Structuring the Shakespeare Essay (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Answering just one essay question can seem daunting. However, examiners just want to see your ideas and opinions on the Shakespeare play you have studied. The guide below will enable you to best express these ideas and opinions in a way that will gain the highest marks. It includes guides on:

• Answering the question
• Planning your essay
• Writing your essay

Regardless of which Shakespeare play you study, the type of question you’ll need to write an essay for will be the same. You will be asked a question that asks you to analyse and write in detail about an aspect of the play. Your answer will need to address both an extract from the play that you will be given and the play as a whole.

It is tempting to jump straight in and start analysing the extract immediately. However, completing the steps below first will ensure you answer the question in the way that examiners are looking for.

6 key steps to answer the Shakespeare exam question effectively:

1. The very first thing you should do once you open your exam paper is to look at the question:

• This sounds obvious, but it’s really crucial to read through the question a few times 
• Why is this important? Regardless of what subject you’re being examined in, the single biggest mistake most students make in their exams is not reading the question through carefully enough that they answer the question they think they’re being asked, rather than the question they’ve actually been asked 
• It’s especially important to get this right in your GCSE English Literature exams, because you only have five essay questions to answer across two papers, so if you misread a question, you’re potentially costing yourself a large number of marks

2. Identify the keywords of the question

• The keywords are the focus of the question: the specific themes, ideas or characters the examiners want you to focus on
• For the above question, the keywords of the question are “the effects of the conflict between the Capulet and Montague families” 
• This is the theme the examiners want you to explore in your essay
• Do not be tempted to write a question on a related theme, even if you have revised more for it: this will affect your overall mark badly, as you won’t be directly answering the question! 
• In the example above, the theme is conflict, so make sure you plan and write an essay about conflict, rather than, for example, the relationship between the two families
  • Although this is a related theme, your answer won’t be focused on the question and will lose you marks

3. Critically evaluate the idea or theme of the question in terms of the play as a whole

• Think: what is this question asking, and what is it not asking?
• It is asking you to explore conflict – an ongoing fight or struggle – between the two families
• The question is not asking you to explore any other conflict, for example, conflict among families (Juliet’s conflict with her own family)
• Again, writing about related ideas will actually lose you marks as you aren’t answering the exact question you have been set. The examiner isn’t going to reward you extra marks for information that is factually correct or demonstrates a great understanding of the play if the information is not relevant to the question being asked

4. Now you have identified and evaluated the key idea or theme of the question, read the contextual information above the extract:

• This contextual information will help you understand where the extract comes in the play (Act I, Scene I), and give you a headline about what is happening in the extract 
  • At this point in the play, the Prince has arrived…
• This information, alongside your knowledge of what the theme the examiners are asking you to explore in the question, are vital clues that help you decode the extract

5. Contextualise the extract further yourself, before reading it

• Understanding where the extract comes in the play will also give you clues to understand the extract more completely
  • Think: what else happens before and after this point in the play?
  • Which characters are involved?
  • How does it link to other parts of the text?
• Examiners repeatedly state that the very best answers are those that move beyond the extract and consider the question in the context of the play as a whole
  • Therefore, even at this stage, it is good to think about how the theme of the question develops before and after this point in the play

6. Read the extract with all of the above information (the keywords from the question; the context) in mind

• This will enable you to pick out quotations and analyse only the most relevant parts of the extract in the context of the play as a whole, and the question you have been set

Planning your essay is absolutely vital to achieving the highest marks. Examiners always stress that the best responses are those that have a logical, well-structured argument that comes with spending time planning an answer. This, in turn, will enable you to achieve the highest marks for each assessment objective. The main assessment objectives are:

AO1	Write a clear essay with a central argument based on your own opinions Select quotations and references from both the extract and the rest of the play
AO2	Use analysis of Shakespeare’s methods to support your argument
AO3	Use contextual ideas and perspectives to support your argument and to provide further insight into Shakespeare’s choices

• Your plan should include all aspects of your response, covering all of the assessment objectives, but mainly focusing on AO1:
• Your overall argument, or thesis (AO1)
• Your topic sentences for all your paragraphs (AO1)
• The quotations you will be using and analysing from the extract (AO1)
• The quotations you will be using and analysing from elsewhere in the play (AO1)
• A sense of why Shakespeare makes the choices he does (AO2)
• A sense of what contextual factors give further insight into the ideas and theme presented in the question (AO3)
• Therefore, a plan may look like the following:

Thesis statement: Shakespeare presents the effects of the conflict between the Capulet and Montague families as destructive and ultimately self-defeating. He does this to challenge contemporary ideas on family ties and honour, suggesting that conflicts such as these only end in an inescapable cycle of violence.
Topic sentence	Evidence from extract	Evidence from elsewhere in the play
S presents the effects of conflict between C and M as violent and dehumanising	“What ho, you men, you beasts! That quench the fire of your pernicious rage”	Irrational and bestial actions of young men of both families
S presents the effects of conflict between C and M as fatal, even for those who do not fight	“Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace”	The deaths of Romeo and Juliet
S presents the effects of conflict between C and M as destined only to result in death	“Depart” “grave” “death”	“A plague on both your houses”
Shakespeare’s methods: Foreshadowing in the prologue; dramatic irony; conventions of tragedy
Contextual factors: conventions of family honour; ideas about social status

Some other tips:

• You do not need to include a counter-argument (disagreeing with the question/including paragraphs which begin “On the other hand”):
  • The questions have been designed to enable as many students as possible to write essays 
  • Examiners say that the inclusion of a counter-argument is often unnecessary and unhelpful
  • It can affect your AO1 mark negatively
• Include evidence and analysis of the extract in the same paragraph as evidence and analysis of the rest of the play:
  • Think of the extract as a stepping stone to the whole text
  • Examiners prefer an “integrated approach”:  paragraphs which include related analysis of both extract and the whole play 
  • Examiners dislike essays which treat the extract and the rest of the play as “separate entities”: when students analyse the extract in the first half of their essays, and then the rest of the play in the second half of their response – this would mean your answer doesn’t cover the full scope of the question, and your AO1 mark would be affected 

Once you have read and evaluated the question, read and analysed the extract and created a clear plan, you are ready to begin writing. Below is a guide detailing what to include.

Your essay should include:

• An introduction with a thesis statement
• A number of paragraphs (three is ideal!), each covering a separate point. It’s a great idea to start each paragraph with a topic sentence 
• A conclusion

Introduction

• Your introduction should aim to answer the question – clearly and briefly
• The best way to do this is to include a thesis statement
• A thesis statement is a short statement (one or two sentences) that summarises the main point or claim your argument is making:
• You should include the exact words from the question in your thesis statement
• Examiners want to see your own opinion: your interpretation of what Shakespeare is trying to show
• Your thesis statement should also attempt to explain why you think Shakespeare has presented his characters in the way he has: what is he trying to say overall? What is his message?:
• A good way to think about this is to ask: what is Shakespeare’s one big idea in terms of the characters or themes addressed in the question?
• Include contextual ideas and perspectives to help explain Shakespeare’s intentions
• Including Shakespeare’s message or one big idea helps create a “conceptualised response”, for which examiners award the highest marks

• An example of a thesis statement:

Question:

Thesis statement:

“Shakespeare presents the effects of the conflict between the Capulet and Montague families as destructive and ultimately self-defeating. He does this to challenge contemporary ideas on family ties and honour, suggesting that conflicts such as these only end in an inescapable cycle of violence.”

Some other tips:

• Introductions should not be too long or include all the details of what each paragraph will include:
  • You will not be rewarded for including the same information twice, so don’t waste time repeating yourself
• Write your thesis in the third person, not the first person (don’t use “I”):
  • “I believe that Shakespeare presents the effects of the conflict…” ❌
  • “Shakespeare presents the effects of the conflict between the Capulet and Montague families as … in order to show …” ✅

Paragraphs

• Try to include three separate paragraphs that cover three separate points:
  • This will ensure your response is to what examiners call the “full task”
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence:
  • A topic sentence is an opening sentence which details the focus of its paragraph
  • It should include the words of the question
  • All topic sentences must relate to your thesis
  • They should be seen as sub-points that provide a more specific and narrower focus than your thesis statement
  • Everything that follows a topic sentence in a paragraph must support the point it makes

Example of a topic sentence:

“Shakespeare presents the effects of conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues as fatal, even for those characters who do not wish to fight.”

• Paragraphs ideally include an analysis of both the extract and the whole play:
  • This is what examiners call an “integrated approach”
  • Don’t separate your analysis of the rest of the play into different paragraphs
  • The examiners stated that the best students “dip in and out of both the extract and the whole text to select details which support their argument as appropriate”
• Beware of writing an overly structured paragraph which follows a set pattern:
  • You may have learned PEE, PEAL, PEED or other structures for your paragraphs
  • However, examiners often say that although these are excellent for learning what to include in essays, they can be limiting in an exam
  • Instead, be led by the ideas in the text, and prove your own argument (both the overall thesis, and your topic sentences)

Conclusion

• It is always a good idea to include a conclusion to your essay so that your essay reads coherent and focused on answering the question throughout:
  • This can result in improved marks for AO1
• However, there is no need to spend a long time writing your conclusion:
  • A conclusion for a Shakespeare essay should only summarise the proof you have provided for your thesis
  • It only needs to be two or three sentences long
  • It should include the words of the question and your thesis
  • Remember, you do not get rewarded for including the same information twice

An example of a conclusion:

“In summary, Shakespeare presents the effects of the conflict between the Capulet and Montague families as disastrous, not just for those directly involved in the struggle, but even for those characters who wished to escape the conflict. Romeo and Juliet’s deaths – as well as the untimely murders of Mercutio and Tybalt – show how irrational family ties and ideas about honour bring about only endless violence and destroy even the youngest and most innocent bound up in these conflicts.”