macbeth essay qcaa

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Sample student essay: Macbeth and the nature of evil

MACBETH SHOWS THAT NO ONE IS IMPERVIOUS TO THE EFFECTS OF EVIL

In  Macbeth Shakespeare focuses on the evil consequences of one man’s thrust for power. Through their prophecies, the witches plant an evil seed in Macbeth’s mind which has numerous repercussions, not only for Macbeth but for the King, his family and the people of Scotland.  Shakespeare shows that once his ambition has been inflamed, no one is immune from the consequences. Whilst both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth sacrifice their honour and pay a heavy price, many others are also killed to satisfy their thirst for power.

From the opening scene, it becomes clear that the witches are determine to use their supernatural powers to plant the seeds of evil and to undermine Macbeth’s honour. They create moral havoc by targeting his ambition. If the witches state that “fair is foul and foul is fair”, Macbeth soon finds that the prophecies “cannot be ill cannot be good”.  When the witches plant the seed that Macbeth is likely to become King, Macbeth is captivated by their prophecies. “I stood rapt in the wonder of it”. It is his ambition that promotes evil thoughts that undermine his sanity and corrupt him. As Shakespeare shows, Macbeth’s ambition creates “present fears” that are linked with “deep and dark desires” and that encourage him to put aside his moral compunctions.  After he commits the murders, he again seeks out the witches who give him a false sense of confidence. They predict that he will be safe from harm and Macbeth continues on his killing spree.

Lady Macbeth continues the corruption begun by the witches which has an immediate effect on Macbeth and a long-term corrosive effect on herself.  Shakespeare depicts the transformative power of evil as Lady Macbeth becomes “top – full of Direst Cruelty” in order to encourage Macbeth to murder King Duncan. She manipulates him, criticises his manhood and suggests that he is cowardly. She states that she would have plucked a baby from her breast and “dash’d the brains out” had she so broken a promise as Macbeth seems to be doing. Whilst she intimidates Macbeth and convinces him that it is cowardly to thwart one’s desires, she, ironically, pays the heaviest price. Her belief that a “little water clears us of this deed” returns to haunt her as she becomes increasingly obsessed with the evil she has unleashed. She is unable to remove neither the stain nor the deaths. She is also dismayed at the tyrant that continues unabated.

Owing to both the influence of the witches and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth succumbs to evil and pays a heavy price. Foolishly, he sets aside his scepticism and renounces his honour as he contemplates the ‘deep and dark desires”. His conscience alerts him to the evil nature of murder; he is fully aware of the “even – handed justice” or “judgement” which instructs people about good and evil. He also knows that “Bloody instructions return to plague the inventor”.  Most importantly, Macbeth knows that he should not commit evil deeds, because his conscience will torment him and undermine his honour. Despite all this, Macbeth wields the dagger and King Duncan becomes his first victim. He suffers the shocking consequences of Macbeth’s “overleaping” ambition that causes a  “heat-oppressed brain” to turn towards evil.

Macbeth continues to pay a heavy price and does not enjoy his royal status. Owing to his conscience, Macbeth becomes paranoid and guilt gives way to hallucinations and “strange self-abuse”. Macbeth becomes suspicious of everyone. He tries to harden himself to the pangs of his conscience. He wants to fight fear and become fearless by killing more people. He states, “t’is the initiate Fear that wants hard Use”. Macbeth has become a cruel tyrant and transforms Scotland into a country “almost afraid to know itself”. He sets spies on each of his thanes and even distrusts the witches for he is determined to make ‘assurance double sure’ by slaughtering Macduff’s entire family. This propels him  to the final showdown.

So the evil effects spread throughout Scotland, and even Banquo suffers from the cruel effects of evil. Banquo is honourable and rightly dismisses the witches even though they predict that his sons will be king. Because of this secret knowledge, Banquo becomes Macbeth’s second victim. Macbeth feels that “under him my genius is rebuked”. He is killed while his son Fleance escapes.

Tragically, many lives are lost because of one couple’s ambition. They both sacrifice their honour and do not enjoy their status because they become paranoid about the consequences. Once Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to commit murder, there is no stopping him. To soften his conscience, he continues killing and changes the whole atmosphere of Scotland. No one escapes. The citizens are so sick of the tyrant that they are relieved by his death.  Shakespeare shows that one man’s evil thirst for power does not pay and many other suffer a heavy price.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth — Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth

Theme of Guilt in Macbeth

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QCE English Exam - How to handle the unseen prompts

ATAR Notes - QCE

Wednesday 8th, April 2020

English typically isn’t students’ favourite subject. And when you find out you have to write a 1000-word essay in two hours on an unseen prompt on the exam, you’re probably even less inclined to enjoy studying to prepare for such a daunting task. But what if I told you there was an easy way to approach this exam? In fact, this might even be the easiest assessment task you complete all year! Yes, you’ll need to do a bit of work to prepare yourself for the challenge of unseen material. But I promise that if you’re able to follow this guide, you’ll be able to walk in and out of that exam room with confidence!

1. First impressions

Let’s start with the basics: what should you expect when you open up that exam paper?

If you haven’t already gone to the QCAA website to look at the sample exams, DO THAT NOW! The English practice paper can be found here , and you can also look at a sample response booklet here .

It’s a two hour exam, meaning you have two hours of writing time and an additional 15 minutes of planning time. There’s only one section, and one task: write an analytical essay in response to one of the prompts. Your essay will receive a mark out of 55, and the exam will constitute 25% of your overall subject score for English.

It will be a relatively short booklet, and there isn’t much you’ll need to read. You just need to find your prescribed text from the eight available options (which will be listed alphabetically) and then read the two possible prompts you’re given to write on.

The QCAA External assessment texts are:

→  Burial Rites  by Hannah Kent →  Cat’s Eye  by Margaret Atwood →  Hamlet  by William Shakespeare →  Jane Eyre  by Charlotte Brontë →  Macbeth  by William Shakespeare →  Nineteen Eighty-Four  by George Orwell →  The White Earth  by Andrew McGahan →  We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves  by Karen Joy Fowler

Your teacher should have already assigned one or more of these texts for you to study this year. If possible, you should pick your exam text early so that you can start preparing now.

2. Choosing questions

From here, you have an important (and hopefully easy) choice to make. Which of the two essay topics will give you the best opportunity to write a great essay? Maybe one of them is very similar to a practice piece you’ve written, or perhaps one focuses on a character that you know you’ve memorised a tonne of evidence about.

Depending on how well you’ve prepared (and how lucky you get!) there are three possible scenarios here:

You read both prompts and can easily select your preferred option. Job done!

You read both prompts and believe both would be good options for you. This is a good problem to have, as it means you’re likely incredibly well-prepared for the exam overall. But the worst thing you can do now is be indecisive, so take a few minutes to think through the ideas you would discuss for each prompt, and choose whichever seems the most interesting or accessible. Failing that, if you can’t decide within two or three minutes, just flip a coin! (Though make sure it’s an imaginary one – don’t bring coins into your exam room or the invigilator might think you’re trying to bribe them!)

You read both prompts and… uh oh… neither are what you were hoping for. Maybe it’s a truly worst-case scenario and they’re using words you don’t know, or referring to themes you’ve never considered before. But keep calm: there’s an easy way to get through this. You have 15 minutes to make connections between this essay topic and your knowledge of the text, but if the topic seems too difficult to use as a starting point, begin with your own knowledge instead. Jot down a quick list of thematic concerns and how they link to key characters. Think about potential synonyms or related words for these themes. (This is actually a great exercise to do NOW before you get into the exam room, as it will expand your understanding of the text!) For example, let’s say you’re studying Macbeth, but the only themes you’ve focused on were power, revenge, and witchcraft.

Suddenly, a prompt about ‘influence’ or ‘self-determination’ won’t seem so intimidating, as you’ll be able to make bridges between the core of the prompt and the parts of the text most familiar to you.

Once you’ve made your selection, stick with it! Don’t do what a friend of mine (Jack) did in Year 12 and start writing one essay only to get 20 minutes in and think “I bet I could write a way better essay on the other prompt” and change your mind. He crossed out two whole paragraphs and then got a few lines into his ‘new’ essay before realising he actually liked the first prompt better, then wasted precious time trying to un-cross-out his original work. Don’t be like Jack. Be smart! Trust your gut instinct, then dedicate the remaining planning time to scaffolding a phenomenal essay, and don’t look back!

3. Planning time

The examiners have given you 15 minutes to plan. How nice of them! But what do they expect you to actually do with this time? Should you map out all of your arguments and sub-arguments? Should you make a list of all the evidence you intend to use so you don’t forget it? Should you make a crazy red-yarn-conspiracy-board mind-map?

Well, that’s entirely up to you. The teachers marking your essay won’t look at your plan – it is for your eyes only. As such, it should be completely tailored to your needs. So ask yourself, what do you need before you can confidently start writing your amazing essay? If you need a strong thesis statement and an interpretation of the text you can build your ideas around, start there, and spend a few minutes crafting that. If you want to split a page into three or four sections and determine what you will talk about in each body paragraph, do that.

If you need to do LOTS of planning in order to feel prepared, then go for it. Just be prepared to scribble fast to get everything down on your planning paper within 15 minutes, as you’d ideally want to dedicate the whole 2 hours of writing time to the essay itself. And if you don’t need to plan as much, don’t feel obliged to do so. Maybe just list a few memory triggers and key ideas, or brainstorm other arguments in case you think of interesting alternative angles.

But don’t then feel that you have to stick to this plan no matter what. If, while writing, you think of an awesome idea that didn’t come to you an hour ago when you were making your initial plan, work it in! These ideas are often the strongest as they will have come about via your exploration of the text and the essay topic – that’s exactly what the assessors want to see!

The plan might be something you diligently reflect on every few minutes while writing, or it might just be a cathartic experience for the first few minutes before you focus on writing the essay. Either way, planning time is an opportunity – use it to your advantage.

4. Planning options and strategies

If you’ve never written an essay in timed conditions before and don’t know how to plan, don’t worry! (I didn’t work on this until a few weeks before my exam, so trust me when I say you have HEAPS of time to sort this out!)

Below is a list of possible exercises and things to focus on when planning. I’d recommend trying at least a few of these throughout the year; incorporate different strategies until you find a combined plan of attack that best suits your strengths. These are roughly in order from the quickest and most straightforward to the hardest and most complex, but you should mix-and-match as you see fit.

→ Underline the key words in the prompt and make a list of related concepts. This expands the scope of discussion and may let you talk about unique ideas other students won’t have considered.

→ Paraphrase the prompt. Re-write the topic in your own words, as this ensures you fully understand its core message, and may make the question easier to approach.

→ Turn the prompt into a thesis statement you can argue. This is one of the most important things you can do, as it will aid you in constructing an interpretation that will be the backbone of your essay. For instance:

→ Construct a series of ‘views and values’ statements based on the prompt. These are sentences that focus on the author’s intention – what are their views, and what do they value, judging from the set text? A good template for these statements is as follows:

→ Write some ‘Although… ultimately…’ statements. These allow you to create more complex interpretations by first considering an alternate point of view and then solidifying your own. For example, ‘Although Burial Rites presents readers with a distressing portrait of suffering and oppression in 19 th century Iceland, ultimately the novel is an optimistic work about the transcendent power of stories and voices.’ The way this sentence is constructed shows the assessor that we can acknowledge the other side of the argument, but that we still firmly believe in our ‘ultimate’ opinion.

→ List one sub-argument for each body paragraph to support your contention. Importantly, these arguments should be based on ideas, not characters! Don’t start with a great argument like ‘the novel reveals the enduring legacy of family bonds’ and then undermine that by having body paragraphs like:

Paragraph 1: the legacy of Rosemary’s family bonds Paragraph 2: the legacy of Rosemary’s father and mother’s family bonds Paragraph 3: the legacy of Fern’s family bonds

These aren’t arguments – they’re pieces of evidence that you SHOULD use in your paragraphs, but that you SHOULD NOT use in lieu of strong supporting arguments. Instead, consider something like:

Paragraph 1: family bonds stem from mutual values within families. Paragraph 2: the legacy of family bonds can have detrimental effects on vulnerable family members. Paragraph 3: it takes a great deal of courage and time to overcome the vestiges of family bonds and memories.

5. Writing time

Finally, it’s time to write your essay. There are 120 minutes on the clock. How on earth do you convey everything you know about the text in the time limit, and in 1000 words? Easy – you don’t.

The assessors don’t want to know everything you know. They want you to respond to the prompt. If a Biology exam question asked you to define chloroplasts, you wouldn’t get any marks for rambling about fossils and evolution or biochemical pathways. When the exam asks a question, you’re expected to answer it, and English is no different. Your job is to construct an argument in response to the prompt, and then back that up with evidence from your text. This may be more open-ended than a typical 3-mark Biology question, but the underlying principle is the same.

So don’t get caught up in circles trying to write ALL of your ideas down. Be selective! Only choose the best points, and only use them when it is sensible to do so. Otherwise, your essay might feel ‘top-heavy’ with an avalanche of impressive ideas at the start that lighter away by the second paragraph. It’s important to pace yourself, and think about how and why you are presenting information to the assessor as you go. (If like me you’re inclined to forget ideas if you don’t write them down instantly, just make a note on your planning pages or in the margins so you can revisit ideas later when they are relevant.)

There are two key questions you can use to help you do this.

How do I know? This is what you should ask yourself after you’ve just made an interpretive judgement about something in the text. For instance, if you’ve just said Hamlet descends into madness, how do you know? Asking this question forces you to substantiate your reading and provide evidence in the form of quotes and textual features. Try to ask this early on in your body paragraphs when you need to dive into examples.

So what? This is what you ask when you’ve offered some evidence or said something about a character. For instance, Winston claims that he “love[s] Big Brother.” So what? What does this prove? What are the implications? This question forces you to zoom out and explain the bigger picture. Why have you told us this? How does this support your argument? And what does this tell us about the author’s views and values?

If you’re ever stuck or suffering from writer’s block, bouncing between these two questions is an easy way to overcome this and ensure you make the most of your writing time.

This might seem like a lot of work, but once you practise this process in untimed conditions, doing this in the exam itself will be much easier, and will hopefully help you write faster, and come up with more sophisticated ideas for your final essay!

If you have any other concerns about English or the exam, you can ask questions or request article topics in the comments below.

Good luck, and happy studying!

Q: What is the format of the QCE English exam?

The QCE English exam is a two-hour assessment comprising a single section where you are required to write an analytical essay in response to one of the prompts provided. There's an additional 15 minutes allocated for planning. The essay is graded out of 55 and constitutes 25% of the overall subject score for English.

Q: How should I choose between the provided essay prompts?

Think to yourself: which topic will allow you to write the best essay? Which one do know the most about? Are any topics similar to a practise essay you’ve written? If you find both prompts appealing, take a few minutes to consider the ideas you'd discuss for each and choose the one that seems most interesting to you. If you're still undecided, consider flipping a metaphorical coin to make a decision quickly and avoid wasting time.

Q: What if none of the essay prompts seem suitable for me?

If you encounter this situation, don't panic. Use the 15 minutes allocated for planning to make connections between the essay topic and your knowledge of the text. If the prompt still seems daunting, start with your own knowledge of the text instead. Make a list of thematic concerns and how they relate to key characters and consider potential synonyms or related words for these themes to kickstart your essay.

Q: How should I utilize the 15 minutes of planning time effectively?

The planning time is for your benefit, so tailor it to your needs. If you need a strong thesis statement and an interpretation of the text, start there. Alternatively, split the page into sections and determine what you'll discuss in each body paragraph. Remember, the plan is for your eyes only, so use whatever method helps you feel prepared and confident to begin writing your essay.

Q: What strategies can I employ during the planning stage?

There are various strategies you can utilize during the planning stage, ranging from underlining key words, paraphrasing the prompt, and constructing 'views and values' statements based on the text. It's recommended to experiment with different strategies throughout the year to find what works best for you. Remember, the goal is to develop a plan of attack that plays to your strengths and aids in constructing a coherent and compelling essay.

Q: How do I manage my time effectively during the writing phase of the exam?

It's important to remember that the goal isn't to include everything you know about the text in your essay. Focus on constructing a strong argument in response to the prompt and back it up with relevant evidence from the text. Pace yourself and be selective with the points you include. Continuously ask yourself "How do I know?" and "So what?" to ensure you're substantiating your arguments and explaining their significance effectively.

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The Complete Guide to Writing an Analytical Essay for QCAA English

Aiming for high marks on your QCAA English analytical essay, but aren’t confident with how to structure it?

To be able to demonstrate your full understanding of the text, it is necessary that you understand how to organise and write out your ideas to gain as many marks as possible. This can be challenging, so we’ll take you through everything you need to know to write a killer essay!

Let’s get started!

General Considerations for the QCAA English Analytical Essay Planning Your Analytical Essay Introduction Body Paragraph Structure Conclusion

General Considerations for the QCAA English Analytical Essay

There are a few unwritten rules that must be followed to make sure you produce a top notch essay!

Firstly, never write in first person (I or me), but always in third person (the reader, the writer) as this is meant to be a formal piece of writing.

The second most important thing here is to always write in the present tense, rather than in the past tense. The writer uses or does something, rather than used or did. Even if the play was written in the past, you should still make the essay in the present tense, because it is in the NOW that you’re analysing it. 

Some exam advice here: the conditions stipulate that your essay must be 800 to 1000 words. Add another evidence body paragraph if you see you’re running short.

Read also: how to ace Unit 4 of QCAA English !

Planning Your Analytical Essay

To best succeed, we’ll start from the planning stage, something you should do well before writing your essay.

Make sure that you scribble down the point of each of your three paragraphs briefly, including 1-2 example quotes . Most importantly, be sure to write underneath the type of literary technique that said quotes use.

This will mean you’ll have identified most of the elements that make up your paragraph since the planning stage. By the time you’ll get to the body paragraph, all you’ll have to do is expand on them. 

Discover our ‘thesis + 3’ technique for preparing essays!

Your essay essentially follows this basic structure:

We’ll break down each of these sections, so you know exactly what to include in your QCAA English essay!

Wondering how you’re tracking with all of your English IAs? Check out our QCE Cohort Comparison tool to find out!

Introduction

There are many ways you can write a sound introduction, but to be safe, use this structure if you’re finding it difficult. This will make sure you hit all the marking criteria!

#1: Context Statement

Here you should include the main message of the work, as well as its date, writer, and historical context. Think of it as your ‘History’ paragraph.

If certain aspects of the historical context are extremely significant for the exploration of your thesis statement, its great to mention them here in the first 3-4 lines. You will be prepping your readers for your thesis statement.

#2: Thesis Statement

State your thesis as clearly as possible. Here you can be succinct or elaborate, but make sure not to go over 3 sentences. It’s crucial that you use the wording of your question, as it will make it obvious that you’re directly answering it. 

#3: Preview Statement

This statement sets the order in which you’ll be talking about your ideas . State how the writer achieves what they achieve by including the name of the literary techniques of each paragraph in the order you are going to talk about them in your body paragraphs. If you nail this sentence, your structure will benefit from it.

#4: Segue Sentence

As the name suggests, this sentence will segue into your first paragraph . How you do this is entirely up to you, as it will depend on your first paragraph.

We’re written a tonne of high quality practice questions to help you prepare for the QCE English External exam !

Body Paragraph Structure for Your Analytical Essay

#1: paragraph thesis.

These first two sentences should do two things: Answer the main question of the exam, and mention how this is achieved, by mentioning the literary technique that is used to achieve the answer to the essay question .

An example would be:

“ Shakespeare masterfully reveals the supernatural characteristics of Macbeth’s setting by his astute use of pathetic fallacy .”

#2: Evidence Statement

This part is reserved for your evidence, meaning you should insert a relevant quote that relates to the technique cited in your point. This will make sure your evidence is coherent with the point you are training to make.

Keep in mind that it is very likely you will have to write two evidence statements or even three per paragraph , unless your first piece of evidence is complex enough to need a whole paragraph to explore. 

#3: Explanation and Intended Effect

Here you can explain the quote in detail. Make sure to showcase as much understanding as possible!

You want to explain the quote in relation to the technique, and what its intended meaning or effect is .

Basically, try and answer the question: Why did the writer use this?

#4: Effect on the Reader

This is where you get to add your own personal touch and style to your writing , which is marked in the ISMGs. Try and explore the effect that the technique or quote had on you personally, without saying ‘I’ or ‘Me’ — i nstead use ‘The Reader’.

You’ll explore the quote’s actual effect, while still writing the essay in third person. 

#5: Link Sentence

This final sentence will restate your point and possibly make a link to the start of the paragraph . Of course, this depends on the paragraph, so it is up to you in the moment how you do this. 

A paragraph should be at least 200 words long, but not more than 300. Feel free to add a 4th piece of evidence if you don’t make the word count. Repeat this process 3 times.

Check out our other paragraph structure guides below: PETAL paragraph PEEL paragraph TEEL paragraph STEEL paragraph

Analytical Essay Conclusion

Restate your thesis, reiterating that you’ve answered the question. Then, restate in a different fashion your preview statement from your introduction. This will tie your essay off neatly!

Finally, for style points, add a final sentence that stimulates readers to ponder the overall meaning of the work.

“Shakespeare, through his timeless play ‘ Macbeth ’, invites readers to consider the legitimacy of one’s own ambition, and how far he should go to satisfy it.” 

Overall, your essay for QCAA English should be addressing all of the criteria listed below. Be sure to read over your work once you’ve finished writing your essay to ensure that your grammar is correct, you’ve used proper punctuation throughout and there aren’t any spelling errors.

On the hunt for other QCAA English resources?

Check out our guides to completing QCAA English assessments below:

• How to Create a Written Response for a Public Audience for QCAA English
• Your Essential Guide to Writing an Imaginative Written Response for QCAA English
• How to Craft a Persuasive Spoken Response for QCAA English and Ace Your Assessment!
• How to Ace Your External Assessment for QCAA General English
• The Ultimate Guide to QCAA English Unit 3: Textual Connections
• The Ultimate Guide to QCAA English Unit 4: Close Study of Literary Texts

Are you looking for some extra support writing analytical essays for QCAA English?

We have an incredible team of QLD English tutors and mentors!

We can help you master the QCAA English syllabus and ace your upcoming English assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or online, especially if you are looking for an English tutor in Brisbane !

We’ve opened our doors to regional communities, to give students across the state opportunities for learning – check out our Townsville tutoring today!

We’ve supported over  8,000 students over the last 11 years , and on average our students score mark improvements of over 20%!

Looking for a tutor on the Gold Coast? Check out our local expert Gold Coast tutors !

To find out more and get started with an inspirational QLD tutor and mentor, get in touch today  or give us a ring on  1300 267 888!

Vittorio Manessi  is an Art of Smart tutor based in Queensland studying environmental science. He was one of the first Year 12 students to study under the new ATAR system in Queensland. He enjoys Maths, Science, English and Ancient History and is keen to share his knowledge of the QCE by making awesome resources.

• Topics: ✏️ English , ✍️ Learn

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Macbeth essay help

Write an 800 – 850 word critical essay that responds to the following question:

The success of Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth , is due to the way it presents thought provoking ideas about human nature.

To what extent does this statement resonate with your understanding of the play?

In your response, you should make detailed reference to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth .

I need some help on how to answer the topic question, like where and how do I start of the essay.

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