Jump to content

English EE - John Green?


DoctorHer

Recommended Posts

The IBO says that books done for the EE should be of literary merit. But the definition of "literary merit" has already been long debated.

I read on here that some people have done their EEs on more contemporary writers, such as Nicolas Sparks, and I was wondering if I could do mine on John Green?

One of his books I'm interested in doing, Looking For Alaska, has won the Printz award in 2006. Surely that's some kind of literary merit?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Because the book was controversial, I think that there could be a certain risk that an examiner might not consider it "of sufficient literary merit to enable the student to develop sustained literary analysis". Notice how classic are the examples given in the EE Guide. Since you can't be sure of the examiner's attitude, it might be best to play safe!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I honestly do not think the type of book matters. On the contrary, my English teacher tells me that we should try doing something new; comparisons between Brave New World and 1984 have been so overdone its ridiculous. Finding a book you like is important, and as long as its similar to the level of books/plays you are studying in your A1, things should be fine.

I did not even come across that particular description nor did I consider it when I was writing my English extended essay. Does a book necessary have to be credited for it to be literature? All I believe is that you should be careful when formulating your research question and thesis; do not pick a controversial or subjective view and argue that. I think everyone has experienced being marked by the somewhat questionable feedback of an English teacher, and you need to be aware that your argument and overall mark is at the discretion of the examiner.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What do you mean by "controversial"? I'm aware that LFA isn't exactly the kind of book you'd want middle schoolers to read but I find that for high school it is actually quite age appropriate (not taking into consideration parental objections though). High school is the age in which you deal with love, loss, growing up, etc; most of which are dealt with in the book...

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...