Question 2
Middlemarch Excerpt
Strengths
Mature writers discussed literary devices well,
tying them into the narrator’s perspective.
Most essays were organized and used textual
references that showed how the literary devices
worked to show the complexity of the relationship.
The better essays showed how the financial crisis
in the Lydgates’marriage brought out the true
character in both Rosamond and Tertius, using apt
details as support.
Some of the better essays focused on the body
language detailed in the passage. There was also
mention of the “I” vs the “we” usage during the
dialogue between husband and wife. How each
tried to manipulate the other also came out in the
better essays.
The better essays quoted only the material needed
to make the argument and embedded the quotes
seamlessly into the text.
Weaknesses
Many students confused narrative perspective as
being the character’s perspective.
Students sometimes tended to make judgments
about the Lydgates rather than offer analysis.
Arguments tended to be one-sided rather than
balanced.
Weaker essays demonstrated lots of evaluative
sorts of language (“Eliot did a great in selecting
details…”) rather than analytic.
Too many blanks! If students reference the title,
the key focus of the prompt, and tie it to the text
at the very least, a “1” will be awarded. This “1”
could very well take the child’s overall score up in
the end.
Simplistic writing: he said, she said, this quote
shows that…
Answer the Prompt! Students were omitting the
literary devices or failing to tie back to the
complexity of the Lydgates’ relationship. For a
chance to score in the upper half, students have to
address all parts of the prompt.
Some tended to focus on one aspect of Rosamond
and Tertius’s relationship rather than looking at
the complexity of it. Many of the fours and fives
could easily have been bumped up with better
textual support. Just mentioning the literary
devices is not enough.