1. ‘Paris is a more suitable husband than Romeo for Juliet.

’
How far do you agree with this statement?
You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)
Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive
list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
 Paris is a kinsman to Prince Escalus and bears the title, ‘County Paris’.
He is an eligible bachelor and potentially a good husband for Juliet. Early in the play he
approaches Lord Capulet to request Juliet's hand in marriage. As a lover he follows proper
social protocols by going to her father. He has a practical approach to marriage
 in contrast, Romeo is an impulsive and spontaneous suitor, falling in love with Juliet upon
first seeing her and claiming he 'ne'er saw true beauty till this night'
 as a potential husband it can be said that Romeo is in a rush, proposing marriage to Juliet
on the day he meets her, with the ceremony to take place the next day. Friar Lawrence
warns him that 'they stumble that run fast'
 after his measured approach at the play's opening, Paris presses for a swift wedding to
Juliet very soon after Tybalt's death: 'That may be must be, love, on Thursday next'
 both Paris and Romeo die for love of Juliet. Paris is slain by Romeo outside the Capulet
tomb which he has attended to visit Juliet's body. Romeo takes his own life in the tomb
believing Juliet to be dead.

(AO2)
 Language: Romeo's language is rich with metaphor as he courts Juliet at the Capulet ball:
'My lips two blushing pilgrims ready stand'
 Language: Paris is a very confident lover saying to Juliet: 'Do not deny to him that you
love me' when she is about to see the Friar
 Language: Romeo's language to describe Juliet is extreme in its praise. He calls her 'a
saint' and 'a goddess'
 Language/Structure: Paris is measured and he follows traditional rules of courtship. He is
practical, commenting: 'Younger than she are happy mothers made'
 Form/Structure: both Paris and Romeo are impatient suitors. Their speed in courting Juliet
is one of the main drivers of the tragedy
 Structure: Paris courts Juliet through her father initially and this third party approach
makes him a detached lover: 'But now, my lord, what say you to my suit?'

(AO4)
 the play is believed to be based on a much older love story used in Arthur Brooke's 1562
poem. An Elizabethan audience would have been aware of this
 as suitors, both Paris and Romeo have more power and choice than Juliet.
 Women were regarded as the property of their fathers or husbands so Paris's suit has the
weight of paternal approval
 courtly love was a system of values from the Elizabethan era that called for love to be
polite, restrained, courteous and intellectual. While the suit of Paris meets these criteria,
Romeo's approach to courtship is unconventional.

2. Explore the theme of loss in this play.

You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)
Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive
list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
 both the Nurse and Lord Capulet speak of the loss of children early in the play. Capulet is
left with only one child before Juliet’s death and the Nurse speaks of Susan as 'with God.
She was too good for me'
 all characters experience some loss in the play, through the death of someone close to
them or loss of a plan, for example Friar Lawrence. Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, Juliet
and Lady Montague all lose their lives
 Mercutio's life is lost when he is fatally injured under Romeo's arm as Romeo tries to
prevent him fighting with Tybalt
 Tybalt loses his life as a result of his own actions and the feud. He loses face when Romeo
is allowed to remain at the Capulet ball and this fuels his appetite for revenge: 'I am for you'
 the Capulets and Montagues lose their children to suicide and Lady Montague loses her life
from grief. Juliet effectively dies twice, taking the Friar's potion to feign suicide.

(AO2)
 Language: Lord Capulet uses a metaphor to frame the loss of all his children except Juliet:
'earth has swallowed all my hopes but she'
 Language: Mercutio's loss of life is marked by his dark humour as he outlines the
inevitability of his impending death with a pun: 'Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me
a grave man'
 Language/Structure: the Friar realises that all is lost when his message to Romeo fails to
reach Mantua because of the plague. This is a critical turning point in the play: 'neglecting
it / May do much danger'
 Language/Structure: at the end of the play, Capulet and Montague mourn their losses.
Prince Escalus admits his own loss: 'And I for winking at your discords too / Have lost a
brace of kinsmen'. The metaphor emphasises his role in the play's losses
 Form: the play is a tragedy and therefore loss is inevitable. The Prologue outlines this,
explicitly foreshadowing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet as the play opens.

(AO4)
 infant mortality was high at the time the play is set and was written. It would not be
unusual to lose several babies or children in a family to illness
 suicide was against the law and broke religious rules as well. The loss of Romeo and Juliet
would have been very significant to a Shakespearian audience
 feuding and duelling were means by which disagreements and disputes were resolved at
the time Shakespeare was writing. These often led to loss of life.

3. How is Friar Lawrence presented as an important character in Romeo and Juliet?

You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive

list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
 Friar Lawrence is important because of his decision to marry Romeo and Juliet in secret,
hoping this will end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. This triggers the events
of the rest of the play
 Friar Lawrence advises Romeo to use his marriage to Juliet to heal rifts with his enemies:
'To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends'
 the Friar's knowledge of plants and herbalism enables him to attempt to help Juliet when
she comes to him in distress after being told she must marry Paris. He offers her the
'distilled liquor' that mimics death: '… through all thy veins shall run / A cold and drowsy
humour'
 the Friar is frustrated in his attempts to get a message to Romeo because of the plague.
He realises the disastrous implications: 'The letter was not nice, but full of charge, / Of dear
import - and the neglecting it / May do much danger'
 the Friar tries to persuade Juliet to leave the tomb in order to save her life. When she
refuses to go with him, he eventually flees: 'I dare no longer stay'.

(AO2)
 Language: Friar Lawrence tries to advise Romeo to act less rashly, inadvertently
foreshadowing the tragic outcome of the play: 'They stumble that run fast'
 Language: Friar Lawrence uses juxtaposition to foretell the outcome of Romeo and Juliet's
passion: 'these violent delights have violent ends'
 Language: when Juliet seeks help from Friar Lawrence he offers her an alternative to the
suicide she threatens: 'I spy a kind of hope'
 Form/Structure: Friar Lawrence's actions contribute directly to the play's tragic outcome
through his plan for Juliet to feign death and subsequent failure to get a message to Romeo
 Form/Structure: the Friar is outside the feud as he does not take sides. This gives him
access to both Romeo and Juliet and the opportunity to explain what has happened to the
Prince at the end: 'I will be brief, for my short date of breath / Is not so long as is a tedious
tale'.

(AO4)
 in Elizabethan times there were no practising friars because of the dissolution of the
monasteries by Henry VIII. The friar of Shakespeare's play comes from the culture of Italy
at an earlier point in history
 friars were respected, offered help to people in need and took vows of poverty. Friar
Lawrence is described as living in a 'Cell' which would have been a sparse room
 some friars were known for their studies of herbs as medicines. Some herbs do have
powerful narcotic effects.

4. Explore the theme of death in this play.

You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
 (Total for Question = 30 marks)

Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive

list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are predicted in the Prologue ensuring that death
permeates the events of the whole play. Their 'death-mark'd love' is noted by the Chorus
prior to Act 1
the Nurse has lost a child, Susan, who died in infancy: 'Well, Susan is with God: she was
too good for me'. The Capulets have lost all their children apart from Juliet. Death pervades
the whole play on many levels
the first death to take place is that of Mercutio who dies as a result of the fight with Tybalt
in the middle of the play. He is killed under Romeo's arm as Romeo seeks to break up the
duel
Tybalt's violent death at Romeo's hands is arguably inevitable after Mercutio has been
slain: 'Either thou or I, or both, must go with him'. Tybalt's death is significant as
momentum gathers towards the death of the two lovers
Paris's death presents a dramatic focus as the play draws to an end. At the Capulet tomb
he wants to kill Romeo: 'Obey, and go with me, for thou must die', but Romeo kills him
during the altercation
Romeo's death by his own hand is both dramatic and romantic. He takes the apothecary's
poison and dies at Juliet's side, believing that he is joining her in death
Juliet's awakening from her feigned death is followed by her real death, using Romeo's
dagger.

(AO2)
Language: Lord Capulet uses personification when explaining to Paris that all his other
children have died: 'Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she'
Language: Mercutio is darkly humorous in his approach to his own demise, using a pun to
downplay his mortal injury: 'Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man'
Language/Structure: death's shadow falls across the play as it is detailed in the Prologue,
referring to Romeo and Juliet's 'death mark'd love'
Language/Structure: Juliet's soliloquy prior to taking the Friar's potion is laced with
metaphors of death: 'a faint, cold fear thrills through my veins'. It is ironic that Juliet
threatens suicide, then fakes her death, which leads to her real death at the end of the play.

(AO4)
infant mortality was considerably higher at the time the play is set than today and it was
not uncommon for parents to lose children
mistaken deaths were common in Elizabethan times when death was relatively difficult to
diagnose. Corpses were routinely buried with bells so that those mistaken for dead could
raise the alarm
the plague which prevents Friar John from reaching Mantua brought death to people's
daily lives in 14th century Italy.
5. Explore the importance of Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet.
You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play in your
answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive

list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
• Benvolio is Romeo’s cousin and tries to keep the peace in Verona
• Benvolio reports Romeo’s whereabouts to his parents. He describes Romeo’s state of mind as
pensive and distracted in ‘the grove of sycamore’
• Benvolio cares about Romeo’s unrequited love for Rosaline and also seems to have distractions
of his own as he admits to the Montagues: ‘A troubled mind drove me to walk abroad’
• Benvolio accompanies Romeo to the Capulet party and, with Mercutio, tries to find him when it
is time to go home. He calls after him and tells Mercutio: ‘He ran this way, and leapt the orchard
wall’
• Benvolio reassures Mercutio that Romeo will uphold his honour by responding to Tybalt’s call
for a duel: ‘Romeo will answer it’
• Benvolio tries to ensure that the rules of duelling are obeyed when Mercutio and Tybalt confront
one another: ‘We talk here in the public haunt of men! / Either withdraw unto some private
place, / Or reason coldly of your grievances, / Or else depart’
• Benvolio tells Romeo of the death of Mercutio: ‘O Romeo, Romeo! Brave Mercutio’s dead!’
• Benvolio advises Romeo to flee after he has killed Tybalt, recognising that ‘The Prince will
doom thee death / If thou art taken’.

(AO2)
• Language: Benvolio’s name means ‘good will’ or ‘well-wisher’
• Language/Structure: Benvolio plays the part of peacekeeper in the play. In the opening affray,
he orders the fighting men ‘Part, fools!’
• Language/Structure: Benvolio joins Mercutio in mocking the Nurse: ‘Two, two! A shirt and a
smock’
• Language: Benvolio tries to prevent the altercation between Tybalt and Mercutio, warning: ‘The
day is hot, the Capels are abroad’
• Language: Benvolio uses metaphorical language to describe the loss of Mercutio: ‘That gallant
spirit hath aspired the clouds, / Which too untimely here did scorn the earth’
• Structure: Benvolio is a catalyst in the plot, as it is he that convinces Romeo to attend the
Capulet party
• Structure: Benvolio contrasts with Mercutio
• Form/Structure: Benvolio stands slightly apart from the tragedy and is therefore able to give
credible information and advice to characters, such as when he advises Romeo to flee after
Tybalt is slain.

(AO4)
• family links were important to the Elizabethans who would expect loyalty and close knit bonds
between cousins
• duelling was a means by which conflicts were resolved amongst noblemen in Elizabethan
England. It was considered an honourable means of dealing with dispute but was illegal
• violence was rife in Verona at the time the play is set. Deadly battles were fought over petty
differences.

6. How does Shakespeare use time in the play?

You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive

list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)

• time is an important theme. It may appear static but characters are often rushing and
there is a real sense of urgency and speed in the play. Time and fate go hand in hand, with
one influencing the other
• the presence of the Prologue, who sets out the play’s entire action in the opening speech,
is beyond the scope of real time and shows the irrelevance of time to the play’s outcome
• Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love with great haste. This is in contrast with the idea of
the ‘old accustomed feast’. Capulet’s ball is the first he has held in thirty years. The speed
with which Romeo and Juliet agree to marry is swift indeed, since they have known each
other only for a matter of hours. The haste in which this decision is made contributes to the
play’s ultimate tragedy
• events speed up dramatically from the ill-timed meeting of Mercutio and Tybalt which
results in both their deaths. Benvolio warns Mercutio of the likely outcome should they meet
the Capulets, but Mercutio is in high temper and logic fails to sway him. The timing of
Romeo’s entrance and the fact that Mercutio is hurt because of his intervention demonstrate
the importance of time in the play
• time is also important to Juliet when she takes the Friar’s potion as it has a limited effect
and she is warned that within forty-eight hours she will wake
• time brings about the play’s final tragedy when Romeo, in banishment in Mantua, does not
receive the Friar’s letter about Juliet’s feigned death. Believing her to be dead, he rushes
with great haste to Verona and, after demanding poison from the apothecary, kills himself at
Juliet’s side before she has come round from the effects of the potion. It can be argued that
his impulsive actions here, in not taking his time, result in the deaths of both characters.

(AO2)
• Language/Structure: time is an important structural device. The Prologue sets out the time
scale of the play as it opens as ‘the two hours’ traffic of our stage’
• Language/Structure: Lord Capulet tells Paris that he should wait ‘two more summers’
before marrying Juliet as she is so young. Later, he rushes, bringing the wedding forward
with tragic results
• Language: Juliet uses hyperbole to describe how long it will feel waiting to see Romeo
again: ‘’Tis twenty years till then’
• Language: Juliet uses metaphorical language to bemoan the slow pace of time as she
awaits the arrival of Romeo at her chamber: ‘Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds’.

(AO4)
• Elizabethans were superstitious about time, noting the day and hour of, for example, a fall
from a horse and considering it an unlucky time to ride
• Elizabethans believed in astrology, using the sun and moon to mark time
• Shakespeare compressed the action of the play into just four days instead of the months
of the original poem.
7. How are the characters of Mercutio and the Nurse a source of comedy in this tragic play?
You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play
in your answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive

list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
• Mercutio and the Nurse are a source of comedy in a number of different ways. The Nurse's
garrulous character is a direct contrast to that of Lady Capulet. This can be seen when she
talks excessively about Juliet's age early in the play
• the Nurse's teasing of Juliet and use of sexual innuendo lighten the tone of
the play: 'seek happy nights to happy days'
• Mercutio gently mocks Romeo for his poetic language when speaking of love:
'If love be rough with you, be rough with love'
• even Mercutio's dying words are laced with tragic humour: 'Ask for me tomorrow and you
will find me a grave man' with the pun on the word 'grave'
• the Nurse's levity proves misplaced and dangerous when she tries to cover up her own
involvement in the secret marriage of Romeo and Juliet. She suggests Juliet commit bigamy
by marrying Paris: 'I think you are happier in this second match'.

(AO2)
• Language: the Nurse uses puns to joke with Juliet about the prospect that she will become
pregnant as a result of her upcoming relationship: 'I am the drudge and toil in your delight /
But you shall bear the burden soon at night'
• Language: Mercutio's name reflects his mercurial character as he is quickwitted and
eloquent. This relates to his changing temperament such as his turn to anger when
exchanging witty repartee with Tybalt: ‘Here’s my fiddlestick!’
• Language: the verbal sparring of the Nurse with Mercutio engages the audience's interest
and amusement when, as a go-between for Juliet, she comes to seek out Romeo. Mercutio
suggests the Nurse needs a fan: 'for her fan's the fairer face'
• Structure: Mercutio and the Nurse serve as foils for Romeo and Juliet
• Form/Structure: both the Nurse and Mercutio act as catalysts in the tragic outcome of the
play as Mercutio's death forms a turning point in the play's action and the Nurse first
colludes with, but subsequently fails to support, Juliet.

(AO4)
• babies of wealthy people were often raised by wet nurses, who became closer to them than
their parents. These children were often pawns in arranged marriages
• Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is not the only one of Shakespeare's tragedies to include
comedic elements, for example the Porter in Macbeth
• although the play's action is based on the poem by Arthur Brooke, Shakespeare created the
character of Mercutio independently of the source.
8. Romeo: ‘O, I am fortune’s fool!’
Explore the importance of fate in Romeo and Juliet.
You must consider language, form and structure and refer to the context of the play in
your answer.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

Evidence of a degree of personal response must be given. This is not an exhaustive

list but the following points may be made:

(AO1)
• the Prologue establishes the significant role of fate as the play opens, speaking of Romeo
and Juliet's 'death-marked love'
• when Romeo bumps into Peter in the street, it is their chance meeting that leads to him
gate-crashing the Capulet ball
• there are many references to the universe and stars in the play. An example is when
Romeo compares Juliet to the sun: 'Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon'. Juliet
foreshadows Romeo's death: '… and, when he shall die, / Take him and cut him out in little
stars'
• Romeo is aware of the power fate holds over his life, saying he feels something is 'hanging
in the stars'
• Friar John's failure to get Friar Lawrence's letter to Romeo is a twist of fate as the message
does not reach Romeo in Mantua and he does not know about the plan to fake Juliet's death
• it is fate that the Friar fails to reach the tomb before the mistake is made and Romeo kills
himself.

(AO2)
• Language: the Prologue refers to Romeo and Juliet as a 'pair of starcrossed lovers'
• Language: Romeo is aware of the power fate holds over his life: 'O, I am
fortune’s fool!'
• Language/Structure: dramatic irony is evident in the Friar's warning to Romeo: 'They
stumble that run fast'. The audience already know that the play will end tragically
• Language: when Romeo learns of Juliet's death he exclaims: 'I defy you stars!'
• Structure: foreshadowing of the lovers' deaths is created by Shakespeare when Romeo
dreams that Juliet finds him dead
• Form/Structure: night is always used for scenes of love. Romeo and Juliet meet at night,
agree to marry the same night and spend their wedding night together. This links to the fate
of the ‘star-crossed lovers’, a motif that runs through the whole play.

(AO4)
• astrology fascinated Elizabethan audiences and the commonplace belief in fate suggested
that stars and planets influenced emotion and destiny
• the bubonic plague that led to Friar John being unable to reach Mantua ravaged Italy in the
14th century. One third of the population died from the disease
• in Elizabethan times, people tried to find ways to understand and explain the extent to
which they could control their lives. Some ideas were based on the philosophy of the sixth
century Roman, Boethius, who proposed that life is ruled by God and Fortune.
9. Explore the importance of the Nurse in this play.
You must consider language, form and structure in your answer and refer to the
context of the play.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

(AO1)
 the Nurse is important in her relationship with Juliet and to the unfolding events in
the play
 the Nurse is a friend to Juliet as well as being her Nurse. She is presented as being
closer to her charge than Juliet’s own mother, as Lady Capulet is unable to speak
with her daughter without the Nurse’s presence: ‘This is the matter: ’Nurse, give
leave awhile, /We must talk in secret:- Nurse, come back again’
 the Nurse has cared for Juliet her entire life: ‘Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour’
 the Nurse is a source of humour in the play and teases her charge, Juliet, when
she brings news from Romeo and deliberately delays in conveying the message:
‘Fie, how my bones ache!’
 the Nurse is a go-between for the lovers, despite Capulet’s desire for Juliet to
marry Paris. She tells Romeo that Juliet will be at Friar Lawrence’s cell for the
marriage that very afternoon and relays the news to Juliet in a roundabout and
amusing way, bemoaning her sore head and feet until Juliet says: ‘I am sorry
that thou art not well’
 when the Nurse finds out about Romeo’s killing of Tybalt, she panics and becomes
motivated by fear. She says: ‘We are undone, lady, we are undone!’ The Nurse
curses Romeo for his actions but by the end of the scene she agrees to ‘find
Romeo/To comfort you…your Romeo will be here tonight’
 she eventually tries to persuade Juliet to marry Paris after all, caring little for the
bigamy that would result or the strength of Juliet’s feelings: ‘I think you are
happy in this second match’. Her attitude is pragmatic and unsentimental.
(AO2)
 Language: the Nurse uses a superlative adjective to describe her special
connection to Juliet who ‘wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nurs’d’
 Language: the Nurse genuinely cares about Juliet and warns Romeo, using
powerful imagery that he must not lead her ‘in a fool’s paradise’
 Language/Structure: the Nurse encourages Juliet to marry Romeo, using
sexual innuendo: ‘Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days’
 Structure: it is the Nurse who discovers Juliet’s body after she has taken the
Friar’s potion
 Structure: the Nurse is a catalyst to the plot as it is her intervention in acting
as go- between for Romeo and Juliet that leads to the hasty marriage of the
couple.
(AO4)
 at the time the play is set it was common for rich women to use wet nurses to
bring up their babies. The wet nurses’ own babies often suffered or even died
as a result
 when Shakespeare was writing, women often had babies at a much younger age
and relied on older women to care for them servants, including nurses, acted as
 messengers for the families they worked for.

10. How does Shakespeare present the theme of power in Romeo and Juliet?
You must consider language, form and structure in your answer and refer to the
context of the play.
(Total for Question = 30 marks)

Examiners should be alert to a variety of responses and should reward points that are
clearly based on evidence from the play. Evidence of a degree of personal response must
be given. This is not an exhaustive list but the following points may be made:
(AO1)
 Prince Escalus is presented as holding absolute power in the play. He is the
ultimate arbiter of law and order in Verona and warns Lords Capulet and Montague
that further violence will result in punishment. It is he who banishes Romeo
following Tybalt’s death at Romeo’s hands
 Lord Capulet is powerful as he heads up the Capulet family. He holds power over
Juliet’s future as it is his decision when and whom she marries. He tells Paris: ‘Let
two more summers wither in their pride / Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride’
 love is a powerful force in the play. It strongly motivates both Romeo and Juliet
after they meet and fall in love at first sight. It drives both to suicide at the end of
the play as they would rather die than live apart. Love causes Paris to stand vigil at
Juliet’s tomb where he has the fatal meeting with Romeo
 arguably equal to the power of love is the power of hate. Tybalt is driven by it. He
derides peace, saying: ‘I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee’
 fate is a powerful force in the play and its significance is evident from the
Prologue’s opening words when the tragic outcome of the play’s events is
confirmed. Romeo and Juliet are described as ‘star-crossed lovers’.
(AO2)
 Language: speaking of the power of fate, Romeo cries in anguish that he is
‘Fortune’s fool’
 Language/Form/Structure: the power of death is vital to the play’s tragic ending
and transcends all the play’s concerns. Romeo personifies death on arriving at
Juliet’s tomb: ‘Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, / Hath had no
power yet upon thy beauty'
 Language/Structure: the Capulets hold more power over Juliet early in the play
when she agrees to consider Paris as a husband: ‘I’ll look to like if looking liking
move’. She goes on to rebel against the power of her parents when refusing to
marry him later in the play
 Structure: Prince Escalus is important to the plot as he makes the decision to spare
Romeo’s life and instead banish him to Mantua for the crime of murdering Tybalt.
This ultimately leads to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.
(AO4)
 when Shakespeare was writing, society was largely patriarchal and the futures of
women were in the power of their fathers, husbands and brothers
 the Elizabethans were interested in astrology and believed in the power of fate to
control human lives at the time the play is set, law-makers had the power to
execute or banish citizens without trial.
Level Mark AO1 Demonstrate a close knowledge and understanding
of texts, maintaining a critical style and presenting
an informed personal engagement. (10 marks)
AO2 Analyse the language, form and structure used by a
writer to create meanings and effects. (10 marks)
AO4 Show understanding of the relationships between texts
and context. (10 marks)
0 No rewardable material.
Level 1 1-6  Limited knowledge and understanding of the text.
 The response is simple with little evidence of
personal engagement or critical style.
 Minimal identification of language, form and structure.
 There is little comment on the relationship between
text and context.
 Limited use of relevant examples in support.
Level 2 7-12  Some knowledge and understanding of the text.
 The response may be largely narrative with some
evidence of personal engagement or critical style.
 Some comment on the language, form and structure.
 There is some comment on the relationship between
text and context.
 Some use of relevant examples in support.
Level 3 13-18  Sound knowledge and understanding of the text.
 The response shows relevant personal engagement
and an appropriate critical style.
 Sound understanding of language, form and structure.
 There is relevant comment on the relationship between
text and context.
 Use of clearly relevant examples in support.
Level 4 19-24  Thorough knowledge and understanding of the text.
 The response shows thorough personal
engagement and a sustained critical style.
 Sustained analysis of language, form and structure.
 There is a detailed awareness of the relationship between
text and contexts.
 Use of fully relevant examples in support.
Level 5 25-30  Assured knowledge and understanding of the text.
 The response shows assured personal
engagement and a perceptive critical style.
 Cohesive evaluation of language, form and structure.
 Understanding of the relationship between text and
context is integrated convincingly into the response.
 Discriminating use of relevant examples in support.