A Student Guide to Drama Unit 3: The Study of Shakespeare

What will I need to do? Unit 3 of the GCSE English Literature qualification is a controlled assessment Unit based on the study of a play by William Shakespeare.

You will complete one extended writing task (2 hours) on a question linked to a theme. E.g.: Theme 1: Conflict or Theme 2: Love

Stages of the Controlled Assessment Unit You will study the chosen play in detail in class. Your teacher will tell you the theme and your task title so that you can carry out relevant research and preparation. This can include research on the internet, at home and in groups in school.

During the preparation and planning stage your teacher will give general feedback to your class but cannot assist you individually or look at any draft of your response. For the formal timed assessment, you may use a clean, unannotated copy of the play. You have a maximum of 2 hours to complete the task working on your own.

What is being assessed in this unit? You should demonstrate that you: can respond critically and imaginatively to the play can select and evaluate relevant textual material can use details to illustrate your interpretations can explain and evaluate dramatic techniques, language, structure and form can relate the play to its context

List of Tasks Examine the way Shakespeare presents the theme of conflict in your chosen play. or Examine the way Shakespeare presents conflict between characters in your chosen play. Examine the way Shakespeare presents the theme of love in your chosen play. Examine the way Shakespeare presents love between characters in your chosen play.

Key word: PRESENTS

No matter which task you are undertaking you need to: communicate your understanding of the meanings and features identified in the play; identify dramatic methods and show your understanding of them and comment on them; and provide contextual information to enhance your understanding of the play.

There is no substitute for having read and understood the play There is no substitute for having read and understood the play. Knowing what happens – the plot - is your starting point. You then need to understand HOW Shakespeare crafted his play – the dramatic devices, methods and techniques he employed and his use of language.

You need to develop your argument, explaining your own opinions and interpretations and using relevant evidence from the text to support what you are saying. You need to provide some contextual information. This should be relevant and appropriate to what you are writing and not just random information e.g. a list of all the plays Shakespeare wrote.

CONTEXTUAL DETAIL HISTORICAL SOCIAL/CULTURAL/POLITICAL BIOGRAPHICAL You need to make sure that the details you include in your work are relevant to the question you are answering.

Your controlled assessment response should be clearly and accurately written. You have time to plan and prepare so there is no excuse for a response which jumps about from idea to idea rather than being logically structured.

Do not just tell WHAT is written But HOW it is written And WHY this is effective. You need to analyse and evaluate Shakespeare’s use of dramatic methods and language.

SOME DRAMATIC METHODS staging costume setting sound characterisation aside monologues soliloquy dramatic irony juxtaposition costume sound symbols motifs humour contrast special effects foreshadowing

SHAKESEPARE’S USE OF LANGUAGE blank verse prose imagery simile personification alliteration assonance metaphor onomatopoeia word play puns slang hyperbole oxymoron anaphora chiasmus biblical references classical references