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NickThe best way to improve any essay is to know how you are assessed, and what skills you are being assessed on. This page has been created to give you a sense of what examiners are looking for in a full-mark response. It contains:
In Section A, part (b) you need to draw on your knowledge of your chosen Shakespeare text and give examples from elsewhere in the play. You must also make links to the context in which the play was written. You are more likely to perform well on the paper if you keep in mind the dominant assessment objective for each part of Section A. For part (b) this is AO1, which is worth 15 marks, while AO3 is worth 5 marks.
The mark scheme for the Edexcel GCSE English Literature specification can seem intimidating at first. However, it is crucial that you have a thorough understanding of the mark scheme because you will know exactly what you are being assessed on and how to improve.
AO1 and AO3 are assessed as part of Section A part (b). The weighting for this question is:
Here is a simple version of the Edexcel mark scheme for the Shakespeare part (b) question.
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AO1 |
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AO3 |
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What makes a Level 5 answer?
Below are some key questions which you should always keep in mind when answering this question:
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Key Questions |
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The following task is based on Romeo and Juliet. However, the commentary is designed to highlight how to structure your response and integrate all aspects of the assessment objectives, and therefore the model could be applied to any of the Shakespeare plays.
In part (b), you need to draw on your knowledge of the text and give examples from elsewhere in the play. You must also make links to the context in which the play was written.
We will now explore how you can create an informed and coherent argument using an example of a question from part (b). Read through the question below:
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Question: Part (b) Explain the importance of love elsewhere in the play. |
We will now explore how you might structure a response for this question. To begin with, you should consider how you might support or challenge this proposition. This is shown in the table below:
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Question focus |
Importance of love elsewhere in the play |
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Topic sentence 1 |
The romantic love between Romeo and Juliet is portrayed as pure and idealised and Shakespeare uses it as a symbol of hope and unity amid the discord between both families. |
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Analysis |
In Act I Scene V, in the quotation, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”, Shakespeare expresses the transformative power of love and suggests that Romeo had never truly experienced deep love until he laid his eyes on Juliet. Romeo comes to the realisation that his prior experiences of love were superficial in comparison to the love he now feels for Juliet. |
After dealing comprehensively with one point, develop your argument by starting another paragraph (with a topic question) that also relates to the question:
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Question focus |
Importance of love elsewhere in the play |
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Topic sentence 2 |
Familial love is depicted as both a source of support and conflict through the Montague and Capulet families and the deep-rooted animosity and hatred between the two households serves as a major obstacle to the love between Romeo and Juliet. |
Analysis |
The feud creates an environment of hostility and tension and directly influences the choices and actions of the characters within the play. This conflict illustrates the destructive power of familial discord and its ability to overshadow other forms of love. In contrast, the love of parents for their children is also evident in the play. Both Lord and Lady Capulet, as well as Lord and Lady Montague, express worry and concern for the well-being of their children. |
Below you will find a full-mark, Grade 9 model answer for this unseen extract task. The commentary labelled in each section of the essay illustrates how and why it would be awarded a Grade 9. Despite the fact it is an answer to a question on Romeo and Juliet, the commentary is relevant to any of the topic areas, because it is modelling how to structure an answer incorporating the relevant assessment objectives. AO1 is demonstrated throughout in terms of the coherence of the overall response.
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Throughout the play, Shakespeare explores the powerful and transformative nature of love, be it romantic, familial, or the love between friends. It could be argued that Shakespeare suggests that all these various types of love ultimately have a destructive impact on the characters in the play. The romantic love between Romeo and Juliet is portrayed as pure and idealised and Shakespeare uses it as a symbol of hope and unity amid the discord between both families. In Act I Scene V, in the quotation, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”, Shakespeare expresses the transformative power of love and suggests that Romeo had never truly experienced deep love until he laid his eyes on Juliet. Romeo comes to the realisation that his prior experiences of love were superficial in comparison to the love he now feels for Juliet. The immediacy of Romeo’s love reveals his impulsive and passionate nature. Escalus says “For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo”. This shows us that forbidden love, caused by society’s unwillingness to let them be together drove them to commit suicide so that they could finally be together. It is also significant because after learning of their children’s love, the Capulets and Montagues finally put aside their differences to unite out of respect for their children. Familial love is depicted as both a source of support and conflict through the Montague and Capulet families. The deep-rooted animosity and hatred between the two households serves as a major obstacle to the love between Romeo and Juliet. The feud creates an environment of hostility and tension and directly influences the choices and actions of the characters within the play. This conflict illustrates the destructive power of familial discord and its ability to overshadow other forms of love. In contrast, the love of parents for their children is also evident in the play. Both Lord and Lady Capulet, as well as Lord and Lady Montague, express worry and concern for the well-being of their children. For instance, in Act I Scene I, Lord Montague is concerned about Romeo’s melancholy and in Act I Scene III, Lady Capulet discusses Juliet’s potential marriage with her. The expectations placed on Juliet by her parents, especially regarding her marriage to Paris, illustrate the complex nature of familial love. However, the irony lies in the fact that this parental love and concern do not prevent the tragedy but in some ways contribute towards it. Love through friendship is primarily evident in the relationships between Romeo and his friends Benvolio and Mercutio. Benvolio serves as a loyal and supportive friend and often provides advice to Romeo and attempts to diffuse conflicts. On the other hand, Mercutio is Romeo’s witty friend and his impulsive nature contributes to the escalating tensions within the play. In Act III Scene I Mercutio states: “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford/No better term than this, - thou art a villain”. In this scene, Tybalt seeks out Romeo to confront him but Mercutio intervenes and a duel ensues. Mercutio’s loyalty to Romeo leads him to confront Tybalt and despite their close bond of friendship, their love is overshadowed by the conflict between the Montagues and the Capulets. It therefore illustrates the consequences of familial animosity and its impact upon friendship. |
Commentary:
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Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.