How should I approach the first question on AQA’s Paper 1?

This question can be a demanding one as it requires both close reading and broader textual analysis, so it is key that you feel adequately prepared. To start with the most obvious it is important to have read the play in full, preferably an edition with good notes, such as an Arden or a New Cambridge edition. Watching adaptations can also be useful, but please be aware of the fact that they will probably not adapt the whole text and that they may make substantial changes. You will likely spend an hour on this question, so you can decide the amount of time you need to spend reading, annotating, and planning beforehand - maybe 15 or 20 minutes - which will leave you plenty of time to examine the extract and refer back to your own knowledge. It is probably best that you do not focus too much on the introduction or conclusion, as they are unlikely to gain you many marks, and they should be a few sentences at the most. Make sure that you engage directly with the question and the viewpoint that you are given as a prompt, and if in doubt you can use the language of the question itself to demonstrate your focus. While writing and planning it is a good idea to periodically refer back to the question.You will have a lot of potential material for your essay in the extract given to you and your knowledge of the play as a whole, so it is important that you remember to use both and in fairly equal amounts. Analysis of your extract provides an opportunity for detailed textual analysis, so make sure to annotate thoroughly - to reach the higher marks it is important that you analyse not only word choice, but grammatical features and poetic/dramatic techniques. Also, try to recall the timing of this extract - what happens before and after this scene, and when does it occur in the play?If you are unsure how to structure your answer, try focusing the first paragraphs on close reading the extract in light of the question, and then find links in the text or its themes that allow you to discuss other scenes in the play (for example, compare Othello’s praise of Desdemona to his insults, or compare Desdemona's more noble ideal of love to that of Emilia, who describes women as ‘just the food’ for uncaring men). Throughout this you can include any contextual information you have learned, dramatic or historical, as well as information about ideas of genre or Shakespeare’s use of sources in order to further enrich your answer. When you consider aspects of the text it can be helpful to remember they are the result of active choices being made by a playwright, as this can help you consider what effect they have/might have been intended to have. It can also be valuable to consider multiple interpretations, but you are not obligated to include a counter-argument if you are not confident in it.