GCSE English Literature 8702/1 Specimen Notes: Shakespeare & 19th-Century Novel (Section A & B)

Section A: Shakespeare

  • Exam structure and aims

    • Paper: GCSE English Literature 8702/1 (Specimen 2014).
    • Total maximum marks: 6464.
    • You must answer one question from Section A and one from Section B.
    • AO4 is assessed in Section A. There are 44 marks for AO4 in Section A in addition to the 3030 marks for answering the question.
    • Section A focuses on Shakespeare (four plays listed in the specimen: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar).
    • Section B focuses on the 19th-century novel (a choice among several texts).
    • Presentation: Use a black ink/ballpoint pen, write on the front of your answer book, 16-page book, etc.

  • Macbeth (Section A, Question 1)

    • Extract: Act 1, Scene 5. Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy after learning Duncan will spend the night at Macbeth’s castle.
    • Key speech features (quoted lines to note):
    • “The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan”
    • “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”
    • “And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull / Of direst cruelty; …”
    • “Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers”
    • “Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell”
    • Task: Starting with this speech, explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as a powerful woman.
    • Focus points for answer:
    • How Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in this speech: ambition, manipulation, rejection of traditional femininity, invocation of spirits, control of Macbeth, rhetoric (imperatives, caesuras, imagery of darkness and cruelty).
    • How Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth in the play as a whole: her initial dominance over Macbeth, orchestrating the murder plot, pushing Macbeth to commit murder, her subsequent guilt/unraveling (sleepwalking, acts of guilt), and the eventual loss of power as the play progresses.
    • Assessment emphasis: analysis of language, imagery, and structure; thematic link to gender expectations; dramatic purpose; context (early modern ideas about gender, power).
    • Marks: ___ 30 for the question + AO4 4 marks.

  • Romeo and Juliet (Section A, Question 2)

    • Extract: Act 1, Scene 2. Lord Capulet and Paris discuss Juliet’s future marriage.
    • Key lines:
    • “But saying o’er what I have said before: My child is yet a stranger in the world …”
    • “Let two more summers wither in their pride, / Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.”
    • “Woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart, / My will to her consent is but a part; / And she agreed, within her scope of choice / Lies my consent and fair according voice.”
    • Task: Starting with this conversation, explain how far you think Shakespeare presents Lord Capulet as a good father.
    • Focus points:
    • Capulet’s apparent care for Juliet’s wellbeing and suitable marriage age; his authority as a father; his use of rhetoric to balance control and respect for Juliet’s consent; the tension between protective parenting and patriarchal control.
    • In the play as a whole: Capulet’s temperament, decisions, and how his authority shapes the tragedy (e.g., family loyalties, social expectations, and the pressures on Juliet).
    • AO4 emphasis: language, perspective, context.
    • Marks: 30 for the question + AO4 4 marks.

  • The Tempest (Section A, Question 3)

    • Extract: Act 5, Scene 1. Prospero's decision to set his captives free; Ariel and Prospero dialogue about mercy.
    • Key lines:
    • “The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance.”
    • “They being penitent, / The sole drift of my purpose doth extend / Not a frown further. Go, release them, Ariel; / My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore, / And they shall be themselves.”
    • Task: Starting with this moment, explore how Shakespeare presents Prospero’s use of power.
    • Focus points:
    • Prospero’s transformation at this moment: from controlling magician to someone who chooses mercy and restoration of the others’ humanity.
    • The play’s broader arc: power, authority, benevolence vs revenge, colonization themes, and the ethical use of power.
    • AO4: language, dramatic method, and thematic connections.
    • Marks: 30 for the question + AO4 4 marks.

  • The Merchant of Venice (Section A, Question 4)

    • Extract: Act 1, Scene 3. Shylock’s speech to Antonio; negotiation of money and the bond.
    • Key lines and points:
    • “Signior Antonio, many a time and oft / In the Rialto you have rated me …”
    • “You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog … money is your suit.”
    • “Hath a dog money? Is it possible / A cur can lend three thousand ducats?”
    • The idea of being treated unfairly and dehumanized: the “dog” and “cur” imagery, the social prejudice against Jews.
    • Task: Starting with this speech, how does Shakespeare present Shylock’s feelings about the way he is treated?
    • Focus points:
    • Shylock’s resentment at repeated insults and his insistence on being treated fairly on his own terms; his financial leverage; the power dynamic between Shylock and Antonio; the broader theme of mercy vs justice.
    • In the play as a whole: anti-Semitism, the bond plot, the contrast between Shylock’s humanity and the Christian characters’ prejudice, the moral questions about vengeance and mercy.
    • AO4 emphasis: rhetorical strategy, tone, context.
    • Marks: 30 for the question + AO4 4 marks.

  • Much Ado About Nothing (Section A, Question 5)

    • Extract: Act 4, Scene 1. Claudio’s reaction to Hero at the altar; his condemnation of Hero’s virtue.
    • Key lines:
    • “Stand thee by, friar: … Give me this maid your daughter?”
    • “Behold how like a maid she blushes here! Oh what authority and show of truth / Can cunning sin cover itself withal!”
    • Task: Starting with this conversation, explore how Shakespeare presents attitudes towards women in Much Ado About Nothing.
    • Focus points:
    • Claudio’s assessment of Hero’s outward appearance vs. inner virtue; the social codes of female honour; the use of language about “blush,” “modesty,” and “guilt” as proof of virtue.
    • In the play as a whole: women’s agency (Beatrice), societal pressures on women’s honour, and the way reputation drives action and tragedy.
    • AO4: analysis of rhetoric, gender norms, comedic tragedy vs social critique.
    • Marks: 30 for the question + AO4 4 marks.

  • Julius Caesar (Section A, Question 6)

    • Extract: Act 2, Scene 1. Brutus on ambition; metaphors of ascent and the necessity to act for the common good; the “serpent’s egg” metaphor.
    • Key lines:
    • “It must be by his death. And for my part / I know no personal cause to spurn at him / But for the general.”
    • “The bright day that brings forth the adder / And that craves wary walking.”
    • “Crown him that, / And then I grant we put a sting in him / That at his will he may do danger with.”
    • “Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented, / Would run to these and these extremities.”
    • “What he is, a serpent’s egg … / And kill him in the shell.”
    • Task: Starting with this speech, write about how Shakespeare explores ambition in Julius Caesar.
    • Focus points:
    • Brutus’ justification of assassination as a means to prevent tyranny; tension between public duty and private loyalty; declamatory rhetoric, metaphorical language, and political philosophy about power and responsibility.
    • In the play as a whole: the theme of ambition, the fate of Rome, the consequences of political action, and the fragility of power.
    • AO4 emphasis: argumentative structure, use of classical allusions, political context.
    • Marks: 30 for the question + AO4 4 marks.

Section B: The 19th-Century Novel

  • Answer one question from this section on your chosen text (AO4-focused). The specimen lists a broad range of options. Each option follows a similar structure: you read a provided extract (often from a pivotal moment) and then answer questions about how the author presents key ideas, as well as how those ideas are developed across the whole text.

  • Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Question 0, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 2. Mr Utterson meets Mr Hyde for the first time; Hyde’s appearance and behaviour; Utterson’s disgust and fear; the suggestion that Hyde is almost inhuman.
    • Extract focus points:
    • Hyde’s physical description: “pale and dwarfish,” “deformity,” “displeasing smile,” “murderous mixture of timidity and boldness,” “troglodytic” suggestion, etc.
    • Utterson’s reaction: alarm, inability to name the source of his fear, sense of something beyond ordinary description; his fear of a “name for it.”
    • Task: How does Stevenson present Mr Hyde as a frightening outsider? 30 marks.
    • Key goals: analyze the portrayal of Hyde as enigmatic, morally corrupt, and socially alien; discuss how Stevenson builds fear through narrative perspective, diction, and symbolism (outsider status, “almost human but not quite,” etc.).
    • Whole-text perspective: how Hyde functions as a chilling outsider throughout the novel; themes of duality, the limits of science, the fear of the unknown.

  • Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol (Question 1, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 1. Introduction of Scrooge as an outsider to society; harsh, cold, isolated, and unsympathetic figure.
    • Extract focus points:
    • Descriptions of Scrooge’s coldness, lack of warmth, social isolation, and the social responses to him (beggars, the poor, the blind man’s dog illustration).
    • Task: How does Dickens present Scrooge as an outsider to society in this extract and in the novel as a whole? 30 marks.
    • Whole-text perspective: Scrooge’s transformation through the visitations of the ghosts; themes of social inequality, charity, redemption, and community.

  • Charles Dickens: Great Expectations (Question 2, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 8. Pip’s first complex encounter with Estella; his humiliation and self-consciousness about wealth and status.
    • Extract focus points:
    • Pip’s self-critique: “coarse hands,” “common boots,” hats upon knaves, and his sense of social inferiority.
    • Estella’s treatment: disdain, “insolently,” nonchalant power in their interactions; the feeling of unequal social exchange.
    • Task: Write about the unequal relationship between Pip and Estella in this extract and in the novel as a whole.
    • Whole-text perspective: class, social mobility, power dynamics in Victorian society, Pip’s aspirations and self-identity, Estella’s role as instrument of social critique.

  • Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre (Question 3, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 23. Jane confronts Rochester about impending marriage to Blanche Ingram; the emotional intensity of the scene; Jane’s insistence on equality and self-respect.
    • Extract focus points:
    • Jane’s declaration of equality: “I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: – it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; … equal – as we are!”
    • Rochester’s reaction and the stakes of their relationship (independence, moral sovereignty).
    • Task: How does Brontë present Jane as a strong female character? 30 marks.
    • Whole-text perspective: Jane’s moral and intellectual independence, resilience, autonomy, critique of patriarchal norms; relationships, passion, and social power.

  • Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (Question 4, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 15. The Monster approaches the cottage; his desire to be loved and to belong to a family.
    • Extract focus points:
    • The Monster’s longing for love and acceptance; his awareness of beauty in humane society; his plan to enter the De Lacey family through the old man’s mediation; the tension between his deformity and his yearning for connection.
    • Task: Write about how Shelley presents the importance of love and acceptance to society in this extract and in the novel as a whole.
    • Whole-text perspective: The theme of social acceptance, the ethics of creation, responsibility of the creator, the Monster’s pursuit of companionship and its consequences; social rejection and its consequences on the Monster’s violence.

  • Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (Question 5, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 3. The assembly-room dance. Public impressions of Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley; social judgments on men’s character.
    • Extract focus points:
    • Descriptions of Bingley’s affable, gentlemanly persona vs. Darcy’s pride and reserve; public opinion, class signals, and first impressions.
    • Task: Write about how Austen presents attitudes towards men in this extract and in the novel as a whole.
    • Whole-text perspective: the social logic of male worth (wealth, status, behavior), and how Darcy, Bingley, and other male characters navigate relationships with female characters (Elizabeth, Jane).

  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Sign of Four (Question 6, 30 marks)

    • Extract: Chapter 3. Holmes, Watson, and Mary travel to a mysterious meeting; London’s atmosphere; a foreboding street and a dark house.
    • Extract focus points:
    • Use of setting to create mystery: fog, labyrinthine streets, the “monster tentacles” of the city; the dark terrace house as a locus of danger.
    • Task: Explore how Conan Doyle creates a sense of mystery in this extract and in the novel as a whole.
    • Whole-text perspective: detective fiction conventions, the interplay of science, observation, and deduction; the moral universe of Holmes and Watson; the city as a site of crime and mystery.

  • General study strategies and cross-cutting themes (Section B)

    • How to compare extracts with the wider novel/plays: character development, themes, and moral questions; how context shapes interpretations (Victorian/Georgian contexts; attitudes to gender, class, empire, science).
    • AO4 skills: aim for varied vocabulary, precise imagery, and structured argument; justify interpretations with textual evidence; discuss effects on reader and significance within the text.
    • Form and structure: analysis of dialogue, soliloquy, imagery, metaphor, and the dramatic or narrative function of chosen extracts.

  • Quick reference to marks and assessment (for all Section B questions)

    • Each Section B question is worth 3030 marks.
    • AO4 skills are assessed as part of Section A and Section B; this includes evaluation of language, structure, and effects, as well as critical thinking about themes and context.

  • Key cross-text connections and exam strategy

    • Across Shakespeare and the 19th-century novels, note how authors use power, gender, social status, and moral choices to drive plot and develop themes.
    • Remember to anchor your analysis in the specific extract while also making connections to the whole text.
    • In Section A, you should rely on close textual reading of the given extract and then extend to the full play/character. In Section B, you should integrate the extract with the novel as a whole, drawing on broader narrative and thematic arcs.

  • Quick glossary of terms you will use in your notes

    • Power, authority, agency, gender roles, ambition, mercy vs vengeance, appearance vs reality, social class, outsider, alienation, moral responsibility, justice, manipulation, rhetoric, imagery, symbolism, motif, tone, mood.

  • Notation and formatting conventions to follow in your own answers

    • Use textual quotation to support interpretations.
    • Explain how language (word choice, imagery, syntax) creates effects and supports interpretation.
    • Make explicit the link between extract and broader themes/plot in the text.
    • Consider context (historical, social, authorial) when relevant.

  • Quick reference to quotes to remember (for quick recall in exams)

    • Lady Macbeth: “unsex me here,” “come, you spirits,” “Come, thick night” (Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5).
    • Capulet: “Let two more summers wither in their pride” (Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 2).
    • Prospero: “The rarer action is / In virtue than in vengeance” (The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1).
    • Shylock: “Hath a dog money? Is it possible / A cur can lend three thousand ducats?” (The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 3).
    • Claudio on Hero: “Behold how like a maid she blushes here!” (Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4, Scene 1).
    • Brutus: “The serpent’s egg” metaphor (Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 1).
    • Hyde: Hyde as “troglodytic” and “hard to name” (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Chapter 2).
    • Scrooge: outsider to society; “nuts” to Scrooge (A Christmas Carol, Chapter 1).
    • Pip and Estella: Pip’s humiliation; social inequality (Great Expectations, Chapter 8).
    • Jane Eyre: “it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; equal – as we are” (Jane Eyre, Chapter 23).
    • Frankenstein Monster: longing to be loved (Chapter 15).
    • Pride and Prejudice: Darcy’s pride vs Bingley’s sociable manners (Chapter 3).
    • The Sign of Four: city as mystery venue; Holmes’s observational method (Chapter 3).

  • Quick note on structure for study prep

    • Use these notes to build longer responses: for each text, prepare a mini-outline covering: (i) extract-focused analysis, (ii) characters/relationships, (iii) central themes, (iv) context, (v) quotes with precise references, (vi) potential AO4 evaluative angles.

  • Ending reminder

    • These notes are designed to replace or closely mirror the Specimen 2014 set of questions. Use them to rehearse answers, think about how to structure arguments, and practice quoting to illustrate points about power, gender, ambition, love, justice, and mystery across the Shakespeare plays and the 19th-century novels.