Breaking down the question
This is a short-note question worth twelve marks, so the demand is for a focused, well-organised account rather than a sprawling essay. The phrase "stratification of classes" asks you to explain class as a specific form of social stratification — the division of society into hierarchically ordered strata based principally on economic position — and to convey how sociologists have theorised it. You are being tested on conceptual precision and range within a tight word limit.
The key is to distinguish class stratification from other bases of stratification such as caste, and then to present the two commanding theoretical accounts, the Marxian and the Weberian, since together they define the field. A well-marshalled treatment draws on the wider discussion of the theories of social stratification to give the answer authority without exceeding the space a twelve-marker allows.
How to approach it
Open with a crisp definition of stratification and of class as an economic form of it, noting that class systems are open, achievement-oriented and based on economic criteria rather than ritual status or birth. This frames the answer and shows conceptual control at once.
Devote the body to the two theories. Present Marx's dichotomous model, in which class is defined by the relationship to the means of production and society polarises into bourgeoisie and proletariat locked in conflict. Then present Weber's multidimensional model, in which class rests on market situation and life chances but is only one axis of stratification alongside status and party. A brief line on the functionalist view of stratification as a means of allocating talent adds range if space permits.
Close with a short evaluative sentence noting the openness of class systems and the persistence of class inequality in modern societies. Keep the whole tightly disciplined, because the marks reward clarity and coverage rather than length.
Model answer
Social stratification refers to the arrangement of a society into a hierarchy of layers or strata that enjoy unequal access to wealth, power and prestige. Class stratification is the characteristic form of this hierarchy in modern industrial societies, in which people are ranked primarily according to their economic position. Unlike caste, which rests on birth, ritual purity and fixed hereditary status, class systems are open, permitting social mobility, and are founded on economic criteria and, in principle, on individual achievement. A class may be defined broadly as a category of people who share a similar economic situation and, in consequence, similar life chances.
The most influential account of class stratification is that of Karl Marx. For Marx, class is defined by the relationship to the means of production. In every mode of production based on private property, society divides into those who own the productive resources and those who own only their labour power. Under capitalism the two great classes are the bourgeoisie, who own capital, and the proletariat, who must sell their labour. The relationship between them is one of exploitation and irreconcilable conflict, since the wealth of one is drawn from the labour of the other. Marx's model is thus dichotomous, dynamic and rooted in production, and he held that intensifying polarisation would eventually drive the proletariat to revolutionary transformation of the system.
Max Weber accepted that class has an economic basis but offered a more differentiated account. For Weber a class consists of people who share a common market situation, and therefore common life chances, determined by the property and skills they bring to the market. This yields not two classes but several, including a propertied class, a commercial class, the propertyless and a growing middle class of the skilled and credentialled. More importantly, Weber argued that class is only one dimension of stratification. Alongside it stand status, the distribution of social honour and prestige expressed in distinctive styles of life, and party, the organisation of people for the pursuit of power. Stratification is therefore multidimensional, and economic class does not always coincide with social standing or political power.
The functionalist tradition, represented by Davis and Moore, added a further perspective, treating stratification as a universal mechanism by which societies attach unequal rewards to positions of unequal importance, thereby motivating the ablest individuals to fill the most demanding roles. Critics reply that this legitimises inequality and ignores the way inherited advantage restricts genuine competition.
In sum, the stratification of classes is the ordering of society into economically defined and relatively open strata. Whether viewed through Marx's lens of ownership and conflict or Weber's lens of market situation, status and power, class remains the axis around which inequality in modern societies is organised, and despite rising mobility, class divisions in wealth and life chances have proved remarkably durable.
Examiner's perspective
In a twelve-mark note the examiner rewards economy and structure. A strong answer defines stratification and class at the outset, distinguishes class systems from caste as open and economic, and then delivers the two governing theories cleanly. The most common weakness is to write at length on Marx alone and to neglect Weber, which forfeits the marks for range; the pairing of the dichotomous and the multidimensional models is what signals command of the topic.
Precision of vocabulary — relationship to the means of production, market situation, life chances, status and party — lifts the script, as does a brief line on the functionalist view to show breadth. The candidate must resist padding: a short evaluative close on the openness and persistence of class inequality is worth more than an extra descriptive paragraph. Discipline within the word limit is itself a mark of examination skill.