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Edexcel GCSE English Literature

GCSE · EdexcelEnglish Literature53 notes in 28 folders, 364 KB

Notes for Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0), in folders for each set text: the six Shakespeare plays and the twelve post-1914 British plays and novels, then the seven 19th-century novels, the four poetry anthology collections and a note of literary terms. Each text has its plot, characters, themes, context and the writer's methods, with key moments described. Delete the texts your class does not study once the notes are yours.

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What is inside

  • Shakespeare
    • Macbeth
      • Macbeth: plot and key moments9 KB
      • Macbeth: characters, themes, context and language7 KB
    • The Tempest
      • The Tempest: plot and key moments7 KB
      • The Tempest: characters, themes, context and language7 KB
    • Romeo and Juliet
      • Romeo and Juliet: plot and key moments6 KB
      • Romeo and Juliet: characters, themes, context and language6 KB
    • Much Ado About Nothing
      • Much Ado About Nothing: plot and key moments5 KB
      • Much Ado About Nothing: characters, themes, context and language6 KB
    • Twelfth Night
      • Twelfth Night: plot and key moments5 KB
      • Twelfth Night: characters, themes, context and language6 KB
    • The Merchant of Venice
      • The Merchant of Venice: plot and key moments5 KB
      • The Merchant of Venice: characters, themes, context and language6 KB
  • Post-1914 literature
    • An Inspector Calls
      • An Inspector Calls (J B Priestley)10 KB
    • Hobson's Choice
      • Hobson's Choice (Harold Brighouse)8 KB
    • Blood Brothers
      • Blood Brothers (Willy Russell)8 KB
    • Journey's End
      • Journey's End (R C Sherriff)8 KB
    • Animal Farm
      • Animal Farm (George Orwell)9 KB
    • Lord of the Flies
      • Lord of the Flies (William Golding)8 KB
    • Anita and Me
      • Anita and Me (Meera Syal)7 KB
    • The Woman in Black
      • The Woman in Black (Susan Hill)7 KB
    • The Empress
      • The Empress (Tanika Gupta)6 KB
    • Refugee Boy
      • Refugee Boy (Benjamin Zephaniah, adapted for the stage by Lemn Sissay)6 KB
    • Coram Boy
      • Coram Boy (Jamila Gavin)7 KB
    • Boys Don't Cry
      • Boys Don't Cry (Malorie Blackman)5 KB
  • The 19th-century novel
    • Jane Eyre10 KB
    • Great Expectations8 KB
    • Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde7 KB
    • A Christmas Carol8 KB
    • Pride and Prejudice8 KB
    • Silas Marner8 KB
    • Frankenstein8 KB
  • Poetry since 1789
    • Relationships
      • Relationships: Keats, Baillie, Byron and Wordsworth7 KB
      • Relationships: Hardy, Browning, Barrett Browning and Cope8 KB
      • Relationships: Duffy, Jennings, Cooper Clarke and Hadfield7 KB
      • Relationships: Scannell, Armitage and de Kok4 KB
    • Conflict
      • Conflict: Blake, Byron and Wordsworth7 KB
      • Conflict: Hardy, Rossetti, Owen and Tennyson8 KB
      • Conflict: Agard, Clarke, Satyamurti and Carson8 KB
      • Conflict: Casey, Weir, Zephaniah and Levertov7 KB
    • Time and Place
      • Time and Place: Keats, Wordsworth, Blake and Dickinson8 KB
      • Time and Place: Hardy, Thomas, Browning and Fanthorpe7 KB
      • Time and Place: Adcock, Alvi, Nichols and Afrika7 KB
      • Time and Place: Hannah, Davidson and Jennings5 KB
    • Belonging
      • Belonging: Wordsworth, Clare, Brontë and Landon7 KB
      • Belonging: Bridges, Hood, Nichols and Blakemore7 KB
      • Belonging: Zephaniah, Kunial, Dharker and Chingonyi6 KB
      • Belonging: Antrobus, Hardi and Rumens5 KB
  • Unseen poetry
    • Reading an unseen poem5 KB
    • Comparing two unseen poems4 KB
  • Terms and techniques
    • Language and imagery6 KB
    • Narrative and structure5 KB
    • Drama5 KB
    • Poetry form, metre and sound6 KB

The first note

Shakespeare / Macbeth / Macbeth: plot and key moments

Macbeth is a tragedy written by Shakespeare around 1606, set in an eleventh-century Scotland that Shakespeare took from Holinshed's Chronicles and reshaped. It follows a successful and loyal soldier who murders his king to take the throne, and who is destroyed by what that act makes of him. ## Act 1: the prophecy and the decision to kill Three witches meet on a heath amid thunder and agree to meet Macbeth. Their first exchange sets the play's habit of reversals: they speak of fair being foul and foul being fair. In the next scene a wounded captain reports to King Duncan that Macbeth and Banquo have defeated rebel forces and an invading Norwegian army, and that Macbeth fought with ferocious courage. Duncan names Macbeth Thane of Cawdor, after the previous Thane of Cawdor is condemned as a traitor. Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches on their way back from battle. The witches hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, which he already is, then as Thane of Cawdor, and then as king to come. They tell Banquo that he will be less than Macbeth and greater, and that his descendants will be kings, though he will not be one. When Ross and Angus arrive and announce that Macbeth is Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth sees part of the prophecy come true, and he begins to think about murder. His thoughts about Duncan are frightening to him, but they will not go away. Banquo warns him that evil agents often tell small truths to lead people into serious harm. Duncan names his son Malcolm as his heir, which…

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