How does the author present the character in this extract?

This question is asking you to focus on a particular character within an extract from a novel or a play. As you are looking at just an extract and not the whole text, you need to be specific in your analysis while simultaneously demonstrating your knowledge of the text as a whole. A good way to start your answer is to contextualise the extract you are presented with. Where does it come narratively in the text? Why is this extract important to the author's presentation of the character? Show your examiner that you have a keen knowledge of the wider text. This can transition into a discussion of the key ideas presented by the author within the extract. To achieve a high mark and an effective response, you need to skillfully interweave the different elements of analysis laid out by the mark scheme while avoiding writing an answer that is too formulaic. While the PEE/PEA-type structure is useful in providing a basic way to scaffold your essay, don't solely rely on this formula. The rigidity of such a structure can limit a more personal and interesting response. Focus on the question itself. Consider what the question is asking you to do and what are the different levels of assessment laid out by the mark scheme.
One of the key levels of assessment is based on your response to the task and text at hand. This is looking for a coherent response to the text written in a clear critical style with consistent textual references throughout. Use quotations to support and demonstrate your interpretations of the extract. Remember to try and weave quotations seamlessly into your essay to help with the flow of your writing. Shorter and more concise quotes can be more constructive in your analysis, providing the opportunity for closer, more detailed analysis. This leads into another level of assessment - your analysis of the writer's methods. How the author uses language, structure, and form to create specific meanings and effects. Be careful to avoid simply listing technical terms in your discussion. Subject terminology needs to integrated into your analysis to show the examiner that you have responsed to the question and can demonstrate the effects certain techniques have on the reader/audience. As well as an analysis of specific techniques used by the author and why they would use such techiques, you also need to demonstrate knowledge of the relationship a text has with its various contexts. This can help elevate your analysis to a deeper level. Illustrate why the context in which the text was written is important, or the context within which the text itself is set. Finally consider literary and audience contexts. If you are examining a play always remember that it was written to be performed in front of an audience. How does this feed into your analysis of the character? By interweaving these different levels of assessment into your analysis, you can demonstrate to the examiner that you have approached the question in a number of critical ways that have collectively formed a thorough analysis of a character within an extract.