Need help on English EE - The Book Thief

[Shasha]

I am planning to do my extended essay on The Book Thief. It's due in two weeks and I don't even have a proper topic yet! Please help me. I was thinking of two topics

1. The use of foreshadowing in the novel but I am not exactly sure what. Maybe something comparing the effect of foreshadowing on the reader's appreciation of Liesel and Rudy's characters. Would that be too common (since there is a discussion question about foreshadowing in the back of book) or too narrow? I think it is on the narrow side and I am worried it's a topic more suited to a WL essay than an EE.

2. The second one is exploring Rudy's character through the thievery he does.

Another problem I am having is that there is little critical and academic content out there about the Book Thief and I wonder if I will loose marks in criterion C because of this. Also, do you think it will be possible for me to finish a rough draft in two weeks?! Please help!

[sweetnsimple786]

Yes, you can definitely do a rough draft in two weeks.

I'd think once you have a detailed outline, the actual writing will be done in 2-5 hours.

For 1. I think that sounds interesting. I haven't read the book, but I haven't really considered foreshadowing being able to affect my view of characters. Now that I think about it, it's almost obvious in certain stories. Maybe you can talk about irony as well, since [dramatic?] irony deals with certain situations where the readers know more than the characters.

I'm not sure if it's too narrow or wide. It seems like it could fit in the framework if you specified the foreshadowing with an RQ.

For 2. So what will you argue? What will you look at? The types of things he steals? [well, books, I guess?] His intentions? His system. I think this has potential as well.

I'd make an outline of points to discuss and fill it with lots of details, including quotations from the book. This will give you a good idea on how much you might end up writing.

I'm not sure about Criterion C. If there's not a lot, I don't think you'll be penalized for it, but you would need to be a little creative and really use the material that you do find. Good luck.

[Shasha]

Thanks so much for your help! I really needed that encouragement that I can finish it on time, especially since my supervisor is too busy to see me. I never considered irony, but I still decided on doing the second one, as the first one was giving me too many problems. I was thinking of exploring something like the theme of heroism through Rudy's character. How, although his whole life he tries to be heroic to get attention, his real heroism comes through when he is on the sidelines, and from what he looses, rather than what he wins. I think there is something to argue in that. I know characterization and theme are literary features but I am worried that I am not explicitly focusing on minute things like foreshadowing etc.

ETA another important question. Is it true that you need to look at literary features OTHER than plot, theme and characterization to write a good essay?

Edited September 9, 2010 by Shasha

[sweetnsimple786]

No, you don't have to pick obscure literary terms. However, when you say plot or theme or characterization, realize that there's a lot involved in each one. So if you go with the theme of heroism, you'll look at how the author treats it possibly. You might look at dialogue, the author's voice, narration, the use of time, symbols, whatever. When you talk about theme, you automatically talk about other literary features, don't you?