Shakespearean drama: genre, methods and contextReading · 0%
Macbeth3 h of study
Romeo and Juliet2 h 30 min of study
Much Ado About Nothing2 h of study
The Merchant of Venice2 h of study
The Tempest2 h of study
Other set plays: Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, Othello, Henry V and Cambridge plays2 h of study

This unit is ≈20% of the GCSE English Lit, across 7 lessons. Full syllabus

Lesson 1 of 7 · Shakespeare

Shakespearean drama: genre, methods and context

3 quick checks≈2% of the testCore: Core: tested on most papers

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By the end you’ll be able to

Explain the conventions of tragedy (tragic hero, hamartia, catharsis) and comedy (disguise, mistaken identity, festivity, marriage endings)
Analyse Shakespeare’s use of blank verse, prose, rhyming couplets, soliloquies, asides, dramatic irony and stagecraft
Relate the plays to Elizabethan and Jacobean contexts: the Great Chain of Being, the divine right of kings, patriarchy, religion, the supernatural and the Globe audience

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Adaptive questions on Shakespearean drama: genre, methods and context.

Practise this topic

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Apply the extract-to-whole method: analyse the printed extract closely, then range across the play with remembered references

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