jayc01 Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 So for my extended essay, I wanted to write about anime because it is the only thing that interests me. Due to my love for books,as well, i decided to do a Literature EE, however I am not quite sure what category my EE falls under. I want to make sure my EE actually fits under a category before I get too invested in it. I am planning to compare a potrayal of a society in a novel with a society in an anime. Because the anime is well not a literacy work I couldn't figure it out by reading the extended essay guide and the teachers at my school aren't so sure. Please help me out it would be appreciated. Thank you. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcurrant Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 (edited) Not literacy. Literary work. Anime a literary work or not ... Nothing, technically, is "literary" until you treat it so and it allows itself to be read in this way. And no, I am not one of those relativists or deniers of factual truth, but I do hold that you can read (as many readers did, at the time) Robinson Crusoe as a record of events that really took place, as information on how to survive and remain sane on an island, or as entertainment or as literature (or a conbination of some of these). Literature does not precede the reader, except as a general category. Anime is "literary" if you are able to treat it as a work of art, as you would in the Paper 2, for example. So the genre *anime* is not be your problem, really. Portrayal of a society may be if you treat that portrayal as a window on reality, but your use of the term "portrayal" seems to recognize that problem and avoid it - or at first blush, at any rate. But your topic is so vague and seems to omit any mention of the literary that I wonder if you may be treating these works as a pipeline to reality. That would be bad. The real issue, ultimately, I think, is whether your choice of such different genres will work for a comparative literary EE. A lot will depend on what you choose to focus on and how you word your thesis. The different genres, I think, is the real issue. Are they really comparable literary works? Edited February 28, 2018 by Blackcurrant 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayc01 Posted March 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 Thank you so much for your response and sorry for being so vague, at the time i didn't want to put my full topic out there. But i do believe they are comparable, however I am not 110% confident. The research question I came up with for my EE is "How does the anime series pyscho pass reflect the potrayed dystopian society within George Orwell’s 1984 novel". Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcurrant Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) No problem! I get it. One can never be too sure. OK, so first question: What did your supervisor say? Your sup. will be crucial to vetting your EE. Second question: what will be the answer to the big "so what" to your research topic? So, for example, once you have told your reader that the animé portrays things somewhat (or very) differently to Orwell's version, then what? Do you have something interesting and significant to offer through this research? If so, then you have a good chance of an EE topic and focus that will work. Sounds really like an interesting choice of EE. Mine was in English too, but I needed help with just getting started and these were the really good, pointed questions I was asked and re-asked. It helped a ton. I think it will for you too, because they are really vital to getting you to think "research" rather than "IB-usual-lit- essay". The first, only, counts here. The other is something entirely different (the usual P2 and WA type assignment, for example). My teacher was pretty unhelpful, but my tutor was fantastic. Hopefully your teacher is better than mine. What I got in the end was a "controversial subject" which my tutor said was the best way to achieve "perceptive" in the final mark.In my case, I chose to counter the usual, mainstream view of Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness in one particular aspect and nailed the thing. So I got a really good mark in the end. But it took a lot of research, of course and some inspiring discussions. You don't need to have a "controversial focus" to do really well, of course. But you MUST have a 1) research-worthy topic and 2) something significant/original to say. Something that contributes to the field or to current thinking about a work. Does this help at all? Edited March 1, 2018 by Blackcurrant 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayc01 Posted March 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 My supervisor felt that it was different and sounded interesting and was for it. And i never thought about a"so what", i was just gonna compare and contrast the societies and i thought that would be good enough. I am still not so sure how to go about my EE topic but we've just started so i feel like i have some time. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackcurrant Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 You go ahead and do what you think will work for you The So What of your research will make itself felt as you write. Hopefully. Just remember that to get to the higher marking echelons, your EE must do more than just describe or compare. You must be seen to offer an argument that leads somewhere. Somewhere deemed research-worthy and interesting and significant. Good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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