King Lear

    OCR
    A-Level

    King Lear, an aging monarch, rashly decides to abdicate and divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on a public test of their love. His vanity leads him to banish the honest Cordelia and empower the deceitful Goneril and Regan, initiating a catastrophic breakdown of political and familial order. Parallel to Lear's fall, the Earl of Gloucester is manipulated by his illegitimate son Edmund into rejecting his loyal son Edgar, mirroring the King's blindness to truth. As Lear is stripped of his dignity and retinue, he descends into madness upon the heath, accompanied only by his Fool and the disguised Edgar, gaining wisdom only through suffering. The tragedy culminates in a bleak resolution where the restoration of order comes at the cost of the lives of the innocent and the guilty alike, challenging the concept of divine justice.

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    Objectives
    4
    Exam Tips
    4
    Pitfalls
    4
    Key Terms
    4
    Mark Points

    What You Need to Demonstrate

    Key skills and knowledge for this topic

    • AO1: Construct a coherent, well-structured argument that directly answers the proposition in Part (b) using precise literary terminology.
    • AO2: Analyse the dramatic effects of Shakespeare's language, blank verse vs. prose, and staging within the Part (a) extract.
    • AO3: Integrate contextual factors (e.g., Jacobean succession anxiety, the Great Chain of Being) to illuminate the text, avoiding 'bolted-on' history.
    • AO5 (assessed in place of AO4): Evaluate varying critical interpretations or production histories to challenge or support the question's premise.

    Example Examiner Feedback

    Real feedback patterns examiners use when marking

    • "You have identified the metaphor, now analyse how the iambic pentameter reinforces this meaning"
    • "Integrate your critical views (AO5) into the argument rather than listing them at the end"
    • "Your context is accurate but descriptive; explain how it shapes the audience's reception of Lear's madness"
    • "Ensure you explicitly link the findings in the extract (Part a) to the argument in the wider text (Part b)"

    Marking Points

    Key points examiners look for in your answers

    • AO1: Construct a coherent, well-structured argument that directly answers the proposition in Part (b) using precise literary terminology.
    • AO2: Analyse the dramatic effects of Shakespeare's language, blank verse vs. prose, and staging within the Part (a) extract.
    • AO3: Integrate contextual factors (e.g., Jacobean succession anxiety, the Great Chain of Being) to illuminate the text, avoiding 'bolted-on' history.
    • AO5 (assessed in place of AO4): Evaluate varying critical interpretations or production histories to challenge or support the question's premise.

    Examiner Tips

    Expert advice for maximising your marks

    • 💡Allocate 75 minutes total: 35 minutes for the extract (Part a) and 40 minutes for the essay (Part b)
    • 💡In Part (a), focus on the 'mechanics' of the text: meter, caesura, and shared lines
    • 💡Memorise 3-4 versatile critical quotations (AO5) that can be adapted to themes of blindness, authority, or nature
    • 💡Ensure the transition between the extract analysis and the wider essay is fluid, as they are marked holistically

    Common Mistakes

    Pitfalls to avoid in your exam answers

    • Treating Part (a) as a comprehension test rather than a linguistic analysis
    • Failing to address the specific critical view or proposition cited in Part (b)
    • Providing biographical context about Shakespeare rather than literary/historical context
    • Disconnecting the extract analysis from the wider argument of the essay

    Key Terminology

    Essential terms to know

    Likely Command Words

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