Paper 1 English Literature Shakespeare and the 19th Century novel

Overview of the paper Paper 1 – 1hr45mins 2 sections Section A = Romeo and Juliet /3o marks + 4 for SPAG Section B = Jekyll and Hyde /30 marks Total = 64

Preparing for R&J exam questions The question takes the form of an extract and a two part question, the first asking you to explore a theme, character or interpretation in the extract, the second how this is presented in the play as a whole.

What you are marked on AO1 – Explore and evaluate the ideas in the text with well chosen quotations. AO2 – Analyse the methods writer’s use using appropriate subject terminology. AO3 – Explore the big ideas/perspectives/context in the text.

Preparing for R&J exam questions Read your extract and question Annotate the extract for the focus of the question – remember to pick out METHODS to show HOW Shakespeare presents…. Discuss how this focus is presented throughout the play Make a detailed essay plan for the second part of the question, showing which scenes you would go to for evidence of the question focus, with specific quotes and notes on how it presents the character or idea

Romeo and Juliet Read the following extract from the start of Act 5 Scene 3 of Romeo and Juliet and then answer the question that follows.   At this point in the play Juliet awakes to find Romeo has poisoned himself. JULIET  Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. He exits. What’s here? A cup closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.— O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after! I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, To make me die with a restorative. She kisses him. Thy lips are warm! Enter Paris’s Page and Watch. FIRST WATCH  Lead, boy. Which way? JULIET  Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die. She takes Romeo’s dagger, stabs herself, and dies. Starting with this extract, explore how Shakespeare presents fate versus free will in Romeo and Juliet. Write about: • how Shakespeare presents fate versus free will in this extract. • how Shakespeare presents fate versus free will in the play as a whole. [30 marks] AO4 [4 marks]

Fate versus free will So, any language connected with fate or free will? JULIET  Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. He exits. (Friar Lawrence) What’s here? A cup closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.— O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after! I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, To make me die with a restorative. She kisses him. Thy lips are warm! Enter Paris’s Page and Watch. FIRST WATCH  Lead, boy. Which way? JULIET  Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die. She takes Romeo’s dagger, stabs herself, and dies. What kind of themes, ideas, abstract nouns might be relevant to fate or free will? Are any of these examples of other language devices or lexical fields? How are they relevant to this extract and the play as a whole?

Fate versus free will Taking decisions – Juliet as powerful; defiant JULIET  Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. He exits. (Friar Lawrence) What’s here? A cup closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.— O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after! I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, To make me die with a restorative. She kisses him. Thy lips are warm! Enter Paris’s Page and Watch. FIRST WATCH  Lead, boy. Which way? JULIET  Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die. She takes Romeo’s dagger, stabs herself, and dies. Sense of fate, meant to be; more powerful than family rivalry Death as timeless – could suggest having been pre-determined, always going to happen, unavoidable, ‘timeless end’ oxymoron. Juxtaposition of life and health with death – death as help to next world; positive; inevitable Her as an object; a vessel – suggestive of context of female lack of role without man, as well as possession and pawn of God Language associated with decay and time beyond human experience

Plans You could: Para 1 – close analysis of extract Para 3 – The text as a whole. Para 4 – The text as a whole Or: Close analysis/text as a whole.

Writing it up Your paragraphs should: 1. Have a clear point that uses the key words of the question. 2. Use a range of evidence. 3. Explore, analyse and interpret in as much detail as possible. 4. Use subject specific terminology – techniques!

Example In the extract, Shakespeare presents fate and free will as opposing forces, battling against one another. Shakespeare begins by presenting Juliet using active, controlling language, she says ‘go, get thee hence, for I will not away.’ The imperatives ‘go’ and ‘get’ emphasise the way that Juliet is now taking control of her destiny and trying to assert her free will. The phrase ‘I will not away’ also underlines her refusal to be passive and accept her fate. This sense of free will is contrasted with a sense of fate. Juliet uses imagery that suggests death is inevitable and even positive. For example, ‘no friendly drop to help me’ to make me ‘die with a restorative.’ The idea of the personified ‘friendly’ poison suggests death is a mere help to the next life rather than something to be feared.

Play as a whole – fate/free will: Where in the play might we go for these ideas?

Ideas about free will in the whole text. The novel as a whole Try to think of 2-3 other examples of . Ideas about free will in the whole text.

Prologue “star-cross’d lovers” + fact that story revealed in prologue – structural point (reflects inescapability of fate) ROMEO I fear, too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars (Romeo senses something will happen before the party at the Capulets) Romeo: “I defy you stars” (Romeo constantly fighting against his own destiny) Romeo: “I am fortune’s fool” (yes, he is) JULIET Go ask his name. The Nurse goes. If he be marrièd. My grave is like to be my wedding bed. (Juliet foreshadows her own death when she first sees Romeo)

Paragraphs about the text as a whole Aim to use a couple of quote. Talk about at least two other parts of the play if you can. E.g. In the play as a whole, there is frequent reference to the idea of fate being inescapable and inevitable. The prologue is used as a structural device that immediately reveals the way that fate can’t be escaped. The storyline is revealed and the idea of ‘star crossd lovers’ reflects the Elizabethan belief in astrology (that the stars determine our destiny). Furthermore, both Romeo and Juliet make frequent reference to their own fates. Before the Capulets party Romeo talks of ‘some consequence yet hanging in the stars’ which emphasises his knowledge of is fate. Similarly, Juliet foreshadows her own death when she sees Romeo for the first time – ‘If he be marrièd. My grave is like to be my wedding bed’. Overall, Shakespeare presents fate as dominating the life and love of both Romeo and Juliet.

Jekyll and Hyde The exact same process applies to Jekyll and Hyde. Spend 50 minutes. 10 mins annotating and planning, 35 mins writing and 5 mins checking.

Annotation Writer’s ideas Language/structure Context and genre What is the writer trying to convey? What do we learn about character? How does it relate to the big ideas and themes in the text? Techniques – Simile, metaphor, personification, lexical field…. Word class – adjectives/verbs….. Structural features - Repetitions/patterns/motifs Ideas concerning Victorian morality/the Victorian gentleman and the repression that comes from that. Science vs religion The rise of evolution Duality Physiognomy

Annotation Writer’s ideas Language/structure Context and genre What is the writer trying to convey? What do we learn about character? How does it relate to the big ideas and themes in the text? Techniques – Simile, metaphor, personification, lexical field…. Word class – adjectives/verbs….. Structural features - Repetitions/patterns/motifs Aristotelian tragedy – tragic heroes’ fated to death. The audience feels catharsis at the end. Astronomy – in Elizabethan England people believed that their destiny was determined by the stars. Family hierarchy/the right of fathers – There was a rigid and strict family structure in which the father was the authoritarian, patriarch at the head of the household.