What Is Quality VS Quantity in Literature Essays?
Essay on Scrooge and his Transformation From Imaan
What is Quality?
Quality in a literature essay is 5 things.
Write a thesis statement which deals with the writer’s ideas.
Write as many explanations as you can proving these ideas.
Order those explanations in an argument, so that each idea builds on what you wrote before. (Writing chronologically is the easiest way to do this).
Use the word society, or social, to explain the writer’s ideas in the context of their day.
Write a conclusion to explain how the ending shows the writer’s final ideas.
My research into essays at each grade shows that there are key features of essays at each grade.
These features are not taught explicitly in most schools. Let me show you by looking at Grades 8 and 9 in essays about A Christmas Carol.
These numbers are very similar to my analysis of essays on all the other literature texts (although students seem to need to write even more in essays on Macbeth).
You can find the guide here.
What this means:
It takes roughly 30 words to gain a mark. I know this sounds ridiculous - two students will write 30 words each, but the quality of what they write will be very different.
That is very true.
But quality and quantity are not as different as we are taught. A student who can write brilliantly is very likely to be able to write 900 words. A student who writes at grade 5 will write only about 400 words.
In fact, the lower your grade, the fewer words you need to write per mark. Grade 5 students tend to need 27 words per mark.
Grade 4 students don’t even get to 300 words, and average 18 words per mark. At the lower grades, the examiners are desperate to award marks. Yet students write at a snail’s pace. It is rare for a grade 4 student to have got there by writing lots of ideas very badly. Usually grade 4 students are just lazy. They don’t know this of course.
What is a Method?
The simple definition is anything you say the writer is doing. For example: the writer uses contrast, the writer juxtaposes, the writer constructs the character, this character is used as an antithesis, as a counterpoint, as a symbol …
And obviously there are the normal techniques: metaphor, pathetic fallacy, simile, personification, alliteration, sibilance, semantic field etc.
You might be surprised that students have to mention very few of these in an essay - just 7 in an essay which gets full marks surprises me, anyway.
Students at grade 4, 5 and 6 only mention 2!
See what I mean about quality - the more explanations you write, the higher your grade.
What is Context?
Anything that you use about the writer’s time period to explain the writer’s ideas. If it isn’t used to explain the writer’s ideas, it is a history essay, and scores no marks.
There are always key words which fit every text. There are universal words, like society and patriarchal, which fit every text. Then there are those specific to the text: Malthusian, poor law for A Christmas Carol; Great Chain of Being, original sin, divine right of kings for Macbeth; masculinity, honour, patriarchal, Petrarchan in Romeo and Juliet; capitalist, socialist, Christian, morality play, cardinal sins, First World War in An Inspector Calls, and so on.
Every time you explain the writer’s idea using one of those words, your mark goes up.
What Do Students Do at Each Grade?
You’ll notice a column for the writer’s name.
There is no mark for using the writer’s name, so why do I count how often it appears? Because it is very likely that, when you do write the author’s name, you will link that to something they are doing. Then it is likely that you will link that to the writer’s ideas.
Even at grade 7, students do very little of this.
That’s right - just writing about the writer’s ideas is likely to get you a grade 8 or 9. Literature really is not that hard. After all, every single one of the writer’s ideas should already be in your exercise book, or your booklet. Or, if your teacher has not thought about teaching you these, revision guides are cheap.
Here’s an Essay for you to Grade
Throughout the novella ‘A Christmas Carol’ Dickens presents regret as being a fundamental tool that guides Scrooge on his journey to redemption. Dickens uses regret to show his readers that a powerless emotion like regret can be used to spark a journey of transformation that can benefit yourself and others.
The beginning of Scrooge’s journey to redemption starts when he meets Marley’s ghost who acts as a catalyst for Scrooge’s introspection. Marley offers us an unsettling yet didactic display of regret. “I wear the chain I forged in life … I girded it of my own free will”. Marley is presented as being doomed in purgatory and so, although he’s imprisoned by his “chain”, he says he “wear[s]” it. The use of the word “wear” creates the impression that he’s been accustomed to his sins as though they’ve become an accessory that he’s reluctantly being forced to show off. Marley’s ongoing drudgery acts as a warning to Scrooge.
Dickens uses allusions to Christianity to emphasise to his wealthy readers that “covetous sinner[s]” like them and Scrooge will face eternal doom if they don’t change their ways. Marley’s reference to “free will” further emphasises Dickens’ message that being a ‘sinner’ is a powerful choice which we must overcome.
The ghost of Christmas past offers the readers and Scrooge an insight into arguably Scrooge’s biggest regret. The flashback to Belle breaking off their engagement is where we see Scrooge take his first steps to redemption as his past regret overwhelms him with emotion. Belle uses religious imagery with “Another idol has replaced me… a golden one”. Dickens purposefully does this to criticise Scrooge’s obsession with wealth and the word “idol” highlights how much he worships it. Here Dickens may be pointing out to his readers how obsessions with materialistic items are what blind us to the suffering of others without them. Belle abandoning Scrooge just caused him to immerse himself more into material values as a defence mechanism in order to avoid any more pain.
However the fact that there was a time where Scrooge was able to form loving relationships is Dickens trying to point out to his readers that no one was born “cold” and that we all have the ability to change. The regret Scrooge faces from this is so uncommon to his “solitary” self that he says “Haunt me no longer!” The use of the word “haunt” highlights how Scrooge is unable to face the truth of his past as he’s too ashamed.
Dickens deliberately constructs Scrooge this way to explore the psychology of his readers. He knows that if his readers examine their pasts to see how that’s influenced their character, they can find the key needed for them to unlock a kinder, more generous version of themselves, just like Scrooge.
As the novella progresses, Scrooge’s past unlocks more regret for him. Fezziwig was constructed by Dickens as an example of what he wanted his readers to aspire to be. When Scrooge defends Fezziwig to the ghost saying “the happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune”, Scrooge is ironically challenging his own cold Malthusian views. Dickens uses Fezziwig and this quote to show his readers that the true value of your wealth comes from how you use it to benefit others.
The irony here leads Scrooge to another moment of regret: “I should like to say a word or two…that’s all”, to his “clerk” Bob. This signifies that Scrooge is changing and that he’s utilising his regret of his earlier mistreatment to Bob as a sign that he needs to change things between them. Despite this, the word “should” creates the impression that Scrooge isn’t entirely comfortable in fixing his mistake yet, which is Dickens’ way of showing us that journeys to redemption aren’t always easy and quick.
Once Scrooge learns of Bob’s predicament and Tiny Tim, Scrooge’s journey soars as he actively tries to correct everything he regrets. Scrooge’s question to the Ghost of Christmas Present about whether or not Tiny Tim will live indicates that he cares about others and therefore he regrets his treatment of Bob. The extent of Scrooge’s care is shown through Stave 5 when he buys the Cratchits a turkey “twice the size of Tiny Tim”. This may imply that Scrooge purposefully chose it for him and considering that Tiny Tim was constructed as a symbol of those disadvantaged in society, Scrooge’s care for him highlights his newfound generosity and kindness.
“I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future!” is Dickens’ way of reminding his readers to ask themselves how they’ve become who they are and what they need to do in order to change for the better. Because if Scrooge can change, then everyone can change. The tenses are capitalised to reinforce this idea and show the importance of it. The word “will” solidifies Scrooge’s transformation, perhaps showing how he has no regrets. The exclamatory sentence implies his excitement in becoming this new kind person with a new life ahead of him.
In conclusion, Dickens utilises regret throughout his novella to show his wealthy employer readers that regret can be powerful when used correctly in order to improve oneself and therefore society.