Anne of Green Gables - overdone, or suitable English EE topic?

[wombat123]

So my supervisor and I talked over my last EE topic idea, and we've arisen with more doubts, so now I'm desperately trying to piece together a new idea before summer break starts and I won't be able to discuss it with my supervisor anymore. (I'm planning to get most of my first draft done over the summer.)

Now I'm thinking of doing the use of symbolism and motifs in the portrayal of the theme of individuality vs. societal expectations in the first 3-4 novels of the Anne of Green Gable series. (So Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and then Anne of Windy Poplars if I still need more material.)

I'm worried that I've fallen into the vortex of doing a book that is too famous and has been so analyzed that the marker would be bored out of their minds reading it. For example, I hear doing Jane Austen novels is highly discouraged for this reason. a I know that in Canada, Anne of Green Gables is historically really big. But although it was really popular a few decades ago, nowadays most people seem to dislike it and find it a reflection of how boring Canadian literature is. And is it really big outside of Canada? Because the EE would have to be sent out of the country to be marked, would the marker even perceive it as an over-done novel? And even though the first Anne of Green Gables is famous, the rest of the books in the series are not so much. Since I'm doing a section of the series and not just the one book, would that be ok?

Would the book be too elementary? I know that right now it is considered a children's book, but when it was first published in the early 1900's it was written for all ages. And I've even heard about it being studied in a university course. I personally think there are lot of themes and messages in the book if you bother analyzing it rather than reading it for solely recreational purposes, but I'm afraid that it's my bias towards the series since I'm really fond of it, and it won't be so when I'm trying to write 4000 words on it.

What do you think? Am I falling into the trap of an overdone novel/series? Is it too famous, and would it be around as bad as choosing Jane Austen? Is it too elementary, and not at a high up enough in literary regard?

Thank you in advanced.

[zoratomlinson]

On 6/18/2011 at 2:25 PM, wombat123 said:

So my supervisor and I talked over my last EE topic idea, and we've arisen with more doubts, so now I'm desperately trying to piece together a new idea before summer break starts and I won't be able to discuss it with my supervisor anymore. (I'm planning to get most of my first draft done over the summer.)

Now I'm thinking of doing the use of symbolism and motifs in the portrayal of the theme of individuality vs. societal expectations in the first 3-4 novels of the Anne of Green Gable series. (So Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and then Anne of Windy Poplars if I still need more material.)

I'm worried that I've fallen into the vortex of doing a book that is too famous and has been so analyzed that the marker would be bored out of their minds reading it. For example, I hear doing Jane Austen novels is highly discouraged for this reason. a I know that in Canada, Anne of Green Gables is historically really big. But although it was really popular a few decades ago, nowadays most people seem to dislike it and find it a reflection of how boring Canadian literature is. And is it really big outside of Canada? Because the EE would have to be sent out of the country to be marked, would the marker even perceive it as an over-done novel? And even though the first Anne of Green Gables is famous, the rest of the books in the series are not so much. Since I'm doing a section of the series and not just the one book, would that be ok?

Would the book be too elementary? I know that right now it is considered a children's book, but when it was first published in the early 1900's it was written for all ages. And I've even heard about it being studied in a university course. I personally think there are lot of themes and messages in the book if you bother analyzing it rather than reading it for solely recreational purposes, but I'm afraid that it's my bias towards the series since I'm really fond of it, and it won't be so when I'm trying to write 4000 words on it.

What do you think? Am I falling into the trap of an overdone novel/series? Is it too famous, and would it be around as bad as choosing Jane Austen? Is it too elementary, and not at a high up enough in literary regard?

Thank you in advanced.

Hi!

I'm an IB student right now, and I was thinking of doing Anne of Green Gables for my EE as well. I see that your comment is from 2011, and I wanted to ask if the IB board was okay with that book being chosen as the literary piece for EE?