How to Write a Scottish Contemporary Essay
in 10 Simple Steps.
Q: “Scotland’s current social state is the victim of problems from the past. Discuss
this statement making reference to 2 or more plays
INTRO
STEP 1:
REPEAT THE QUOTE OR STATEMENT
STEP 2:
EXPLAIN WHAT “PROBLEMS FROM THE PAST” MEANS
STEP 3:
BREAK THAT DOWN INTO 4 DIFFERENT SUBJECT HEADINGS FOR YOUR
PARAGRAPHS
1 poor housing conditions
2 poor working conditions
3 poor quality of health
4 under privileged living
EXAMPLE
Scotland’s current social state is the victim of
problems of the past. ‘Problems from the past’
means issues which made living difficult for the
lower classes. In Scottish plays, some of problems
which made living difficult were poor housing
conditions, poor working conditions, poor quality
of health and underprivileged living.
Paragraph one
STEP ONE:
• Use your first topic and make a sentence using the main word from your
statement in your intro.
Firstly, the poor housing conditions suffered in Scottish made living difficult for the characters
THEN:
where
In MSW by ELS we see poor
housing when Jenny is trying to
convince Maggie to move. She
describes the house.
quote
“it’s rotten, this hoose. Rotten. Damp.
MSW
Poor Housing Conditions
Ye ken yersel. It’s a midden lookin oot
on their middens. Its got rats, bugs-…
If Bertie comes back here he’ll never
get better” (pg 71)
Explain
how
Living in these conditions lead to
Illness and frustration due to lack of
Mobility for The lower classes. This
cycle continues today.
TALLY’S
BLOOD
what
PASS
PLACES
LETTER
BOX
Now do these three boxes
again for each of your plays.
Firstly, the poor housing conditions suffered in Scotland and Scottish plays made
living difficult for the characters. In Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart we
see poor housing when Jenny is trying to convince Maggie to move. She describes
the house; “it’s rotten, this hoose. Rotten. Damp. Ye ken yersel. It’s a midden lookin
oot on their middens. Its got rats, bugs-… If Bertie comes back here he’ll never get
better”. Living in these conditions lead to Illness and frustration due to lack of mobility
for the lower classes. This cycle continues today. In Tally’s Blood by Ann Marie Di
Mambro we see poor housing conditions in the Devlin Family having a large family
Rosinella says “ Eight weans! She keeps having them and she cannie even look after
them right”. In this period people were forced to keep large families in small flats
these problems still exist in council houses. In Passing Places by Stephen
Greenhorn we see Iona’s house on the Island of Skye in described as “An old
cottage…a bit run down..absolutely full of mice” this shows that the issue of poor
housing is also suffered by those in the highlands as they are forced to live in houses
hundreds of years old and substandard to modern housing. In the Letterbox by Ann
Marie Di Mambro we see Martha say to Wendy (who is dreaming of a better life)
“yes, I know it would be nice, but where could we go, eh? This is our house.” This
shows that the people in Scotland do not feel they have the ability to change the
circumstances of their current housing conditions.
FOLLOW THE FORMULA AGAIN FOR THE NEXT THREE TOPICS
where
poor working conditions
poor quality of health
underprivileged living
quote
Explain
how
MSW
TALLY’S
BLOOD
what
PASS
PLACES
LETTER
BOX
Now do these three boxes
again for each of your plays.
CONCLUSION
STEP ONE:
RELIST YOUR MEANING
Problems from the past means issues which made living difficult for the lower classes.
STEP TWO:
RELIST YOUR PARAGRAPH TOPICS
AS I HAVE SHOWN In Scottish plays we see issues such as poor housing conditions, poor
working conditions, poor quality of health, under privileged living
STEP THREE :
RELIST YOUR FIRST STATEMENT
Therefore, I would agree that Scotland’s plays suggest that “Scotland’s current Social State
is a consequence of past issues”.