Which 2 Of These Books Would Be Best To Use For My Comparative Coursework?

How I Live Now, What I Was, Just In Case By Meg Rosoff...Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult...Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen...Mummy's Little Girl by Jane Elliot...Case Histories by Kate Atkinson...A Curious Incident Of the Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon...The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne...A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (which of the series?)...Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli...Holes by Louis Sachar...The Host by Stephanie Meyer...anymore are welcome...I may have read them :tongue:

What similar themes do they have?...so far I've got...coming of age...role of women...parent/child relationships...forbidden love...good and evil...dystopia...transgression...duality...survival...unconventional girls...future before and after war...man and the natural world...lies and deceit...sin...dysfunctional families...war...though which one should I focus on...and include in my question?...any ideas for a question would be good too :'3

Thanking You In Advance, In Anticipation Of Your Reply :'O!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

emma-lauren

6

What could be quite interesting to do is maybe Jane Eyre and Girl, Interrupted.

Your main focus could be about the prejudiced against women, such as with the typing staff being only women whilst the supervisory staff are only men and having to adhere to strict dress codes at her typing job in Girl, Interrupted. This could be paired with the obscurity of women in Jane Eyre. Due to it being written and set in Victorian Times even Queen Victoria called women's rights 'folly' and declaring (a quote from the top of my head might not be exact) 'God created men and women different so let them remain each in their own position'. This shows Jane to struggle to overcome the boundaries of the era and Mr. Brocklehurst, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers all place impediments on her. Even in the end she is Rochester's 'prop and guide'. Bertha Mason is the symbol of the Victorian woman who is locked away. This links with the freedom and captivity issues in Girl, Interrupted and even in Jane Eyre the red room symbolises her freedom which she finally breaks free from.
There is also a generation gap in both novels as the physicians in Girl, Interrupted and the substitute mother which is Diana, Mary and Miss Temple.
There's a fabulous section in chapter 12 that declares 'Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.'

There's lots of links you could find if you do the reading and the research. They're both well known so finding sparknotes and critics quotes to add in to your work should be extremely straight forwards. Good luck :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

aceySnicks_x

OP

3

Original post by emma-lauren

What could be quite interesting to do is maybe Jane Eyre and Girl, Interrupted.

Your main focus could be about the prejudiced against women, such as with the typing staff being only women whilst the supervisory staff are only men and having to adhere to strict dress codes at her typing job in Girl, Interrupted. This could be paired with the obscurity of women in Jane Eyre. Due to it being written and set in Victorian Times even Queen Victoria called women's rights 'folly' and declaring (a quote from the top of my head might not be exact) 'God created men and women different so let them remain each in their own position'. This shows Jane to struggle to overcome the boundaries of the era and Mr. Brocklehurst, Edward Rochester, and St. John Rivers all place impediments on her. Even in the end she is Rochester's 'prop and guide'. Bertha Mason is the symbol of the Victorian woman who is locked away. This links with the freedom and captivity issues in Girl, Interrupted and even in Jane Eyre the red room symbolises her freedom which she finally breaks free from.
There is also a generation gap in both novels as the physicians in Girl, Interrupted and the substitute mother which is Diana, Mary and Miss Temple.
There's a fabulous section in chapter 12 that declares 'Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.'

There's lots of links you could find if you do the reading and the research. They're both well known so finding sparknotes and critics quotes to add in to your work should be extremely straight forwards. Good luck :smile:

Wow...you are brilliant *_______*...but its been ages since I've read Jane Eyre :'/...in year 11 to be exact :'/..and I focused more on the film than the book of Girl, interrupted :'/

Reply 3

emma-lauren

6

Have you read any Shakespeare, Victorian novels or any that are considered modern classics (such as and Woolf or Steinbeck or Orwell etc.)? These are just novels that would be really easy to focus and analyse that's all.

Reply 4

emma-lauren

6

Thinking about it, I don't know what board you're on but for our coursework we could use a poem as comparative work. For example I looked at betrayal in Othello, Enduring Love and then Modern Love by Meredith, his collection of 50 sonnets. I don't know if you'd feel comfortable with that but you could analyse a long war poem in close detail and compare how it explores the harsh realities/how it's hedged and propaganda to the boy in the striped pajamas. Because then if you haven't read it it doesn't really mater as it won't take long and the analysis of it won't be too bad. If you're up for it I wouldn't mind pointing out a few poems and pointing you in the right direction with analysis.
Just a thought.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

aceySnicks_x

OP

3

Original post by emma-lauren

Have you read any Shakespeare, Victorian novels or any that are considered modern classics (such as and Woolf or Steinbeck or Orwell etc.)? These are just novels that would be really easy to focus and analyse that's all.

Haha I think those will be harder to analyse...

Original post by emma-lauren

Thinking about it, I don't know what board you're on but for our coursework we could use a poem as comparative work. For example I looked at betrayal in Othello, Enduring Love and then Modern Love by Meredith, his collection of 50 sonnets. I don't know if you'd feel comfortable with that but you could analyse a long war poem in close detail and compare how it explores the harsh realities/how it's hedged and propaganda to the boy in the striped pajamas. Because then if you haven't read it it doesn't really mater as it won't take long and the analysis of it won't be too bad. If you're up for it I wouldn't mind pointing out a few poems and pointing you in the right direction with analysis.
Just a thought.

How I Live Now is kind of a war book...even though its not taken much notice by the characters...they focus more on other things...this is what I've got so far on How I Live Now http://www.penguin.co.nz/files/Teachers%20Note/How%20I%20Live%20Now,%20Meg%20Rosoff%209780141319926.pdf...ever read it before?...and my exam board is aqa...and I don't think I could use a poem...in my last coursework they said we could use a novel or a poem...I chose a novel...but had to discontinue it as my teacher said "no one else was choosing a novel"...this time we could use either but everyone else is choosing a novel v.v...I could maybe compare How I Live Now to a novel...or poem (I could ask)...that focuses more on the war itself and doesn't just mention it in the background...know any good ones...or the girl in How I Live Now doesn't have to repress her feelings and hide her forbidden love...to another who does...or something like that

Which 2 Of These Books Would Be Best To Use For My Comparative Coursework?

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