Initial comments on Common Test

I've finished marking the two main Murder in the Cathedral questions and am in the middle of your PC. You will most likely receive your essays next next week, but here are some comments.

So far, no one has gotten below a score of thirteen, I think.

Good news: You guys know where to look for pertinent evidence, judging from the quotations that you are giving me, and you guys know the main points of the play.

Bad news, or rather, problems: You guys are not answering the question accurately. You are not providing the links to show how you're using the evidence/point to answer the question. You are taking assumed associations for granted and not explaining them to me.

i.e.

You need to prove that Murder in the Cathedral shows the theme of a "deeper desolation of a world declining into materialism".

You talk about spiritual loss/decline, eternal vs. temporal.

What you don't do is explain to me how spiritual decline/loss, eternal vs. temporal is related to/displays/explains for materialism. You should be putting in a sentence which explains that materialism, defined as a concern or obsession with material power (e.g. wealth, political power), shows/is implied by a loss in spirituality. The conflict between the eternal and the temporal is an age-old conflict, however, in this play, aspects of the eternal (i.e. the spiritual) seem to be downplayed as aspects of the temporal (i.e. the material) dominate the characters' behaviour and thoughts.

You talk about the play's message being one of Becket teaching the world of a need for spirituality and spiritual regeneration.

What you don't do is to explain to me how that shows "a deeper desolation of a world declining into materialism". You should be showing this desolation through other means (e.g. the Chorus), before explaining the significance of Becket's spiritual lesson in the play, as the only way of bringing this terrible world out of their desolate materialism.

You prove the world declining into materialism, but you don't discuss the desolation of this world.

For the action and suffering question, you don't explain to me what action and suffering represent/mean conceptually and dramatically, and the relationship between the two, as well as their larger significance on the play (besides moving the plot along), how it is impactful on the 20th century audience.

Always make sure that every point for each paragraph directly answers the question.

We need to work on answering those questions more accurately and making sure you are thorough in explaining yourselves. I'm glad that some of you have given your definitions for the key terms in the question in your introductions and worked out your arguments from there. We also need to deepen your arguments, as many of you are still giving me straightforward arguments that do not really reflect complexity, or unable to pick up on the complexity of the issues involved. And let's not forget organization problems, with some repeating their points.

But I'm glad to say that most of you provided some textual evidence which was generally relevant. I need to see more of that, thank you.

Following up, I will be asking a few of you to relook at your essays and reorganize your points. I will also be giving you guys tasks like producing essay outlines to different essay questions to see if you can 1) pick out the right issues to discuss 2)come up with a clear argument which answers the question, with key terms explained and key relationships outlined from the start.