A level English coursework

I'm currently thinking about what texts to choose for my alevel English lit coursework and we have to choose one pre 1900 text and one post 1900. I was thinking of choosing the hunger games since it is a series of books I enjoy already and interests me but I'm not sure which books I could compare it to and if it is a suitably academic book

Reply 1

bbu7372

Is this for AQA? I did AQA English, and it sounds the same. I got an A*.

I can’t say for sure if they would dislike a less academic text like the hunger games, but I will say that everyone in my class was encouraged to pick from a list of more traditional texts. These included Death of a Salesmen, The Yellow Wallpaper and The Bloody Chamber. One student did Alias Grace, which is more modern, but still literary.

It might be harder to find critical views for The Hunger Games because there won’t be many academics writing about it. The historical context might also be harder because there won’t be as many academic essays covering the period, due to it being very recent.

it might also be harder to compare to a pre-1900 text because the themes are so modern. For example, it would make sense to compare it to other dystopian novels, but all the ones I can think of are post-1900 hundred. What were you thinking for the pre-1900 text?

Reply 2

will.b13

Original post by bbu7372

Is this for AQA? I did AQA English, and it sounds the same. I got an A*.
I can’t say for sure if they would dislike a less academic text like the hunger games, but I will say that everyone in my class was encouraged to pick from a list of more traditional texts. These included Death of a Salesmen, The Yellow Wallpaper and The Bloody Chamber. One student did Alias Grace, which is more modern, but still literary.
It might be harder to find critical views for The Hunger Games because there won’t be many academics writing about it. The historical context might also be harder because there won’t be as many academic essays covering the period, due to it being very recent.
it might also be harder to compare to a pre-1900 text because the themes are so modern. For example, it would make sense to compare it to other dystopian novels, but all the ones I can think of are post-1900 hundred. What were you thinking for the pre-1900 text?

Yeah it makes sense that there might not be much to say about it. I was thinking about doing 1984 by George Orwell since it is similarly dystopian but I'm still not sure what I could compare it to if you had any advice

Reply 3

bbu7372

Original post by will.b13

Yeah, that makes sense. You could also check out Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, or We. I think Margaret Atwood has a series of dystopian novels other than Handmaid’s tale (which is not allowed due to being already a possible exam text). If you happen to be doing Handmaid’s tale in your written exam, doing another by her could be a good strategy.

In terms of the pre-1900 text, it’s hard to say what would go with 1984 without knowing what areas you’d like to write about. If I was you, I’d write down three or four themes that I was interested in (or just look up the themes online and pick four), and then search for pre-1900 books that also cover that theme. If you decided on a couple of different options then you could ask your teacher which one would work best, or look online to see what other students have done. I think on the AQA website somewhere it has an examiner report, which says which combinations tend to work well.

The texts that I chose were very different, but they did both have identity as a really strong theme. The key theme is the most important thing, imo.

Reply 4

will.b13

Original post by bbu7372

Yeah, that makes sense. You could also check out Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, or We. I think Margaret Atwood has a series of dystopian novels other than Handmaid’s tale (which is not allowed due to being already a possible exam text). If you happen to be doing Handmaid’s tale in your written exam, doing another by her could be a good strategy.
In terms of the pre-1900 text, it’s hard to say what would go with 1984 without knowing what areas you’d like to write about. If I was you, I’d write down three or four themes that I was interested in (or just look up the themes online and pick four), and then search for pre-1900 books that also cover that theme. If you decided on a couple of different options then you could ask your teacher which one would work best, or look online to see what other students have done. I think on the AQA website somewhere it has an examiner report, which says which combinations tend to work well.
The texts that I chose were very different, but they did both have identity as a really strong theme. The key theme is the most important thing, imo.