Evaluate Key Quotations and their Impact in 'The Tempest'

In the exam, you will need to be able to select 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 bank of key quotations from the play so you can draw on these in your exam response.

For higher marks, you will need to be able to analyse the quotations closely and evaluate their impact, as well as commenting on how they reflect key contextual factors.

Try to answer the following questions each time you discuss a quotation:

- what choices of language/structure/dramatic devices is Shakespeare making? e.g. metaphor/alliteration/imagery etc.

- what are the connotations of these?

- what effect does it have 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 the impact of some of the most important quotations from 'The Tempest'.

You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples. These quotations are for reference only.