King Lear: Sample exam questions

• A worksheet to help you summarise your critical study of the text, King Lear.

• Follow this link to read a summary of comments from previous examinations

 

1. Module B Task including Outcomes and sample marking criteria

• Student recognizes different ways in which particular texts are valued.         

• Student engages with the details of text in order to respond critically and personally.

• Student analyses and synthesizes information and ideas into sustained and logical argument for a range of purposes,audiences and contexts.

Read Act 5 Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s King Lear and Nahum Tate’s equivalent scene is his revision of Shakespeare’s text.

 Write a speech to be presented in class in which you explain why Shakespeare’s play is still performed before audiences of the twenty first century and Tate’s is no more than a curiosity.

 In your speech, focus on the two scenes referred to but you may need to refer to the plays as a whole as part of your argument.

 Length: 1500 words 

 

Marking criteria – This sheet is to be attached to your Assessment Task 

Marking criteria	H	O	W	L
Text type: speech
Audience: other students
Recognize different ways in which particular texts are valued
Engage with the details of text in order to respond critically and personally
Analyses and synthesize information and ideas into sustained and logical argument for a range of purposes, audiences and contexts
Total: 20 marks

2.  Reread Edmund's speech in Act V Scene ii (lines 55 - 69). This speech can be read as a statement of political expedience or a reflection on the roles of men and women. Which reading do you support? In your answer, make reference to the play as a whole as well as the Scene in which it occurs.

 

3. Imagine you have just seen a production of King Lear in which the characters' genders have been reversed. You are writing a review for a cultural journal in which you examine this approach, focusing on one character for whom the reversal of gender succeeds and one character for whom the reversal does not succeed.

 

4. What are the elements of King Lear that mean it is as much a play for a modern audience as it was for an audience in its own time.

 

5. You are putting a production of King Lear with a small, but committed group of actors who want to take on multiple roles. Which characters could be paired in such a production? You will need to consider which characters are on stage at any given time and which pairings may even add to the meaning of the production.

 

6. Cordelia appears in the first and last acts. Is her role significant?

 

7. You are directing a production of King Lear for a youth audience. Choose a context for your production that will have audience appeal and explain your purpose in making these choices with close reference to the text. Remember, you will need to be true to the integrity of this classic text.

 

8. What value lies in the story of Gloucester and his sons. Is the value of King Lear the same if this element of the story of King Lear is removed in production?