[TheAdequateGatsby]

Anyone planning on doing 50 Shades of Grey for their dissertation...?

[Belaruce]

I have my books picked and I am currently reading them, as they are all classed under existential fiction. But I am struggling to come up with a suitable topic. The books are Hunger by Knut Hamsun, Blindness by Jose Saramago and The Plague by Albert Camus. I also have Notes From Underground by Dostoyevsky handy if that could be roped into a theme. Its just Hamsun I struggle to link with Saramago and Camus. Any ideas would be appreciated, as need a rough idea for returning to school.

[E....]

Hi! I've started S6 and I was supposed to have decided which texts I want to do by the end of summer and I haven't read nearly as many books as I was intending to!
I really want to do Catcher in the Rye and my teacher recommended The Bell Jar and I think they go quite well together.....?
I also have been told to pick three so I've also read The Virgin Suicides but not completely sold on whether this is the best novel to go with the other two, does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations? Quickly running out of time!

[thursdayschild]

So over summer we have been asked to decide (and read) books for our dissertation. I've spent the entire summer stressing over a topic so I haven't read anything (I'm a really quick reader so will be able to catch up with the reading). My teacher wants us to do three books so here are some potential books if anyone could advise me on what they think is best/give me other examples etc I would be very grateful! I am SO lost!

I love John Steinbeck but my teacher said studying three of his novels would be boring so I need other relevant books by different authors.. I have read East of Eden, The Winter of Our Discontent and The Grapes of Wrath

I also love The Great Gatsby so if there are two relevant books and a suitable question that'd be great

Or a question and relevant novels that would include a novel by Virginia Woolf.

That sounds like quite a random mix but I like the topics of all three so if anyone has any ideas OR can tell me something they have done or know of someone doing for their AH I would be so, so grateful

[christielovesyou]

Why don't you do something based on The American Dream, comparing one of Steinbeck's books to Gatsby? Maybe throw in another for good measure? I was going to do something like that but then time was running out and I hadn't read any of the relevant books so I just did something I knew well already.

[légèreté]

(Original post by christielovesyou)
Why don't you do something based on The American Dream, comparing one of Steinbeck's books to Gatsby? Maybe throw in another for good measure? I was going to do something like that but then time was running out and I hadn't read any of the relevant books so I just did something I knew well already.

If you're doing Steinbeck-Fitzgerald the American Dream is probably your best option. You could easily get a really good, precise and thorough question out of it - two books as a comparative literature study is perfectly acceptable. And, of course, if you enjoy both novels, it should a bit more interesting finding parallels between them.

[Quick-use]

(Original post by thursdayschild)
So over summer we have been asked to decide (and read) books for our dissertation. I've spent the entire summer stressing over a topic so I haven't read anything (I'm a really quick reader so will be able to catch up with the reading). My teacher wants us to do three books so here are some potential books if anyone could advise me on what they think is best/give me other examples etc I would be very grateful! I am SO lost!

I love John Steinbeck but my teacher said studying three of his novels would be boring so I need other relevant books by different authors.. I have read East of Eden, The Winter of Our Discontent and The Grapes of Wrath

I also love The Great Gatsby so if there are two relevant books and a suitable question that'd be great

Or a question and relevant novels that would include a novel by Virginia Woolf.

That sounds like quite a random mix but I like the topics of all three so if anyone has any ideas OR can tell me something they have done or know of someone doing for their AH I would be so, so grateful

A few of the other posters are saying to do something along the lines of the American Dream. Apart from Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath, you could also consider On the Road by Jack Kerouac.


Good luck.

[E....]

I also love Gatsby and the idea of writing a dissertation on the American dream but as I studied it for Higher I can't do it again.....?

[MarkMcGowan3]

(Original post by E....)
I also love Gatsby and the idea of writing a dissertation on the American dream but as I studied it for Higher I can't do it again.....?

You can do the same texts for you dissertation as you did in your higher course I'm sure.

[Lewis_Mac]

Just found out I got 34/40 for my Dissertation!

[E....]

Well done! Can I ask what you did yours on?


My teacher advised against doing a novel I studied last year so I have a week to try and find something else to do -_-
Can anyone suggest any novels that would lend itself to being studied with The Picture of Dorian Gray? Frankenstein?

[légèreté]

(Original post by Lewis_Mac)
Just found out I got 34/40 for my Dissertation!

That's amazing, any advice?

(Original post by E....)
Well done! Can I ask what you did yours on?


My teacher advised against doing a novel I studied last year so I have a week to try and find something else to do -_-
Can anyone suggest any novels that would lend itself to being studied with The Picture of Dorian Gray? Frankenstein?

Goethe's Faust? Frankenstein would be good if you were wanting to look at Gothic literature. Jane Eyre would also come to mind if you're wanting to take it from an angle of social criticism. Jay Gatsby could be compared with Dorian Gray and you could do a whole dissertation on the narcissism found within both novels...if it wasn't out of the question. You could use that same theme but instead of Gatsby look at Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment.

[Lewis_Mac]

(Original post by E....)
Well done! Can I ask what you did yours on?

Thank you!

My dissertation was entitled: "A critical examination of the use of narrative voice and subsequent characterisation in presenting isolated adolescent protagonists who exhibit abnormal behaviours and attitudes" I compared Catcher in the Rye, The Wasp Factory and We Need To Talk About Kevin.

One of my classmates compared The Picture of Dorian Grey with Great Expectations last year; focussing on the theme of Personal Growth.

Frankenstein would work quite well with The Wasp Factory.

[Lewis_Mac]

(Original post by légèreté)
That's amazing, any advice?

Thank you

My advice would be:

- Do not incorporate a piece of modern literature unless you are very passionate about it as there is generally a lack of resources.

- Try and weave critical voices into your argument - although these should be used to back-up your own analysis and not as a replacement

- If you can, try and use three texts to give a breadth of analysis.

- Try and give roughly equal weighting to each text in your dissertation.

- Discussion is key; share your drafts with other members of the class, other members of staff in the department, or perhaps retired English teachers. Try and get as many views on your work as possible.

- It may seem obvious, but choose texts you enjoy - the process is arduous enough without a disdain for one of the texts!

And finally....

- Be prepared to re-draft. A lot.

Hope this is helpful!

[MarkMcGowan3]

A girl who sat Adv. English last year in my school got 40/40 for her dissertation Don't know how to follow that hahaha!

[gingermitch]

i've only just swapped my subject choices to advanced higher english and i'm supposed to know/have an idea of my dissertation books by monday..everyone else had all summer to think so i'm kind of needing to catch up.

as a starting point, i loved ian mcewan's 'enduring love' and was thinking of writing about obsession or narrative point of view, but what other books are there which are similar in the theme of obsession/love?

alternatively i was thinking of combining patrick suskind's 'perfume' and john fowles 'the collector' in some way of obsession/sexual desire.. along those lines, however i haven't actually read them yet.

my teacher recommended ian mcewan's on chesil beach and saturday, along with everyman by philip roth and the sense of an ending by julian barnes. i haven't read any of them however.

does anyone have any advice? which should i go with/is there any one else who has done these books or knows books which will fit accordingly if i create an obsession themed question?

please help

[Quick-use]

(Original post by gingermitch)
i've only just swapped my subject choices to advanced higher english and i'm supposed to know/have an idea of my dissertation books by monday..everyone else had all summer to think so i'm kind of needing to catch up.

as a starting point, i loved ian mcewan's 'enduring love' and was thinking of writing about obsession or narrative point of view, but what other books are there which are similar in the theme of obsession/love?

alternatively i was thinking of combining patrick suskind's 'perfume' and john fowles 'the collector' in some way of obsession/sexual desire.. along those lines, however i haven't actually read them yet.

my teacher recommended ian mcewan's on chesil beach and saturday, along with everyman by philip roth and the sense of an ending by julian barnes. i haven't read any of them however.

does anyone have any advice? which should i go with/is there any one else who has done these books or knows books which will fit accordingly if i create an obsession themed question?

please help

I won't be much use here as I've not read any of those books nor heard of any of those authors. I can, however, link you to a useful website which can be helpful when choosing texts and authors for the Advanced Higher dissertation: http://www.shetland-library.gov.uk/d...gBySubject.pdf


Good luck!

[xkatherinerose]

I am doing Adv Higher this year with a teacher who has never taught it before so understandably I am a little worried..! For my dissertation however, I was thinkingalong the lines of comparing how mental illness is portrayed in more "modern" fiction with the older classics...
Any opinions, good or bad?

[Quick-use]

(Original post by xkatherinerose)
I am doing Adv Higher this year with a teacher who has never taught it before so understandably I am a little worried..! For my dissertation however, I was thinkingalong the lines of comparing how mental illness is portrayed in more "modern" fiction with the older classics...
Any opinions, good or bad?

That sounds a little broad. I don't think that a 4500 word Advanced Higher essay could even hope to answer that question.

What are your interests? What authors do you like? What texts do you enjoy reading? What did you study for English in your previous years and what did you think of them? Did you enjoy them? Is there anything in the literary world that fascinates you at all?

I did Advanced Higher English last year and I can understand having an inexperienced teacher. But, I came out with a B which I was happy with.

[chittlm]

Hi! I am thinking of doing 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury but I don't know what title to put forward. i don't think I'll do anything about dystopia because it's been done a lot. Any suggestions?