Key Extracts & Close Reading

This lesson focuses on the passages most frequently set in GCSE exams and provides detailed close reading analysis with model PEAL paragraphs.

---

How to Approach an Extract Question

Step 1: READ the extract twice (once for meaning, once for technique)
Step 2: IDENTIFY 3-4 key quotes (short — 2-6 words each)
Step 3: ANALYSE each quote (technique + word-level analysis + effect)
Step 4: CONNECT to themes and context
Step 5: LINK to the wider play (other scenes, character development, structural significance)

---

Extract 1: The Balcony Scene (Act 2, Scene 2)

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. / Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, / Who is already sick and pale with grief / That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she."

Key Language Features