How to study your prescribed drama text
This note covers general skills -- your actual exam will be based on a specific play chosen for that year, so this is not a substitute for reading your assigned text closely. Read the full play at least twice: once for the overall story, and again noting act/scene divisions, key turning points, and each major character's role. Keep brief notes on each character's motivations and how they change (or don't) across the play.
Plot structure
Most plays follow a recognizable shape: exposition (introducing characters, setting, and the initial situation), rising action (a conflict develops and intensifies), climax (the turning point, where tension peaks), falling action (consequences of the climax unfold), and resolution (the conflict is settled, for better or worse).
Example 1: A play opens by introducing a king and his loyal advisor, then reveals the advisor is secretly plotting against him. Which part of the plot structure does this represent?
This is the exposition combined with the start of rising action -- the opening establishes the characters and setting (exposition), while the revealed secret plot immediately introduces the central conflict that will drive the rising tension through the rest of the play.
Characterization
Playwrights reveal character through what characters say (dialogue), what they do (action), what others say about them, and sometimes direct stage directions describing their manner. Look for contradictions between what a character claims and what they actually do -- these often reveal deeper truths about them.
Answering drama questions in the exam
Common question types include: character analysis ("Discuss X's role in the play"), theme questions ("What does the play say about power/ambition/betrayal?"), and significance questions ("Discuss the importance of a particular scene"). Always support your points with specific references to what happens in the play -- named characters, specific events, and (where you can recall them) actual lines -- rather than vague generalizations.