English Lit EE Topic feedback - HELP

[Neesha]

Hello everyone, 

 

I am writing my Extended Essay in English lit A, and could really use some feedback on my choice of topic! The book which I have selected is "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and some of the topics I have in mind are: 

 

1) Survivor's guilt in Slaughterhouse Five

2) How the portrayal of the characters in the novel contribute to it being anti-war in nature

3) The theme of fate and free will in Slaughterhouse Five

 

I am a little inclined towards the 2nd option, but I really do not know whether any of these would qualify. Kindly give your honest opinions, on whether any of these are worth doing, or if you have any other topic in mind. Also, if you do not think the choice of novel would produce a good essay, kindly give me suggestions and let me know if you have any other novel or topic in mind. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[ShootingStar16]

Hello everyone, 

 

I am writing my Extended Essay in English lit A, and could really use some feedback on my choice of topic! The book which I have selected is "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and some of the topics I have in mind are: 

 

1) Survivor's guilt in Slaughterhouse Five

2) How the portrayal of the characters in the novel contribute to it being anti-war in nature

3) The theme of fate and free will in Slaughterhouse Five

 

I am a little inclined towards the 2nd option, but I really do not know whether any of these would qualify. Kindly give your honest opinions, on whether any of these are worth doing, or if you have any other topic in mind. Also, if you do not think the choice of novel would produce a good essay, kindly give me suggestions and let me know if you have any other novel or topic in mind. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

I have never read Slaughterhouse Five, but your topics seem pretty solid. Make sure that your paper will be primarily focusing on the stylistic choices of the author. You can bring in social/political/philosophical context, but do that IN RELATION to the author's choice in literary devices (you can look at motifs, metaphors, syntax, punctuation, diction etc.). If you're a little more inclined to the second option, do some further research into that and hopefully, you've made notes on the book, so you can look back and see what you can find for your topic. Talk about the anti-war position presented by the characters in relation to technique. I'm not doing my EE in English Lit, so I wouldn't know about this as well as someone who's doing their EE in English Lit, but use your commentary skills and pick apart the literary devices. Make sure your EE doesn't end up becoming a plot summary. What constitutes a strong English paper in general is how well you can pick apart what the author is trying to say in relation to your argument. Another thing you can add could be multiple interpretations on certain stylistic choices. 

Edited September 12, 2015 by ShootingStar16

[Neesha]

 

Hello everyone, 

 

I am writing my Extended Essay in English lit A, and could really use some feedback on my choice of topic! The book which I have selected is "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and some of the topics I have in mind are: 

 

1) Survivor's guilt in Slaughterhouse Five

2) How the portrayal of the characters in the novel contribute to it being anti-war in nature

3) The theme of fate and free will in Slaughterhouse Five

 

I am a little inclined towards the 2nd option, but I really do not know whether any of these would qualify. Kindly give your honest opinions, on whether any of these are worth doing, or if you have any other topic in mind. Also, if you do not think the choice of novel would produce a good essay, kindly give me suggestions and let me know if you have any other novel or topic in mind. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

I have never read Slaughterhouse Five, but your topics seem pretty solid. Make sure that your paper will be primarily focusing on the stylistic choices of the author. You can bring in social/political/philosophical context, but do that IN RELATION to the author's choice in literary devices (you can look at motifs, metaphors, syntax, punctuation, diction etc.). If you're a little more inclined to the second option, do some further research into that and hopefully, you've made notes on the book, so you can look back and see what you can find for your topic. Talk about the anti-war position presented by the characters in relation to technique. I'm not doing my EE in English Lit, so I wouldn't know about this as well as someone who's doing their EE in English Lit, but use your commentary skills and pick apart the literary devices. Make sure your EE doesn't end up becoming a plot summary. What constitutes a strong English paper in general is how well you can pick apart what the author is trying to say in relation to your argument. Another thing you can add could be multiple interpretations on certain stylistic choices. 

 

 

All right, thanks for the input! Much appreciated! Makes sense. Which of these do you think would make a strong essay? Also, any tips on how I should form my RQ?

[ShootingStar16]

 

 

Hello everyone, 

 

I am writing my Extended Essay in English lit A, and could really use some feedback on my choice of topic! The book which I have selected is "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and some of the topics I have in mind are: 

 

1) Survivor's guilt in Slaughterhouse Five

2) How the portrayal of the characters in the novel contribute to it being anti-war in nature

3) The theme of fate and free will in Slaughterhouse Five

 

I am a little inclined towards the 2nd option, but I really do not know whether any of these would qualify. Kindly give your honest opinions, on whether any of these are worth doing, or if you have any other topic in mind. Also, if you do not think the choice of novel would produce a good essay, kindly give me suggestions and let me know if you have any other novel or topic in mind. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

I have never read Slaughterhouse Five, but your topics seem pretty solid. Make sure that your paper will be primarily focusing on the stylistic choices of the author. You can bring in social/political/philosophical context, but do that IN RELATION to the author's choice in literary devices (you can look at motifs, metaphors, syntax, punctuation, diction etc.). If you're a little more inclined to the second option, do some further research into that and hopefully, you've made notes on the book, so you can look back and see what you can find for your topic. Talk about the anti-war position presented by the characters in relation to technique. I'm not doing my EE in English Lit, so I wouldn't know about this as well as someone who's doing their EE in English Lit, but use your commentary skills and pick apart the literary devices. Make sure your EE doesn't end up becoming a plot summary. What constitutes a strong English paper in general is how well you can pick apart what the author is trying to say in relation to your argument. Another thing you can add could be multiple interpretations on certain stylistic choices. 

 

 

All right, thanks for the input! Much appreciated! Makes sense. Which of these do you think would make a strong essay? Also, any tips on how I should form my RQ?

 

I think the second option would make a strong essay, but the other topics could work as well. See if you can make your RQ technique-oriented because that's what you should be aiming for in an English Lit EE. Also, make sure your RQ isn't too broad or too narrow. Acknowledge that characters can have lots of layers to them and you have to be able to peel those layers. If there is a lot to a particular character, you can write about that one character or compare them to another character in the book. 

[Neesha]

 

 

 

Hello everyone, 

 

I am writing my Extended Essay in English lit A, and could really use some feedback on my choice of topic! The book which I have selected is "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and some of the topics I have in mind are: 

 

1) Survivor's guilt in Slaughterhouse Five

2) How the portrayal of the characters in the novel contribute to it being anti-war in nature

3) The theme of fate and free will in Slaughterhouse Five

 

I am a little inclined towards the 2nd option, but I really do not know whether any of these would qualify. Kindly give your honest opinions, on whether any of these are worth doing, or if you have any other topic in mind. Also, if you do not think the choice of novel would produce a good essay, kindly give me suggestions and let me know if you have any other novel or topic in mind. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

I have never read Slaughterhouse Five, but your topics seem pretty solid. Make sure that your paper will be primarily focusing on the stylistic choices of the author. You can bring in social/political/philosophical context, but do that IN RELATION to the author's choice in literary devices (you can look at motifs, metaphors, syntax, punctuation, diction etc.). If you're a little more inclined to the second option, do some further research into that and hopefully, you've made notes on the book, so you can look back and see what you can find for your topic. Talk about the anti-war position presented by the characters in relation to technique. I'm not doing my EE in English Lit, so I wouldn't know about this as well as someone who's doing their EE in English Lit, but use your commentary skills and pick apart the literary devices. Make sure your EE doesn't end up becoming a plot summary. What constitutes a strong English paper in general is how well you can pick apart what the author is trying to say in relation to your argument. Another thing you can add could be multiple interpretations on certain stylistic choices. 

 

 

All right, thanks for the input! Much appreciated! Makes sense. Which of these do you think would make a strong essay? Also, any tips on how I should form my RQ?

 

I think the second option would make a strong essay, but the other topics could work as well. See if you can make your RQ technique-oriented because that's what you should be aiming for in an English Lit EE. Also, make sure your RQ isn't too broad or too narrow. Acknowledge that characters can have lots of layers to them and you have to be able to peel those layers. If there is a lot to a particular character, you can write about that one character or compare them to another character in the book. 

 

 

Technique-oriented, got it! Comparing the protagonist to the antagonistic characters in the book can work as well. Thank you! 

[ShootingStar16]

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone, 

 

I am writing my Extended Essay in English lit A, and could really use some feedback on my choice of topic! The book which I have selected is "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, and some of the topics I have in mind are: 

 

1) Survivor's guilt in Slaughterhouse Five

2) How the portrayal of the characters in the novel contribute to it being anti-war in nature

3) The theme of fate and free will in Slaughterhouse Five

 

I am a little inclined towards the 2nd option, but I really do not know whether any of these would qualify. Kindly give your honest opinions, on whether any of these are worth doing, or if you have any other topic in mind. Also, if you do not think the choice of novel would produce a good essay, kindly give me suggestions and let me know if you have any other novel or topic in mind. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

I have never read Slaughterhouse Five, but your topics seem pretty solid. Make sure that your paper will be primarily focusing on the stylistic choices of the author. You can bring in social/political/philosophical context, but do that IN RELATION to the author's choice in literary devices (you can look at motifs, metaphors, syntax, punctuation, diction etc.). If you're a little more inclined to the second option, do some further research into that and hopefully, you've made notes on the book, so you can look back and see what you can find for your topic. Talk about the anti-war position presented by the characters in relation to technique. I'm not doing my EE in English Lit, so I wouldn't know about this as well as someone who's doing their EE in English Lit, but use your commentary skills and pick apart the literary devices. Make sure your EE doesn't end up becoming a plot summary. What constitutes a strong English paper in general is how well you can pick apart what the author is trying to say in relation to your argument. Another thing you can add could be multiple interpretations on certain stylistic choices. 

 

 

All right, thanks for the input! Much appreciated! Makes sense. Which of these do you think would make a strong essay? Also, any tips on how I should form my RQ?

 

I think the second option would make a strong essay, but the other topics could work as well. See if you can make your RQ technique-oriented because that's what you should be aiming for in an English Lit EE. Also, make sure your RQ isn't too broad or too narrow. Acknowledge that characters can have lots of layers to them and you have to be able to peel those layers. If there is a lot to a particular character, you can write about that one character or compare them to another character in the book. 

 

 

Technique-oriented, got it! Comparing the protagonist to the antagonistic characters in the book can work as well. Thank you! 

 

Also, if you're comparing, make sure to not talk about each character separately because it makes your essay seem incoherent. You have to show a coherent comparison between the characters.