TEA STRUCTURE, MARK ALLOCATION & TIMING
Identify the part of a TEA paragraph where you must explain how the technique constructs meaning.
Effect / Explanation.
This text type relies on imagery, metaphor, enjambment and rhythm to explore human experiences.
Poems
This quote shows Lady Macbeth rejecting femininity.
“Unsex me here.”
This quote reveals Macbeth’s awareness that his ambition is morally corrupt.
“Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.”
Provide the paradox stated by the witches that introduces moral inversion.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair.”
A 3‑mark question requires this many TEAs?
At least 2
This text type uses layout, colour, icons and statistics to communicate meaning.
Infographics
Explain how Lady Macbeth subverts Jacobean gender expectations.
She adopts violent masculinity to pursue power.
This term describes Macbeth’s fatal flaw.
Hamartia
This Jacobean fear shaped audience reactions to the witches.
Witchcraft
In a high‑band TEA paragraph, this element must synthesise technique, meaning, and the module rubric.
The analytical linking sentence.
This text type uses narrative voice, characterisation and setting to represent human experiences.
Prose fiction extracts
This symbol represents Lady Macbeth’s guilt in Act 5.
The bloodstain (“Out, damned spot!”).
This Jacobean belief explains why regicide is both a political and spiritual crime.
Divine Right of Kings.
Explain how the witches manipulate Macbeth’s thinking.
They plant ambition through chant‑like repetition.
A 2‑mark question should take approximately this long to complete.
3-4 minutes
This text type uses anecdote, rhetorical devices and personal voice to persuade an audience.
Speeches
Analyse how Macbeth’s shifting relationship with Lady Macbeth reflects the play’s broader commentary on gendered authority.
As Macbeth gains power, he excludes Lady Macbeth from decision‑making (“Be innocent of the knowledge”), revealing how patriarchal structures reassert themselves and undermine her earlier dominance.
Analyse how ambition becomes destructive once Macbeth gains power. Give 3 reasons.
It leads to paranoia, tyranny and escalating violence.
How does Macbeth’s reaction to the witches’ prophecy show his growing belief in fate?
He immediately imagines becoming king and begins to trust the prophecy, showing he believes fate is guiding his future.
This is the most sophisticated part of TEA, where students connect the composer’s choice to a broader human experience, context, or universal insight.
Conceptual interpretation.
This text type uses framing, composition, symbolism and contrast to explore ideas visually.
Visual texts
What does Lady Macbeth mean when she tells Macbeth to “look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”?
She wants Macbeth to hide his violent intentions, showing how she uses manipulation and challenges traditional gender roles to gain power.
Explain how Shakespeare uses soliloquy in Act 1 to explore Macbeth’s moral conflict.
It exposes Macbeth’s internal struggle between ambition and loyalty.
What does Banquo’s warning about the witches (“The instruments of darkness tell us truths”) suggest about the supernatural?
It shows that the supernatural may reveal tempting truths but ultimately lead people toward harmful or dangerous choices.