Responding to the question
Making a mini plan
It can be useful to make a mini plan to help structure a response to the question, as it can keep the response focused. There is no correct way to do this and it will very much depend on the question being asked.
A typical question might be:
Analyse and evaluate how movement skills were used in two key scenes to communicate meaning to the audience.
In your answer refer to:
- the acting style
- how movement skills were used to create character and communicate meaning
- your response to the performance as an audience member
[15 marks]
Reproduced with the permission of WJEC CBAC Ltd.
The bullet points within the question provide a structure to follow but before writing a response, a mini plan can help to keep the answer focused. It should include specific examples of how meaning is communicated on stage.
Here is an example plan:
| Key scene | Acting style | How movement skills were used to create character and communicate meaning | My response to the performance as an audience member |
| Example 1 | Exaggerated for comedic effect | The actor playing the old woman adopted an over the top physicality; she was hunched over and moved very slowly. | It was humorous and a highlight of the production, and it also contrasted the more serious moments later in the play. |
| Example 2 | Naturalistic | The actor playing the stern army general had a tense, upright posture. He had a stern facial expression and used strong gestures. | It was intimidating and made me feel tense about what was about to happen next. |
| Key scene | Example 1 |
|---|---|
| Acting style | Exaggerated for comedic effect |
| How movement skills were used to create character and communicate meaning | The actor playing the old woman adopted an over the top physicality; she was hunched over and moved very slowly. |
| My response to the performance as an audience member | It was humorous and a highlight of the production, and it also contrasted the more serious moments later in the play. |
| Key scene | Example 2 |
|---|---|
| Acting style | Naturalistic |
| How movement skills were used to create character and communicate meaning | The actor playing the stern army general had a tense, upright posture. He had a stern facial expression and used strong gestures. |
| My response to the performance as an audience member | It was intimidating and made me feel tense about what was about to happen next. |
Answering the question
Don’t waste time writing a detailed description of the plotThe sequence of events in a narrative; a story., as the question won’t ask about the story. The response should instead be focused on analysing and evaluating the production using accurate drama terminology.
WJEC bears no responsibility for the example answers to questions, or commentaries taken from its past question papers that are contained in this publication.
