Exam-style question for The Empress - Edexcel

• For Edexcel, The Empress is assessed on Paper 1: Shakespeare and Post-1914 Literature.

• There will be a choice of two exam questions: one on a theme and one on a character.

Remember

There are marks available for accurate spelling, punctuation, grammar and use of vocabulary.

Leave a few minutes to check your answer for errors at the end of the exam.

It is a good idea to spend a few minutes planning your answer before you start writing. You should identify the key words and plan out some of your main points.

You could plan using bullet points or a mind-map, or any other way that you find useful.

Here is an example of what an exam question might look like:

Hari: "Seeing you again has made me feel like a sailor feels when he has been drifting on an endless swell of sea and then he spots the land.”

Explore how Hari changes in The Empress.

Top tip

Each question will contain a quotation from the play.

You do not have to use the quotation in your answer but it can be a useful starting point.

Before you start writing your answer, make sure you understand the question properly.

• Think carefully about the quotations provided. How do they link to the question? What do they reveal about the given character or theme and Gupta’s intentions?

• Identify the key words in the question.

• Consider how you can include relevant contextual factors in your answer.

Your exam response will be marked using Assessment Objectives (AOs).

The ones for this question are below.

Example question

Dadabhai: "Education is the only path to freedom."

Explore the importance of learning in The Empress.

In your introduction, you could think about the overall impact of the theme in the play and the writer’s message. For example:

In The Empress, Gupta presents education as a necessary force. It is shown to be something which all characters in the social hierarchy of Victorian society can benefit from engaging with.

Next you could think about three characters that relate to the theme and how they are presented throughout the play.

• Try to include some evidence (a quotation or key moment) from the play for each idea.
• For each example you should also consider what Gupta is trying to teach the audience or reveal about the Victorian era.

Example question

Hari: "Seeing you again has made me feel like a sailor feels when he has been drifting on an endless swell of sea and then he spots the land."

Explore how Hari changes in The Empress.

In your introduction, you need to think about the purpose of the character and how they develop as the play progresses. For example:

In The Empress, Hari grows from an immature, uneducated and abused lascar to a caring and successful businessman. Gupta uses his character to highlight the importance of education and to criticise the poor treatment of lascars working for the British Empire.

Next you need to think of three key moments for the character.

• Try to include some evidence (a quotation or specific reference) from the play for each key moment or idea.
• For each example, you should also consider what Gupta is trying to teach the audience or reveal about the Victorian era.

This multiple-choice quiz outlines three key moments for Hari in the play. Read the idea then choose the most appropriate evidence to support it.

Read and compare these two sample answers to the question:

Hari: "Seeing you again has made me feel like a sailor feels when he has been drifting on an endless swell of sea and then he spots the land."

Explore how Hari changes in The Empress.

Answers could include:

At the start of the play, Hari works as a lascar on a ship and is mistreated by his employer. The Serang "spits on the floor where Hari is scrubbing" and calls Hari a "lazy good-for-nothing scoundrel". This shows the lack of respect the Serang has for Hari as an employee and makes Hari feel scared and inferior. An audience would be shocked and feel sympathy for Hari.

Later in the play, Hari gains confidence and fights for the rights of the lascars. He says "brothers, we shouldn’t put up with these conditions" and persuades them to write a list of demands for the Captain of the ship. This shows the audience how much Hari has developed as a character and would make them feel proud of his resilience.

Answers could include:

From the opening scene of the play, Gupta highlights the mistreatment of lascars through the character of Hari. The play opens with lascars scrubbing and they are described as "undernourished", "dirty" and "barefooted" to emphasise the gruelling nature of their work to the audience. Hari’s superior, the Serang, uses derogatory language towards him, calling him a "good-for-nothing scoundrel" and threatening to send his "skinny little body down to hell" in the boiler room. The treatment faced by Hari in the play would have been a reality for many lascars employed during the height of the British Empire who were paid less than their European counterparts and were often victims of racial prejudice.

In Act Two, Gupta portrays Hari’s development as he gains confidence and fights for the rights of the lascars. While talking to his fellow sailors, he says "brothers, we shouldn’t put up with these conditions" and persuades them to write a list of demands for the Captain. The last demand states that the lascars should be "respected as members of the human race". The simple nature of this demand would appal a modern audience and exposes outdated Victorian attitudes shared by some of the play’s characters. The fact that Hari advocates for the downtrodden lascars shows the audience how much he has changed as a character and would make them feel proud of his resilience. Through Hari’s character, Gupta aims to educate a modern audience about the important role these sailors played in the Empire and to expose the unjust treatment they faced.