P1.ASection A — Shakespeare (one set play, closed text, 30 marks + 4 marks AO4)

AQA Paper 1 Section A is always a Shakespeare extract question. Your school has chosen one of six set plays. The question format is fixed: you receive a printed extract (typically 20–35 lines), and the question asks you to write about a theme or character "starting with this extract."

The six set plays

Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar.

Each school selects one — you will only be examined on the play you have studied.

The extract's role

The extract is the starting point — not the entire answer. AQA's mark scheme penalises responses that stay only in the extract (Level 3 maximum). You must:

• Analyse the extract closely (AO2 and AO1).
• Then expand to the rest of the play (at least three whole-play references).
• Return to the extract's evidence to ground your broader points.

The split is roughly: 35% extract, 65% whole play.

What the question always asks

The phrasing varies by year but the structure is constant:

• "Starting with this extract, write about how Shakespeare presents [theme/character]."
• Sometimes: "Starting with this extract, explore how Shakespeare develops [relationship/conflict]."

The key verb is "write about" or "explore" — you are invited to build an argument, not just describe.

Planning your response (5 minutes)

1. Read the extract annotating: notable words, techniques, tone shifts, form clues.
2. Draft a thesis: one sentence that directly answers the question.
3. Plan 4–5 points: each with extract evidence AND a whole-play example.

Thesis structure: "[Author] presents [theme] as [quality A] and [quality B], suggesting [broader insight about the human/political/moral condition]."

AO3 — using context effectively (6 marks)

Six context marks is the highest allocation in the paper. The most effective AO3:

• Refers to James I (for Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest) — political patron.
• Refers to the Jacobean/Elizabethan theatrical convention being used.
• Refers to the literary tradition being employed or subverted (e.g. the revenge tragedy, the comedy conventions).
• Is embedded in analysis, not bolted on as a separate paragraph.

AO4 — 4 marks for writing quality

Assessed only in Section A. Accurate: apostrophes (Shakespeare's, Macbeth's), spelling of character names, formal register, range of sentence structures.

The Level 6 distinction

Level 5 responses make clear, relevant, well-evidenced analytical points. Level 6 responses make a convincing and compelling argument — they have a view they defend and refine across the essay, rather than a list of features. The word "perceptive" appears in the Level 6 descriptor — it means going beyond the obvious to an insight the examiner finds genuinely interesting.