How many other parts of the story do you need to talk about when answering the themes question?

One

What happens if you start to talk about a second part of the story?

The examiner stops marking the question and you get no more marks.

The themes question always asks you to show why the theme is significant in another part of the text. What does significant mean?

It means important. You need to explain how the theme is import to the storyline, or how it changes the characters or relationships.

What does CRISP stand for?

Character

Relationships

Ideas

Structure

Plot

Which of these do you need to talk about in your answer?

You will always talk about character, ideas and plot.

You will talk about the relationship if the theme affects a relationship in the episode.

You will talk about structure if the timing of the theme in this episode has an effect on what happens before or after it.

When you answer a themes question about Romeo and Juliet, do you need to talk about the context?

How do you start an answer to the themes question?

You quickly outline which section and theme you are going to talk about.

EXAMPLE

At the end of the play, when Romeo and Juliet both commit suicide, the importance of love is shown.

When you have outlined the section you are talking about, what do you do next?

You start to talk about how the theme is shown through the character/relationship, by talking about something that happens in the episode.

EXAMPLE - When Romeo arrives at the scene, he has just killed Paris out of desperation to see his true love. He is in no mood to act rationally and has already decided that he wants to kill himself and has bought the poison to do so on the way. He is full of grief and talks in a romantic way about the beauty of Juliet, showing his complete love for her.

What do you do once you have talked about the character/relationships?

Next you talk about how this is significant to the plot and/ or how it shows Shakespeare’s ideas.

EXAMPLE - This shows the significance of love, as it shows the sheer depth of love that Romeo had for Juliet. He was prepared to take his own life to be with her for eternity. It is also significant in that it shows that if this love had not been forbidden, the tragedy never would have happened, as Juliet would never have had to take the potion, so the deaths would never have happened.