Consider the role of social class in Agatha Christie's 'Death on the Nile'.

Here is an essay template for a GCSE, A-Level or undergraduate essay. For the GCSE level, we will follow P.E.E. (point, evidence, explanation) structure, for the A-Level, we will add ‘contextual’ detail to this analysis, and for the undergraduate level we will add outside critical analysis.
To start with, it is a good idea to note down a few ideas (no more than 4 or 5) that come to mind after reading the question. It doesn’t matter if these are a bit rough, as you can either flesh them out or get rid of them as we write the essay. Here are some examples of points for this question:
1)     Linnet Ridgeway/Doyle is very wealthy and described as ‘having everything’ because of this. She marries Simon Doyle, who is described as considerably worse off than she is, and who eventually murders her because of it. 2)     Egypt itself is a place built by slaves for the wealthiest royalty to enjoy – a fact aggressively observed by the communist Mr. Ferguson (who later turns out to be titled himself). 3)     The jewellery thefts that act as a B plot to the murders, carried out by Tim Allerton and his friend Joanna, appear as an ironic Robin Hood, who takes from the rich to give to the less rich. The robberies are carried out so that Tim and Joanna don’t have to do any ‘lower class’ work.4)     The little black children which occur in the earlier chapters represent the omnipresence of poverty and the continual begging of ‘hangers on’ who want money.
Now that you have these points written down, it is a good idea to gather some evidence from the text. You don’t want to use too much, as the examiner will be more interested in your analysis than the quotes themselves! Notice I use single apostrophe for the quote itself and double for recorded speech. For example:
1) Joanna to Linnet, page 19, chapter 1. ‘Linnet said sharply, “You think I’m selfish?” “No— just irresistible. The combined effect of money and charm. Everything goes down before you. What you can’t buy with cash you buy with a smile. Result: Linnet Ridgeway, the Girl Who Has Everything.”’2) Mr Ferguson, page 86, chapter 6. “Take the Pyramids. Great blocks of useless masonry, it up to minister to the egoism of a despotic bloated king, think of the sweated masses who toiled to build them and died doing it. It makes me sick to think of the suffering and torture they represent.” Mrs. Allerton said cheerfully, “You’d rather have no pyramids, no Parthenon, no beautiful tombs or temples— just the solid satisfaction of knowing that people got three meals a day and died in their beds.” The young man directed his scowl in her direction. “I think human beings matter more than stones.” “But they do not endure as well,” remarked Hercule Pirot.3) Rosalie to Time Allerton, p.295-6, chapter 26 ‘“Why did you come to do it in the first place?” “How did I come to start, do you mean? Oh, I don’t know. Boredom— laziness— the fun of the thing. Such a much more attractive way of earning a living than just pegging away at a job.”’4) Mrs. Allerton, page 84, chapter 6. ‘”they close in on me little by little […] And then they come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don’t believe I really like children— not unless they’re more or less washed and have the rudimem of manners.” […] They scattered and then reappeared, closing in once more. […] “you can never be alone, anywhere. Someone is always pestering you for money”’
Now that you have your evidence, you need to go on to analyse each quote and flesh it out in to your point. In this analysis, you need to pay close attention to how language is used; how are the sentences constructed, which words are chosen, what effect do they have? Are there any rhyming or mimetic devices which effect the overall cadence of the prose? After identifying these linguistic features, you will be able to see how the language enhances the impact of your point. For example:
1)     For point 1: The sentence ‘What you can’t buy with cash you buy with a smile’ uses monosyllables throughout, giving it a punchy and exciting quality. The line moves quickly and rhythmically, highlighting the exciting and attractive nature of Linnet’s life. The repetition of all of the words except for ‘cash’ and ‘smile’ isolates them, making them focal features. They serve to emphasise the lack of depth of Linnet’s world – all she seemingly has are looks and money. All her friends, Joanna in this instance, seem to notice in her are wealth and beauty. She is isolated from the beginning in this sentence as the target of her friends. Joanna and Tim take her jewels, whilst Jackie and Simon try to take her fortune and eradicate her beauty. Despite being told she ‘has everything’, she is more isolated and vulnerable because of this than she would have been without her high social status. Here, social class is clearly not an advantage – it is something which exposes rather than protects Linnet.
After expanding each of your points in a similar fashion, you should find that you have naturally followed the P.E.E. format. It is important, however, that all of your points should follow on from one another and that they should all relate back to the question you have been asked.
If you are an A-Level student, you will be required to add a level of contextual detail to your analysis. This could be historical, for example, focusing on Christie’s own potential biases.
4) For point 4: Although it is possible to compare the encroaching children to encroaching financial pressures, it is also possible the Christie herself associated blackness with being lower class. Written in 1937, when racial biases were often common place, especially among high society, her use of this allusion may have been more to emphasise the high class of the characters above those in the background of the tale. This racial bias or insensitivity is drawn to attention in the title of her novel ‘Ten Little Niggers’, now more commonly known now as ‘And Then There Were None’. Christie’s novels have often been described as “cosy crime”, focusing on the plush and easy lives of the rich, to the exclusion of the lower class. Perhaps the presence of the black children here is to highlight this ‘cosy’ quality, by showing the alternative.
For an undergraduate degree, it would be necessary to include critics and to engage with them throughout the essay. It would be possible to expand the A-Level answer into a degree level answer by naming and engaging certain critics individually. For example:
Ping Zhang, in his article ‘Approach to the Critics of Christie’s Works, Comparative Literature: East & West’ suggests that it is exactly Simon Doyle’s class which leads us to not suspect him in the murder, emphasising the surprise. ‘[…] the killers are the two people whom our previous experience of Christie’s writing would lead us to exclude as possibilities, the prime suspect and a clean-cut English gentleman.’ (140) Christie’s focus on class, then, is exactly to distract from the plot twist and the murderers when they are revealed. Zhang’s analysis suggests that Simon hides in plain sight. Based on readers knowledge of the Christie cannon, and perhaps their implicit class bias, they do not expect Simon to be the principle agent in the murder, thus heightening the novel’s climax.
By following this structure throughout the essay, you should be able to produce a very compelling answer to any question you’re asked! Just remember to refer back to the question itself and make sure all of your points are about the text in question.