Fifty-two First Class University Essays

This book provides a selection of 46 undergraduate and 6 postgraduate first class / A grade university essays, originally submitted by the author for degree courses. Each includes the marker's comments, which help illustrate how university work is generally read and evaluated. The essays emphasise themes such as the Scottish Highlands, religious history, the Enlightenment, economic development, poverty, Russian literature and thought, English literature and political philosophy. Topics include poor relief in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Highland Clearances, Scottish intellectual influence on revolutionary America, the Protestant Reformation, the slave economy of the Caribbean, Plato's 'Republic', Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales', Dostoevsky, literary explorations of sexuality and Scottish Enlightenment culture of the 18th century. Also included is the author's MLitt dissertation on "Historical discourse, the historical novel and James Robertson's 'The Fanatic' ", which combines historiographical and literary theory to argue that historical novels sometimes can and should be considered a genuine form of legitimate history on a par with academic practice of it. Written to a high standard, this book provides a strong model of first class writing for university at a variety of course year levels, aimed at students looking for such models to develop their own essay writing technique. It should also be a stimulating and informative read for those simply interested in the wide range of humanities topics covered. Corbin Brodie has a BA (Hons) first class degree in Scottish History and MLitt with distinction in Scottish Literature. He is also the author of "The Gate and the Garden: The Apostate Journals of a Gay Mormon Missionary in Japan".