2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
In the late 1800’s poverty was a big problem for many people. People who lived in poverty often faced cruelties such as work houses, living on the streets and constantly not having enough to eat. In Dickens A Christmas Carol Dickens uses the varies characters such as Tiny Tim his partner Jacob Marley and Scrooges treatment of Bob Cratchit as implements to prove these cruelties. Dickens uses Tiny Tim and other various characters to convince the upper classes of 19th century England that they should help the poor more.
In Dickens A Christmas Carol Tiny Tim has a terrible medical problem. His father cannot afford to take care of him. This is because Scrooge pays Cratchit a very minimum wage. Scrooge also treats Cratchit as if he does not matter. Tiny Tim is used to show the upper class what happens when they do not treat the lower class with respect. The lower class suffers and they cannot fix their problems. When the ghost of Christmas present shows Scrooge the Cratchits Christmas it really affects him. The fact that the Cratchits live in such squalor proves that Dickens believed that those in poverty should be treated fairly.
When the Ghost of Christmas past visits Scrooge the audience finds out that Scrooge was abandoned by his family. Here Dickens argues that we should treat the abandoned with respect re because you never know who they will turn out to be or how they will turn out to be. The ghost of Christmas future shows a scene in which people are celebrating. Scrooge deduces that the party is for him but fails until later to realize that the people are celebrating his death. The ghost of Christmas future really drives home the point, for the audience, that the ways in which we treat people really affect them.
In Dickens A Christmas carol Scrooge learns about caring for others. Dickens uses Scrooge to show what will happen to people if they do not treat other people in a good way. He uses Tiny Tim to demonstrate what will happen if we neglect others. He uses the ghosts to show what happens to people who neglect. Dickens social problem was that the upper classes did not treat the poor the way he thought that the poor should be treated.
What I liked:
ReplyDeleteThe explanations in paragraphs and three were very clever, explained clearly and got me thinking about the book in general. The introduction was also pretty good and stayed away from the plot completely.
What could be better:
1) The first sentence of the introduction was a bit expected. If you re-worded it, it would be a bit stronger and more attention grabbing to the reader.
2) The last paragraph ends abruptly. I'm not sure if you ran out of time or were done. You might add a few sentences summing everything up without restating your thesis
I liked how your examples of how each thing represented a different problem with society.
ReplyDeleteEven though your examples were strong, I feel as if there was too much plot summary and not enough details of why each example contributes to the meaning of the piece. There are a few punctuation errors, but overall I thought the response was well organized.
What Was Good:
ReplyDelete- good story to write about
- thesis was well-written
- your ideas/intentions were good, you had good examples for what you were arguing
What Was Bad:
- thesis says nothing of DIDLS in the story; little analysis of the writing
- too much plot summary
- typos, punctuation is hit-or-miss
- "Dickens" is not possessive, it needs to have an apostrophe
- The second and fourth paragraphs' topic sentences have the same beginning
Overall, you supported your thesis well. However, since your thesis was not about the literary elements of the story but rather the plot, the support you provided was of little use.
I loved your introduction, however it didn't answer the prompt. You didn't mention any techniques, be careful. Your essay was good, you supported your thesis and you described things well, it just wasn't answering the prompt.
ReplyDelete