My predictions historically are 50% accurate.
To make them even more useful, I make videos where I apply my prediction and essay plan to any question that could come up.
This year I think it will be a theme question. In the past this has involved the feud, violence and masculinity. These are all the same question. The answer would be exactly the same - except you would keep using the theme key word in each paragraph.
The only theme AQA haven’t asked is fate.
You could treat this as the same question. For example -
Shakespeare shows that the lovers cannot escape their fate. This is because society is the tragic hero of the play. Society’s hamartia is that it is patriarchal. It is dominated by violence because men are raised to solve problems through violence.
And now I’d use everything I wanted to write about masculinity, or violence, or the feud, and show how these contribute to the tragic fate of the lovers.
See? The same essay, with very minor tweaks.
Grade 7
I am writing a guide to essay writing on Romeo and Juliet. Here is a grade 7 essay that will help you:
Response 13 (June 2020 Question about the feud)
Shakespeare shows that the feud leads to severe consequences which are just as damaging as the Prince’s punishment for the feud. This emphasises how severe the violence is because the Elizabethan audience loved violence on stage. This is CONTRASTED with Romeo and Juliet’s passionate love, which leads to the tragic end of the feud.
“Enemies to peace” implies that Shakespeare portrays the feud as pointless but necessary to end in peace. The Prince tells the families that they are “you men, you beasts”, which dehumanises them. The Prince represents the law and justice, and emphasises that those who cause bloodshed are no more than animals.
Another possibility is that Shakespeare is mocking the Elizabethan’s desire for bloodshed on stage, as they would be used to characters like Tybalt being the main protagonist. Tybalt continually calls Romeo a “villain”. Romeo contradicts this, emphasising his feelings of love: “Good Capulet, a name I tender as dearly as my own, be satisfied”. This CONTRASTS the themes of love and conflict. Shakespeare USES Tybalt as a foil to Romeo. He wants to show that love can triumph over conflict. This offers a hopeful ending to the family feud.
However, Shakespeare decides that the feud has to end in tragedy. This can only be alleviated by love. The tragedy is emphasised when Romeo kills Tybalt and is then banished to Mantua. This was a result of the killing of Mercutio, who Shakespeare portrays as a perceptive and witty character: “A plague o’ both your houses”.
Shakespeare also emphasises the role of fate. He shows the effect of the feud is inevitable. He shows that the conflict is destined to end in death. Juliet FORESHADOWS this death, “Me thinks I see thee … in the bottom of a tomb”.
The final tragedy is brought about by Romeo, who refuses to accept his banishment, “Ha, banishment! Be merciful, say death”. He is desperate to be with Juliet. The tragedy is therefore caused by Romeo trying to escape his fate, rather than by a sense of natural justice. Romeo fears life without Juliet more than he fears death.
Shakespeare might have thought his audience would be uninterested in a plot where the lovers escape their fate. Or he might think that his fellow Elizabethans are simply excited by violence.
In conclusion, Shakespeare portrays love as holding hands with conflict. Love is therefore linked to violence. This is why Romeo and Juliet’s love begins at the Capulet party, in parallel with the cause of Tybalt’s rage. Tybalt points out the symbiotic relationship between the two, stating “Now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall”. He refers to Romeo and Juliet as “now seeming sweet”, but ends with Tybalt’s threat which shapes the rest of the tragedy so that it ends with “bitterest gall”.
Original 528 words
463 words
22 marks
Examiner Comments
The student writes about methods at the start
They write about the effect of beginning the play with violence
And how that might influence how the play develops
And how the audience will react
The student focuses on individual words, like “beasts” to explain the effect of vocabulary choice
As well as explaining the effect of characterisation
So, word choice and characterisation are methods
The explanations about fate move the essay into Level 5
The explanations about Shakespeare’s ideas are also Level 5
The student has chosen a range of references
And the way these have been sequenced into an argument is also Level 5
To get higher marks, the student should explain the effects of more methods
Or explain more effects of the existing methods.
My Comments
Quotes 10
Explanations 27
METHODS 4
Context 3
Society 0
Patriarchal 0
Thesis Statement Yes
Conclusion Yes
Another way of reading the examiner’s comments is this:
Well done. This is pretty damn good. So, you only wrote 528 words. I wonder if you might, I mean if it is ok with you, and I don’t want to sound biased or unhelpful in this, but it’s just, WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST WRITE FASTER? You understand everything about the play, and nothing about life.
Life is not fair. But you will always stack the odds in your favour if you work out what it takes to succeed in anything, and then do that to the best of your ability.
Just write, you fool, and you can get grade 9.
Also, thanks for a good thesis statement and a proper conclusion, I enjoyed reading your ideas.
I love the way you link everything to Shakespeare’s purpose and the causes of the tragedy.
P.S. This just makes it all the more infuriating that you didn’t just write faster!
Points make prizes, and the fastest hand wins.
30/30 Essay About Masculinity
Response 19 June 2017
An Elizabethan audience would have strong opinions about masculine behaviour. Sampson and Gregory portray a crude aspect of masculinity, treating their enemies and women with aggression. This desire for masculine power is linked to their desire to appear sexually dominant, which Shakespeare highlights through the line “my naked weapon is out”. Although this refers to the servant’s sword, it is also a METAPHOR for the penis.
Sampson equates his sexual desire with aggression. This patriarchal society causes men to see a place for violence in sex and relations with women. We can see how aggressive Sampson’s lust is, because he is excited by the violence he’ll use to “thrust” maids “to the wall”. He has no respect for women.
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Shakespeare also calls attention to the violence of male fantasies or attitude towards virginity, when Sampson speaks of “the maids”, saying he will “cut off their heads” which is his violent METAPHOR for attacking “their maidenheads”.
Shakespeare USES Romeo as a CONTRAST to this male stereotype. He lets us know that Romeo is frequently found “with tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew”. This softness and lack of aggression appears to be caused by love, and is a deliberate CONTRAST to Sampson’s violent sexuality.
However, Mercutio mocks Romeo’s character for this, asking him to “speak but one rhyme”, “cry but ah me!” and “pronounce but ‘love’ and ‘dove’”. These jibes at Romeo reveal how unusual his behaviour is for a man. This suggests that Romeo has been influenced by the popularity of sonnets at the time.
Male aggression is not only directed at women. We see this in the extract where the servants want to encourage a violent fight. This is why Sampson decides to “bite my thumb” at his rivals, because this gesture was so offensive in the Elizabethan period. Shakespeare presents this provocation as a childish desire for a fight.
Shakespeare portrays this desire for dominance as comic, but it still promotes the feud. Because this scene follows on from the “ancient grudge” revealed in the prologue, we realise that this aggression will be very important to the plot.
Tybalt is a character who is deeply attracted to violence. His name was an allusion to cats, and this may portray him as violent and animalistic. It implies that his desire to dominate is animal like.
His language shows how he seeks out violence, exclaiming “This intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall”. His attraction to the poisonous “gall” reveals that he is happy to display his aggressive desires. He rejects things which appear “sweet” in favour of the “bitt’rest” desire to fight. He tells us that he is even willing to murder: “to strike him dead I hold it not a sin”. He feels fully justified in this, as we see when he later murders Mercutio.
Original 687 words
468 words
30 marks
Examiner Comments
Because there is no thesis statement, the answer only begins as ‘clear’
But it quickly becomes detailed and thoughtful in the way it analyses quotes
By the end the student’s thinking is very exploratory
And the references are very well chosen to help explain the student’s ideas
If the student knew more about the context, they could have explored Shakespeare’s use of the sonnet and the lover more effectively
But, although AO3 is not as strong as AO1 and AO2, it is on balance a full mark answer
My Comments
Quotes 17
Explanations 32
METHODS 4
Context 7
Society 1
Patriarchal 1
Thesis Statement Yes
Conclusion No
It seems odd that this candidate is not aware of the conventions of the Petrarchan lover which Mercutio is mocking. Perhaps they weren’t taught it.
The standards for getting a grade 9 with this text are very low. All you really need are as many explanations as possible about Shakespeare’s ideas and purpose.
They are another student who is simply wrong about thumb biting. We might say that this is relatively minor.
But they don’t have a thesis statement or a conclusion. This is practically a criminal offence!
So, what on earth has got 30/30?
A continual focus on Shakespeare’s ideas.
Writing about patriarchal society.
Looking at the structure of the play, explaining how and why Sampson and Gregory are a counterpoint to Romeo’s version of masculinity.
The way it touches on the CONTRAST in genres, between comedy and tragedy.
But, let’s not beat about the bush. It is much easier to get full marks, or indeed any mark, with Romeo and Juliet compared to Macbeth.
Oh, and did you notice any quotes being analysed in detail?
No.
You should have noticed an argument about Shakespeare’s ideas.
If you think its fate, it would be helpful to have a 30/30 fate essay