In Smith, ordinary people face a justice system that is rough, unequal, and sometimes deadly. A young pickpocket who steals the wrong paper finds himself in danger from criminals and from the law alike. Essays on justice give students a chance to explore how fairness works, and fails to work, in the novel's world.

The strongest essays do more than say that the world of the novel is unfair. They identify specific moments where power and poverty shape outcomes, and they analyze why Garfield draws attention to them. This takes students from observation to argument, which is the goal of a literary essay.

Because the topic invites strong feelings, essays can drift toward modern political opinions. Teachers should keep the focus on the text by requiring evidence from the book for every claim. A rubric that defines the standard makes this easy to enforce.

Defining Quality in a Justice Essay

Look for a thesis that takes a position about how justice operates in the novel. For example, a student might argue that those with money and respectability escape consequences while the poor bear the full weight of punishment. That is a testable claim that the student must support with specific scenes.

• States a specific claim about how justice works in the novel
• Uses scenes involving Smith and other characters as evidence
• Explains how wealth, class, or reputation affect outcomes
• Distinguishes between legal justice and moral justice
• Avoids unsupported modern comparisons that distract from the text

Distinguishing Legal From Moral Justice

A useful distinction for students is the difference between what the law says and what is right. Smith may break the law, but the novel invites readers to ask whether his actions are morally defensible given his circumstances. Essays that handle this distinction carefully tend to be more sophisticated.

Introduce the idea with a short class discussion before assigning the essay. Students who have already talked through the difference are more likely to use it in their writing, and your grading becomes easier because the central concepts have been established.

Feedback That Raises the Level

Common weaknesses include broad statements about fairness and the lack of a clear thesis. Feedback can ask the student to name one specific moment where the injustice is visible and explain who benefits. That targeted prompt generally produces a stronger paragraph in the next draft.

AI-assisted grading helps surface these patterns across a class. If twenty essays share the same weakness, you know what to teach in a mini-lesson. Seeing the data lets teachers use time more wisely than reading comments one at a time.

Connecting to Broader Learning

A justice essay can connect to units in social studies, especially when students study systems of law and punishment in history. Coordinating with colleagues can deepen understanding and make the writing more informed. The result is richer analysis that draws on knowledge from more than one subject.

End the unit by asking students to reflect on whether Garfield ultimately offers a hopeful or a bleak picture of justice. The answers reveal how deeply they have thought about the book, and the discussion makes a natural conclusion to the assignment.