The Merchant of Venice exam question — Edexcel GCSE English Literature 1ET0
Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0
The Merchant of Venice exam question
What you need to know
How the Shakespeare question works: part (a) on a printed extract of about 30 lines and part (b) on how a theme is explored elsewhere in the play, each worth 20 marks, and the assessment objectives each part rewards.
How to plan and structure both parts, using The Merchant of Venice as the worked example, with model answers and commentary.
A question set out as Pearson Edexcel sets it, with its wording and marks.
Paper 1 Section A: one two-part question on the studied play from a choice of six, closed book, about 55 minutes of the 1 hour 45 minute paper; Section A is worth 40 of the paper's 80 marks.
Part (a): 20 marks for AO2, close analysis of the language, form and structure of the printed extract only; context is not rewarded in this part.
Part (b): 20 marks, 15 for AO1 and 5 for AO3, on how the theme is explored elsewhere in the play, with references from outside the extract and context woven into the argument rather than added at the end.
Spelling, punctuation and grammar: on this paper the 8 marks for them (AO4) belong to the Section B essay, so neither part of the Shakespeare question carries them.
Model answers to both parts, with the extract printed: about 400 words each.
The level and mark an examiner would give each model answer and why, with a Grade 5 and a Grade 8 paragraph side by side.
The summer 2025 question: part (a) on Gratiano in Act 1 Scene 1 and part (b) on loyalty elsewhere in the play, and the ideas the mark scheme and examiners' report reward for it.
How to use the time and avoid the commonest mistakes: retelling the extract, adding context to part (a), reusing the extract in part (b), and remembering that close paraphrase earns credit where an exact quotation is forgotten.
