Your teacher has probably told you – and rightly so – to include LOTS of scholars in your essays to get higher marks. They’re not wrong. Band 6 on the grading scale – the highest – requires you to have an ‘extensive’ range of scholars throughout your essay. But just how many are required?
Unsatisfyingly, there is no hard and fast number… but I have read some model essays from this book, written by teachers who are examiners of this course, to see how many scholars the top essays included and how many or few in essays that did not score as highly. Here is what I found…
In the essays they marked as A* grade, there was an average of 15 scholars per essay – any at least five of them mentioned in the introduction alone. Clearly, including an extensive range of scholars is as the marks scheme says, a skill worthy of top band essays, However, of course, you still have to give an accurate depiction of those scholar’s views and a well justified analysis and critique of them back and forth.
It’s also worth noting that one of the essays, on the Problem of Evil which the teachers awarded full marks, had 20 scholars, and 7 in the introduction alone. However, another essay on Religious Experience which was awarded only one mark shy of the full 40, included half as many scholars. Rather, it went into more depth and argument for each one.
What lesson can we take from this?
There are at least two strategies which, if well executed, can get you an A*: including an extensive range of scholars, as long as you have something well reasoned and justified to say for them all when you integrate them into your arguments – or including a very good range, of around at least 10 and picking a few that you go into more depth of analysis of.
On the other end of the scale, for example, a Business Ethics essay that the teachers in this book graded as D – earning only 20/40 marks – included only two scholars in total and none whatsoever were mentioned in the introduction.
So do include lots of scholars – aim for at least 10!
Good luck, students!