does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the duality of human nature in Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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Patrick Doyle                Sunday, 19 April 2009“How does Robert Louis Stevenson explore the duality of human nature in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde” Written between 1884 and 1887, Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, “the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, is about a well respected physician and his ‘other self’ Mr Hyde. Dr. Jekyll is described as a typical Victorian gentleman . [a] Dr Jekyll wanted to develop a potion because he believed he could create a perfectly righteous human being by destroying the evil of the mind and body.
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When he creates this potion, it doesn’t quite go according to plan. He takes the potion for the first time, but when he goes back to normal, he turns into Mr Hyde without taking the potion. Slowly, Mr Hyde starts to take over Dr Jekyll. When Dr Jekyll turns into Mr Hyde, it changes his appearance, because of this, no one wants to approach him or talk to him. During the time when the book was written, people who looked different or who had disabilities or deformities which are widely accepted today, were not liked and were usually shut away. ...

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The Quality of Written Communication is very basic, and therefore there are no moments where the candidate makes many mistakes, because of the very simplistic register with which they write their answer. It would be a good practice in the future to become more familiar with constructing longer, more interestingly structured sentences and to use a wider range of punctuation to prove to the examiner that the candidate is a confident writer.

The Level of Analysis shown here is indicative of a low C grade answer. There is a good understanding of the novel and it's themes shown, as well as it's role in presenting the duality of man, but often it feel like very little of the analysis this candidate actually gives relates back to the question proposed. This will lose many marks in the exam as the candidate has not been specific enough. Their comments are very general and could be applied to almost any analytical question for this novel. As a future tip: of candidate are struggling trying to make the link between their analytical points and the question then they should just re-word/re-phrase/re-use the words of the question in the Explanation section of their PEE (Point, Evidence & Explanation) formula. This way all points are tied back to the question and this encourages an even stronger focus. It would also be a good practice if the candidate didn't make half-complete remarks with no evidence or relevance to the question (the comment about sex in Nineteenth Century literature is bizarrely irrelevant and doesn't even relate to the novel, let alone the question).

This essay response is directed at a question that asks it's candidate to consider how Robert Louis Stevenson present the duality of man in 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. There is a basic level of analysis retained throughout the entire essay and a number of methods by which Stevenson explores man's duality have been addressed. There could be a better link made between the analysis and the question though, as a lot fo the comments are very general and are not tied to how they present the duality of man. Commenting on personification is perhaps not required in an essay like this, as the candidates are not asked for an analysis of exclusively language - this is a more thematic question and thus requires a thematic approach.