The Shakespeare extract question (Component 2 Section A): part (i) close analysis of a printed extract, part (ii) a whole-play response, assessed mainly on AO1, AO2 and AO5.

What this dot point is asking

Eduqas Component 2, Section A is the Shakespeare question: a single question on your set play in two separate but linked parts. Part (i) prints an extract and asks for close analysis of dramatic method; part (ii) asks for a whole-play response, usually in the light of a stated view. A clean copy of the play is permitted, but part (ii) still demands secure, detailed knowledge to range across the play. This dot point covers how the two parts differ, what each rewards, and how to switch between close reading and whole-play argument.

The answer

The two parts reward different things, and the commonest error is to write the same kind of answer for both. Part (i) is a close analysis of the printed extract: AO2 dominant (dramatic method to audience effect), AO1 supporting. Part (ii) is a whole-play argument on a stated view: AO1 leading (a sustained personal argument), AO5 prominent (different interpretations), AO2 supporting. Mastering Section A means switching register, microscope for part (i), telescope for part (ii), while keeping dramatic method central to both.

Part (i): close analysis of the extract

Part (i) prints an extract and asks you to analyse how Shakespeare shapes meaning through dramatic method, usually with a light thematic steer (power, conflict, deception). Register the dramatic situation first (who is present, who knows what), find the shape of the extract, then work through it selecting the moments that carry the steer. Name the method, quote briefly, and read the effect on the audience. Stay inside the extract: ranging across the play here wastes the marks.

Part (ii): the whole-play response

Part (ii) shifts to the whole play, normally framing a stated view ("the play offers no clear judgement on its hero"). AO1 now leads (a coherent, developed argument), AO5 is prominent (different interpretations), and AO2 supports. Treat the view as contestable: frame a thesis that engages it, range across the play testing it, bring a credible alternative reading or performance interpretation to bear, and reach a judgement.

Deploy interpretations for AO5

AO5 carries real weight in part (ii). An interpretation can be a critical reading, a performance choice, or a reading that weights one theme over another. Use one to open up a moment, then weigh the alternative and commit to the most persuasive reading on the evidence. Avoid name-dropping: the credit is in using the interpretation to think harder and test the view, not in listing critics.

Examples in context

The Shakespeare set play is chosen by the centre from the complete works (recent teaching has included Hamlet, Othello, Measure for Measure and The Tempest); confirm yours with your centre. These moves illustrate method.

A model part (i) AO2 paragraph. "Shakespeare stages power as something performed and withheld. The dominant figure commands the verse, his lines unbroken and end-stopped, while the subordinate is reduced to short interjections and finally to silence, so the rhythm of the exchange enacts the hierarchy the scene is about. The weaker character, left on stage without a line, makes silence itself the clearest sign of powerlessness." The dramatic method (verse, silence, staging) is read for audience effect.

A model part (ii) move. Responding to "the play offers no clear judgement on its hero", a strong answer concedes the play's refusal of easy verdicts, then resists the view: through soliloquy and the patterning of sympathy, Shakespeare guides the audience's judgement even as he complicates it, so the play withholds a simple verdict while clearly steering response. This engages the view, ranges across the play, and reaches a judgement.

Try this

Q1. What are the two parts of Section A, and which objectives lead each? [2 marks]

• Cue. Part (i) is close analysis of a printed extract, AO2 dominant with AO1 supporting; part (ii) is a whole-play response, AO1 leading with AO5 prominent and AO2 supporting.

Q2. What does "in the light of this view" require in part (ii)? [2 marks]

• Cue. Test the view across the play, weighing support and resistance and deploying interpretations, then reach a judgement, rather than simply agreeing.

Q3. "Deception drives the play." In the light of this view, explore Shakespeare's presentation of deception across your set play. [part ii; marked out of 30]

• What the marker wants. A sustained personal argument that engages the view, ranges across the play, deploys interpretations (AO5), grounds claims in dramatic method (AO2), and reaches a judgement.

A note on set texts

This guide is AI-written and not individually human-reviewed. The Shakespeare set play is chosen by your centre and changes across cycles; confirm yours with your centre. The two-part structure transfers across every Shakespeare play.