English Extended Essay

Hey everyone i'm a newbie here so I hope i'm not breaking any rules or anything. . .
but I'm planning to do my extended essay in english, and I've chosen the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
I have no idea what my research question is going to be yet, but my advisor (who is soooo picky when it is MY extended essay on a topic of MY choice) keeps wanting me to do a comparison essay, but I dont know of any books that I could compare Jane Eyre with. . .
my advisor said that the IB people prefer it when you do comparisons instead of focusing your whole essay on one book, is this true?
For anyone who has written an EE for English on one book, was it hard to find enough things to write about that would fill 3000-4000 words? That is my biggest concern bc I dont want to do a comparison essay. . .
So if anyone knows anything,, , please help me! thanks!

Reply 1

Little_soph

I think it depends on what exam board your on. I'm doing AQA English Literature B. I did a comparison. I'm not sure if they 'prefer' it but I think it demonstrates your critical and annalytical skills better or something.

I did my extended essay in december and got my mark back in march. I did a comparission of two novels and it went down pretty well. Our school told us which two novels to study but we got to choose our own title and were expected to make references to other novels in our essays.
The novels I did were 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margret Atwood and 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys.

If you wanted something to compare to 'Jane Eyre' then 'Wide Sargasso Sea' my be a good novel to compare it to as Rhys invents a back story for the mad woman in the attic featured in 'Jane Eyre'. You can then bring in loads of critical opions on feminism, race, female idenity etc. Personally I didn't enjoy reading 'Wide Sargasso Sea' but everyone has there own opinions.

Hope that helped a bit.

Reply 2

iron_appendages100

I've currently finished IB1 and am doing an EE in English A1 as well - my advisor told me it doesn't make a difference whether you compare two books or just do an in-depth study on one (I actually asked), as long as you go really "in-depth" on the book of your choice. I happen to be doing my EE on Jane Eyre as well, I'm only doing it on one book and am focusing on the portrayal of religion. Before that, when I was considering a comparison, my advisor told me "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte (I think) would be a good choice. But there's nothing wrong with doing it on one book - in the IB EE guide, some of their suggested titles for English A1 are based on one book only, too.

Good luck with yours :smile:

Reply 3

evantej

The reason your advisor wants you to a comparative essay is because it showcases a particular set of skills; albeit a little artificially.

I disagree with Little_soph for a number of reasons. If you were writing about Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea then it would be good to draw analogies to Jane Eyre, but not if you are comparing the works. You will invariably write more about Wide Sargasso Sea at the expense of the former, which is problematic since it is the more complex and interesting of the two works. Of course, the same logic follows through when you look at the original mythic structures; I would not compare Jane Eyre with the Bible. The "mad woman in the attic" is Lilith (Adam's first wife, who was made as his equal but refused to bow down, and cast out of paradise as a consequence; note her negative connotations and portrayal now).

Secondly, you should talk about gender relations not feminism. You can discuss the portrayal of masculine (note I did not say male) characters when you reference patriarchy. But this framework inhibits male characters too. Take note of Austen's novels' titles: Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. You have gendered structuralist binary oppositions, but the main characters in Sense and Sensibility are sisters; one of which exhibits the masculine 'Sense' personality. Of course, this is merely a premise, and you should avoid generalising too much. The point is that the binary oppositions are not structuralist as the title suggests. As the characters develop their gendered traits merge, and become more realistic. You may realise the underlying message of the novel but you have to show how it works; that is the point of the essay.