i dont know how to form the start of my coursework for english liturature

hi guys, hope you're all ok, i was hoping to find some help on how to start and formulate my argument for my English literature a level coursework , my statement is "compare and contrast the presentation of children and the impact absence of parental figures have. and the books i have chosen are, Philip Pullmans northern lights and Charles dickens Oliver twist. I'm struggling on how to form large enough paragraphs and a good introduction has anyone got any advice?

Reply 1

GeorgiaC0925

Original post by idontknowhow

Hi,
Brilliant choice of novels, I love Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy, and think your topic is a great fit for both.

You can play around with your title to be more concise perhaps? Keep it simple :smile:

“Compare and contrast the presentation of children and the impact of parental absence.”

Firstly, if you have a word count, you should try to plan a certain number of points, with an overarching link to both novels for each point. For example your coursework will include a brief introduction and conclusion, so you should factor in how many points you want to write, with the word count given.

For my coursework, we were given 2500 words, so I decided to write three large and in-detail points, with each point consisting of two paragraphs - The first paragraph was an analysis of one text (at my college we had a “main” text) and the second paragraph was a comparison/contrast of both the first and the partner text. (Hope this makes sense!)

  If let’s say your first point was focused on abandonment for example, with your first paragraph focusing on Dickens, an example of this SECOND paragraph in your compare and contrast framework could be something like:   

“While Dickens exaggerates his young protagonist’s abandonment through use of destitute settings, the vast and imposing architecture of Pullman confines young Lyra, reflecting her desertion - Despite the juxtaposing use of setting, both children are evidently powerless in the face of their parental abandonment.” … this comparison continues in your 2nd paragraph talking about both texts.  

Then you would go on to talk about Philip Pullmans use setting / presentation of abandonment, whatever your overarching point (1/3) is about.  

Since your statement is a compare and contrast, no matter what framework you decide to structure your coursework with, you should continually reference both texts interchangeably.   I don’t know if this helps, but that’s how I did it! :smile:

Reply 2

idontknowhow