Doctor Faustus: Context, Themes and Questions

Doctor Faustus
Set text for:
  • Edexcel AS and A Level
  • Eduqas AS and A Level

Advanced Learner Pack for AS / A Level

Students who demonstrate an awareness of how Marlowe’s major themes of religion, knowledge, scientific investigation and morality echo down the ages are beginning to answer what is implicitly asked by every exam question on the play: why are we still studying Doctor Faustus today, and how can our study of it help to form a more empathetic and critically aware society?

Will enable learners to better understand the play in context and to score more heavily AO3 context

A Sneddon, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Stretch your strongest students with enlightening notes and activities that expose the complexities of this pertinent play.

Look out for!

  • Further reading and ‘Did you know?’ boxes to push students even further!

Comprehensive notes, questions and exam-preparation material investigating the influential contexts and themes of Doctor Faustus for a fuller, more sophisticated understanding. Pitched to the 2015 AS and A Level specifications, this pack will inspire your strongest students to go the extra mile in their journey towards exam success.

Pushing high achievers…
  • Informative notes encourage students to think independently about the core aspects of the play, including characters, form, genre and themes
  • Packed with questions to promote intelligent discussion – the perfect springboard for higher-level analysis
  • Suggestions for wider reading empower students to foster an individual critical stance towards the play

To reach those top marks!
  • Exam-style questions provide extensive practice for creative, unique responses
  • Higher-level sample answers with examiner commentary help students recognise what makes a good answer
  • Revision and exam tips help students focus answers to gain top marks

Plus!
  • A carefully constructed historical timeline
  • Sample answers and commentary for every exam board – great for focused, targeted revision!

What do teachers say about this resource? (9287)

well-considered and clear throughout. The examination of Dr Faustus (both A and B texts) is detailed and brilliantly informed by historical, social and religious contexts. The exam-focused content is particularly helpful... Excellent exam revision techniques... Love the break-down of how to approach exam questions... Excellent exemplar material and indicative content for student responses. This is so helpful... The author clearly defines the differences between the specifications which feature Dr Faustus, and provides a comparison and directs students how to best use the resource (and their revision time) for exam success in each specification. This is a real strength of this resource... A real strength of this resource is how focused the author is on exam success. The information on ‘Dr Faustus’ is detailed and well-researched, but how the author connects this to the exam is, for me, the highlight of this resource.

T Church, Head of KS5 English & Peer Reviewer

The resource is incredible detailed and contains a lot of high level information designed to challenge pupils (and teachers) - it is laid out in a clear and logical way and clearly builds upon students' prior knowledge. It is very much an advanced learner pack so would stretch and challenge A*/A grade students.

The tasks/questions for developing ideas were suitably detailed without being too guided, ensuring students can complete tasks independently and develop their knowledge.

This resource will be very helpful for those higher level students - Faustus is one of those texts that has a lot of bitty information available online, but not much in the way of challenge appropriate to A Level, so this resource is incredibly helpful in gathering all of the ideas in one place. There isn't an over reliance on context as the only way to gain those higher marks either.

There are so many fantastic high level ideas in this resource.

C Testa, Head of English & Peer Reviewer

A clearly knowledgeable and informative resource that contained a great deal of information that matched the resource's goal of providing extra sources and knowledge to help stretch more able pupils to achieve an A*... The different sections of contextual information had very clear and specific questions/activities that enabled pupils to delve deeper into that particular topic and engage with the issues described... [The resource] is set up to provide more able pupils with a robust intellectual challenge which cannot help but to stretch and develop their understanding of the play.

J Hathaway, HoD & Peer Reviewer

I liked this resource very much... It is extremely effective... I particularly liked the level of detail on all types of context: literary, religious and historical. I also liked the way sophisticated vocabulary was used but, intermittently this vocabulary was defined, developing students' academic vocabulary systematically. I also thought the historical timeline was very useful in addressing contexts... I like the provision of exemplar questions for students to practise. The inclusion of the sample answer is very helpful... A very good resource.

E Hewitt, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Has a clear audience in mind and satisfies an identifiable gap in provision... The pack will enable learners to better understand the play in context and to score more heavily AO3 context. Perhaps as importantly, the resource will allow them to develop their understanding of the play in depth.

A Sneddon, HoD & Peer Reviewer