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Evaluate Key Quotes and their Impact in 'The Merchant of Venice'
In the exam, you will need to be able to support your ideas with key quotations from an extract and comment on what these show us about a character or a theme.
You will also need to be able to choose quotations from the wider play, to support your ideas about themes or characters.
Try to learn a number of key quotations for each character and theme so you can draw on these in the exam.
For higher marks, you will need to be able to analyse the quotations closely. Try focusing on particular words in the quotation.
Try to answer the following questions each time you discuss a particular word:
- what choices of language/structure/dramatic devices is Shakespeare making e.g. metaphor/alliteration/imagery etc.
- what are the connotations of the particular word?
- what effect it has on the audience?
- how does it reflect something about the context of the time in which Shakespeare was writing?
This activity will help you to evaluate some of the most important quotations and their impact from 'The Merchant of Venice'.
You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples. These quotations are for reference only.
