Written Assignment Suggestions

[samueltorres]

Hello

This is my first time posting in IB survival.

I'm currently beginning to write my written assignment which I have to hand in next week. I've recently moved schools, so I had two main options to write about. I studied Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Marquez in September when I began the IB, but I have not read it since I began grade 11. My other option is Agamemnon by Aeschylus, a the first instalment in a trilogy of plays written in 458 BC about the events that occur after a ten year war with a lot of feuds and some greek mythology. I have been focusing on this play at my current school so its fresher in my mind. At the moment I was thinking of writing about animal entanglement and its role in establishing fate and freewill as key themes, but I'm not sure if its too focused. Ive struggled with analysis and essay writing so I'm unsure if this is a topic I can write over 1200 words about without it being very slow and repetitive. 

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks 

[Nomenclature]

First off, welcome to IB Survival. I've read Chronicle, but I have not read Agamemnon. This doesn't really matter, because the advice I'm going to give you is going to be the same as if I were to have read both books: write about the work that resonated with you more (i.e. what you liked better). I say this because either way, you will probably have to spend at least an hour or two reviewing whichever work you choose, effectively planning out your essay before you write it. It helps to know the work well for this, but even if you've forgotten a bit (as is the case with Chronicle), it just means that you might have to spend tiny bit more time looking through the book and trying to find an event, section, passage, etc. which is suitable and coherent for your analysis.

Choosing the work that resonated with you will be easier in terms of finding passages to talk about — did you think that one section was particularly sad,exciting, terrifying? Okay, then talk about it, analyze it, talk about its significance and effect on the larger story and theme, repeat this a few more times, and voila: there's your paper. This is much better than having to scour through a work that you think is boring and having to choose sections at random that you don't really care about and can't say much about. 

Not to minimize your task, but 1200 words isn't too bad (hopefully that makes you fell a bit better). I hope that the words go by easily and the process is agreeable (ok, who am I kidding, let's just hope it isn't terrible ). Best of luck.