1. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Revision Guide
Mr. Dunford
Exam 2445/01(Foundation), 2445/02(Higher)—Drama Pre-1914

2. What you will have to do? Literature Paper 45 Minutes Extract Based
30 Marks
Question about ‘engagement, interest, drama, comedy, how a scene is striking, character’
Analytical Written Response (PEAL)

3. What am I being marked on?
Assessing a range of techniques used by the author
Make reference to the techniques used
Supporting points and analysis with textual evidence
Showing a focussed response that links back to the question
Show awareness of the text as a whole
Show awareness of context
SUSTAINED RESPONSE

4. Are there any example questions?
Some past questions
Explore the ways in which Shakespeare makes this such a gripping moment in the play.
How does Shakespeare make this such a powerful moment in the play?
Explore some of the ways in which Shakespeare makes this such a dramatic and significant moment in the play.
How does Shakespeare vividly present the characters of Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt at this moment in the play?
How does Shakespeare vividly create Juliet’s thoughts and feelings here?
Explore some of the ways in which Shakespeare makes this such a dramatic moment in the play.
Explore some of the ways in which Shakespeare makes this such a significant and entertaining moment in the play?
Explore some of the ways in which Shakespeare makes this both a humorous and dramatic moment in the play.
How does Shakespeare make us sympathize with Juliet at this moment in the play?

5. What techniques does Shakespeare use the most?
Light and Dark Imagery
The use of prose (lower class) and blank verse and iambic pentameter (upper class/nobles)
Sexual Puns
Juxtaposition of comical scenes and scenes with tension/death/violence
Emotive Language
Soliloquy
Imagery, Personification, Oxymorons, Metaphors, Similes
Premonitions, Foreboding, Foreshadowing
Use of pathetic fallacy and setting
Sonnet
Sounds (alliteration, sibilance, assonance, rhyme)
The Manipulation of Pace—Punctuation and Enjambment, caesura
Rhyming Couplets

6. What are the themes? The Forcefulness of Love
Love as a Cause of Violence
The Individual versus Society
The Inevitability of Fate

7. What do I have know about the context?
Social Class
Elizabethan England—the Power of the play and its ability to unite different people
It’s a play—assess presentational features
The important of fate
The ingredients of a tragedy

8. Are there any hints to answering the question?
You can always refer back to the Prologue.
You can almost always refer to the use of dramatic irony.
Assess a range of techniques
You can assess presentational skills

9. How should I revise? Read the text again Do past exam questions—OCR
Review you notes
Review/Revise/memorise the language and structural techniques and HOW they create an effect. Make note cards of these.
Practise annotating sections of a text for the use of techniques.
Read study guides (Sparknotes, Cliff’s notes, York notes)
Watch the movies
Review themes and they connect with the characters