Eng lit essay help. Urgent.

This is my first time writing a post on here and honestly it’s a last ditch attempt. I genuinely need help because I’m failing English Lit because of this.
For English Lit essays, what on earth do they mean when they say how does the writer ‘present‘ a theme or a character. What are you actually supposed to talk and write about?? For example, ‘How does Dickens present the theme of redemption‘ or ‘How does Dickens present Scrooge’s fears’. I’ve never understood this and no teacher ever clearly explains it. PLEASE HELP 😭😭😭

Reply 1

delightfulgoose

"How does the writer present this theme?" essentially means "What methods is the writer using to tell you their ideas about this theme/character?" For example, if you were asked "How does Dickens present Scrooge?", you could answer, "Dickens presents [tells us that] Scrooge is isolated but has the potential to change [idea] through the metaphor [method] of 'solitary as an oyster', because oysters are difficult to open but can have a pearl inside.