THE SEVEN SKILLS OF ESSAY WRITING
1. A thesis with three ideas in it, which the essay will explain and prove.
2. Each paragraph refers back to the ideas in the thesis.
3. Quotations are embedded.
4. The characters are constructs used to show the author’s viewpoint.
5. The author’s viewpoint is explained.
6. The essay writes about the whole text - at least beginning, middle and end.
7. The conclusion includes an interpretation of the ending.
Can You Get a Grade 9 if You Don’t Like English?
As a token of my appreciation for all the help you gave me for the duration in which I was forced to study English Literature at school, I'm attaching this essay for you to possibly use in a future video. Michael
How does Stevenson present ideas about Good and Evil in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’?
(Extract: Pg. 44-45, “I knew myself [...] was pure evil”)
“I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. I stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness of these sensations; and in the act, I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature.
There was no mirror, at that date, in my room; that which stands beside me as I write, was brought there later on and for the very purpose of these transformations. The night however, was far gone into the morning—the morning, black as it was, was nearly ripe for the conception of the day—the inmates of my house were locked in the most rigorous hours of slumber; and I determined, flushed as I was with hope and triumph, to venture in my new shape as far as to my bedroom. I crossed the yard, wherein the constellations looked down upon me, I could have thought, with wonder, the first creature of that sort that their unsleeping vigilance had yet disclosed to them; I stole through the corridors, a stranger in my own house; and coming to my room, I saw for the first time the appearance of Edward Hyde.
I must here speak by theory alone, saying not that which I know, but that which I suppose to be most probable. The evil side of my nature, to which I had now transferred the stamping efficacy, was less robust and less developed than the good which I had just deposed. Again, in the course of my life, which had been, after all, nine tenths a life of effort, virtue and control, it had been much less exercised and much less exhausted. And hence, as I think, it came about that Edward Hyde was so much smaller, slighter and younger than Henry Jekyll. Even as good shone upon the countenance of the one, evil was written broadly and plainly on the face of the other. Evil besides (which I must still believe to be the lethal side of man) had left on that body an imprint of deformity and decay. And yet when I looked upon that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, rather of a leap of welcome. This, too, was myself. It seemed natural and human. In my eyes it bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express and single, than the imperfect and divided countenance I had been hitherto accustomed to call mine. And in so far I was doubtless right. I have observed that when I wore the semblance of Edward Hyde, none could come near to me at first without a visible misgiving of the flesh. This, as I take it, was because all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”
The Essay with Examiner Comments
Stevenson presents good and evil in ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ as a natural component of man that should be understood, rather than something that should hold society inmate to its Christian afflictions. In the extract, Dr Jekyll is uncovering to the reader these ideas and finally, after nine chapters of repression, he lets go and unleashes his liberated self. Stevenson aims to use Jekyll’s findings about good and evil to remind his readership of innate duality and the importance of exploring man’s more sinister side.
4 ideas in the thesis.
At least thoughtful and detailed.
Good and evil in the extract, and the novella as a whole, is presented as a natural component of man. In the extract, Stevenson aims to emphasise to a reader that, though Dr Jekyll is transforming, what he becomes is not only as human, but also as monstrous as the former. He does this by having Jekyll describe the feeling of being Hyde as “natural and human”. Hyde’s actions throughout the novella are murderous, violent, and unpredictable, so for Stevenson to describe him in ways as human and relatable indicates Stevenson’s change of perspective as he previously presents evil as sinister but begins to depict it as innate, exhibiting a view that is more sympathetic towards Hyde.
Conceptualised - both critical and sympathetic to Hyde at the same time.
Each of the adjectives connotes normality about Hyde and reinforces Stevenson’s aims to be in the direction of normalising the “evil” which the character personifies throughout the novella. Dr Jekyll also admits that “this too, was myself”, cementing an impression of unexpected humanity about Hyde through the comma in this phrase that amplifies its formality and sobriety; Jekyll has manifested all of his evil into the creation of another being but feels nonetheless human because of it.
Detailed development of the previous point make this convincing
Stevenson continues this impression throughout the rest of the chapter: “man is not truly one, but two”, presenting each side of duality to just be “one”, rendering them synonymous in worth to each other. Stevenson is depicting the duality of man to be inherently balanced, calling recognition upon the monster that lies within, deviating from other gothic writers at the time who wrote about external, inhuman monsters, such as Mary Shelley when she wrote ‘Frankenstein’ earlier in the 19th century. Stevenson is developing a gothic trope in a way that no other writers during his time dared to, adding thought-provoking memorability to the message he is sending. He ultimately pushes forward the idea that good and evil should be seen as, in an ideal society, essential and normal parts of humanity.
Convincing exploration of context to show how Stevenson’s purpose differed from other gothic writers.
Good and evil is presented as a topic that should be explored further. This is shown in the extract when Dr Jekyll says he “must here speak by theory alone, saying not that which [he knows], but that which [he supposes] to be most probable”. Jekyll is giving a long and hollow explanation of his anagnorisis*, reminding the reader that even Jekyll is unsure of any exact details behind good and evil.
*the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances
Thoughtful, but missing a convincing purpose for Stevenson doing this.
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