his baptism on April 26th 1564. This is a mystery as he should have been baptized, by church law, on the first holy day...

The People

[The information below was kindly contributed by Sue Shearman. All rights are reserved and subject to the consent of the author.] © 2006

Click on the images to find out additional information from Wikipedia.

Robert Dudley – Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley was a favourite of Elizabeth I till his death in 1588. She is thought to have wanted to marry him, but he was already married and when his wife died in suspicious circumstances in 1560 all possibility of marriage was gone. Elizabeth banned him from court for secretly...