How to Write a Grade 9 Macbeth Essay (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)

How to Write a Grade 9 Macbeth Essay

In the WJEC Eduqas English Literature GCSE Shakespeare exam, you will complete two types of essay questions on Macbeth:

• One extract-based question worth 15 marks

• One longer essay question worth 25 marks

You will need to answer both of these questions and you have 60 minutes in which to do so. The exam board recommends that you spend 20 minutes on the extract question, and 40 minutes on the longer essay. 

The requirements for these two questions are quite specific, so read on for guidance and advice on how to get full marks for both types of literature essay.

How do you start a Macbeth essay?

Extract or essay question first?

Start with the extract-based question, as the exam paper has been designed to ease you into the longer essay by giving you a shorter question first (and you have all the evidence you’ll need to include in the extract). 

Know your exam timings

Once you’ve decided which question to begin with, plan your timings. Twenty minutes should be enough time to answer the first question, so check the exam hall clock and write down what time you will start wrapping up your answer. 

Many students spend too long on the extract question and don’t leave enough time to properly answer the essay question, which is worth 10 more marks. Don’t leave any marks behind in the examination room!

Plan, don’t write

Before you begin writing, make a plan. 

Students often want to begin writing immediately as they believe the more they write in an essay, the more marks they will receive. However, this is not the case. Instead, follow the maxim: “plan more, write less”. The more you know in advance what your argument will be, and what evidence you can use to support that argument, the more marks you will likely be awarded.

What should I include in my plan?

Essay writing is all about planning. A good plan includes the following:

A really good plan contains each of these three elements and it means your argument will be what examiners call “coherent”, which means joined-up. Furthermore, once you’ve got all the pieces of your essay together, it makes it much quicker to write!

Example plan

Below is a model plan for this past paper 25-mark essay question:

Guilt is a key theme in Macbeth. Write about how Shakespeare presents guilt at different points in the play. Refer to characters and events from the play in your answer.

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You’ll see that you can write your plan in note form to save time:

How do you write a good introduction for GCSE English Literature?

The key to writing a good introduction to a Macbeth essay is simple: make sure you plan it first. You should know what your argument is before you put pen to exam paper. What is your personal “take” on the question and what evidence proves this? 

Here are some tips to help you to write an effective introduction:

How many paragraphs should a top marks Macbeth essay be?

For the 15-mark extract question, which you should spend only 20 minutes on, try to plan and write two or three paragraphs (at most) aside from your introduction and conclusion. 

For the 25-mark question, you should try to write a longer essay — comprising three or four paragraphs — but it doesn’t need to be any longer than that. The more focused your response, and the more time you spend planning your answer, the better you will do.

Here is a model essay structure for GCSE:

We have created a top grade model answer for the extract question, as well as a Macbeth Grade 9 example answer for the essay question; both are answers to past WJEC Eduqas English literature papers.

Do I need to include a conclusion in my Macbeth essay?

It is always a good idea to include a conclusion to any GCSE Macbeth essay because it signals to the examiner that you have created a coherent response, and that you have sustained your argument all the way through your writing. However, given that the questions are only worth 15 or 25 marks, you don’t want to spend too long crafting a perfect conclusion. 

Aim instead to create a simple, one- or two-line conclusion that sums up the argument you put forward in your thesis statement.

How many quotes do I need to include in my Macbeth essay?

Students are often taught paragraph frames, or scaffolds, like PEE, by their schools or teachers. Although these can be useful when learning how to write essays, it’s really important to note that examiners at GCSE think these scaffolds limit students’ answers and can result in lower-mark responses.

One of the reasons for this is that a PEE structure suggests you should only include one piece of evidence for each point you make. In fact, the more evidence you have – in the form of textual references or direct quotations – the better your argument will be. 

So try to include multiple quotations or references for each topic sentence point you make. Don’t forget that a textual reference doesn’t have to be a direct quotation: you can paraphrase a quotation, or include stage directions, plot points, or comments about characterisation or (for the 25-mark essay question) changes and contrasts across the text. These all count as “evidence” and will make your argument stronger.