How to Write a Scottish Contemporary Essayin 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

PARAGRAPHS1 poor housing conditions2 poor working conditions

3 poor quality of health4 under privileged living

EXAMPLEScotland’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

what

MSW

TALLY’S BLOOD

PASSPLACES

Poor Housing Conditions

where

LETTER BOX

quote

“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” (pg 71)

In MSW by ELS we see poor housing when Jenny is trying to convince Maggie to move. She

describes the house.

Explain how

Living in these conditions lead to Illness and frustration due to lack ofMobility for The lower classes. This cycle continues today.

THEN:

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.

what

MSW

TALLY’S BLOOD

PASSPLACES

where

LETTER BOX

quote Explain how

Now do these three boxes again for each of your plays.

poor working conditions poor quality of healthunderprivileged living

FOLLOW THE FORMULA AGAIN FOR THE NEXT THREE TOPICS

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 Stateis a consequence of past issues”.