Year 10: The Shakespeare Essay

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for: your first piece of coursework

Essay Title: How does Shakespeare Make Act 3, Scene 1 of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Dramatically effective?

1. Introduction: give a brief summary of what the play is about. How does it fit Into the Tragedy genre? What themes does it explore? What is the social and historical context of the play? Why is the play still relevant to a modern audience? Where does the scene fit into the play?

2. How does Shakespeare create mood and atmosphere at the start of the scene? (Think about Mercutio and Benvolio’s conversation. What are they discussing? What kind of image is Mercutio going on and on about?

3. How does this scene contrast with the previous scene? (the wedding scene) How does the mood change?

4. How does this scene link with previous events events in the play? (the ongoing feud, the previous public brawls, the Prince’s warning)

5. How does Shakespeare use Dramatic Irony (when the audience knows something the characters don’t) in this scene?

6. How does Shakespeare Use the features of stagecraft? (entrances and exits, stage directions)?
7. How does Shakespeare’s use of Verse and Prose add to the drama? (the scene starts in prose and ends with Rhyming couplets)

8. How does the build up of events create drama and suspense? (for example the repetition of ‘A Plague on both your houses’)

9. Conclusion: Finally, why is this such an important scene? How would the audience feel at this point? Why could this scene be considered a turning point? What do you think of the play and this scene?

TIPS FOR SUCCESS
1. I have shown I know the order of the play and its characters.
2. I have clearly answered the question in the title of the essay (I have used the sentences starters to help me with this)
3. I have used short quotes to support my ideas (PEE paragraphs)
4. I have talked about the play (the script) and not the film.

Topic sentence starters:
At the start of Act 3 scene 1…
One of the ways Shakespeare makes this scene dramatically effective is by…
Act 3 scene 1 is made dramatically effective in various ways such as…
Shakespeare uses … this makes the scene more dramatic because…
Shakespeare creates effective drama by…

Sentence starters: (use these to develop your ideas in your paragraphs and ensure you’re still focused on the question. )
The drama is built up again when…
The effect of the tension is that…
Shakespeare makes this dramatic by…
This is effective because the audience…
The reason this is dramatic is because…
Shakespeare refers to… the effect of this is…
Shakespeare reveals… this is made dramatic because…
In conclusion, Act 3 scene 1 is very dramatic because…

Good Luck!