English EE about K-Pop, but taking A SL? Possible?

[Gav]

Hi, guys.

My EE topic due date is like literally tomorrow, so I really need major suggestions by people. (I have ideas below.)

I'm taking English A SL, but I'm considering to take Category 3 English Extended Essay.
Are there any other people who are in the same situation as me? Taking English EE but it's not their HL subject?
I approached and talked to my English teacher / English Supervisor today and like they kinda don't recommend me to do it because my English language proficiency need to be Very high, especially when the markers are Native English speakers, so they'd expect so highly in terms of the language use, etc... 

But, like my situation is so complicated.
Actually my first choice is supposed to be Economics EE, but until now I haven't got any idea to link my interests (K-Pop) to an economic theory, and it's literally tomorrow... I mean I kinda have a rough RQ for that one, but I don't know if it uses a lot of economic theory... So, I still have to find one in case my English EE really gets rejected, but it's really tough when I can't think of an economic theory. 

But anyways, if I were to do an English EE, I wanted to analyse various songs by this particular Korean boy band (BTS) and how it reflects the conditions in Korea as well as how they have influenced the society in the world, which is through their lyrics. (I can tell you my exact RQ through PM.) I thought it was a good idea at first and I can personally envision myself enjoying when writing it (well at least compared to Econs) I think, plus my EE coordinator (which is also my EE Econs supervisor) strongly encourage students, encouraged me, to do an EE on something I'm passionate about. 

But, right now, I don't know if this is a good idea for an English EE anymore because my English EE supervisor wasn't convinced, like they have to see if my English proficiency is high enough (but I'm actually not quite confident in that, I just really like the topic that I've thought on), whether analysing songs would reach 4000 words, and whether the topic is good enough, etc. 

So I'm going here to hopefully be able to see people's thoughts on my situation. So, please, please, please help me, just throw in your thoughts or like anything, what do you guys think about it? Do you guys think it's not doable too? 

Thank you so much!

[kw0573]

I was talking to some mods and they were generally in disapproval of this topic. I mostly agree with them, but i think it is a viable option with lots of ways to make egregious mistakes. 

It is very difficult to discuss the influence of any text on society, but stick to writer's intent, motivation, along with social context.

Main challenges are I think twofold: 1) (scholarly) background research 2) focus and method. Further you need to demonstrate that there is a scholarly importance to studying k-pop. Be mindful and truthful about the challenges in writing such a topic. You cannot block your supervisor's suggestions once you think they want you to do something else, because they have the most experience. The topic in itself is not bad, but it's dangerous if somewhere down the road you are tackling this on your own. For example, when you get stuck on a comparison and contrast paper, your teachers know how to help you, but they may be unwilling or unsure when it comes to K-pop. 

Some guiding questions if you do decide to do this topic.

1) When Korean and English are both present in a song, are there deeper meanings or just have English to broadcast to the world/have catchy chorus? (be careful with this, don't try to justify a relationship if it is not there).

2) What are the English backgrounds of the songwriters? If you hear grammatical errors, are they intentional or accidental?

3) How does the band use English to communicate Korean culture? What are some themes that listeners may react differently by Korean or English-speakers? How is English used when referencing to something Koreans may know well but foreigners less so?

4) How do the songs find a balance between length of sentences and details. What merits do these songs have if studied as poetry? What rhyme schemes are commonly used and why were they used?

[Gav]

1 hour ago, kw0573 said:

I was talking to some mods and they were generally in disapproval of this topic. I mostly agree with them, but i think it is a viable option with lots of ways to make egregious mistakes. 

 It is very difficult to discuss the influence of any text on society, but stick to writer's intent, motivation, along with social context.

 Main challenges are I think twofold: 1) (scholarly) background research 2) focus and method. Further you need to demonstrate that there is a scholarly importance to studying k-pop. Be mindful and truthful about the challenges in writing such a topic. You cannot block your supervisor's suggestions once you think they want you to do something else, because they have the most experience. The topic in itself is not bad, but it's dangerous if somewhere down the road you are tackling this on your own. For example, when you get stuck on a comparison and contrast paper, your teachers know how to help you, but they may be unwilling or unsure when it comes to K-pop. 

 Some guiding questions if you do decide to do this topic.

 1) When Korean and English are both present in a song, are there deeper meanings or just have English to broadcast to the world/have catchy chorus? (be careful with this, don't try to justify a relationship if it is not there).

 2) What are the English backgrounds of the songwriters? If you hear grammatical errors, are they intentional or accidental?

 3) How does the band use English to communicate Korean culture? What are some themes that listeners may react differently by Korean or English-speakers? How is English used when referencing to something Koreans may know well but foreigners less so?

 4) How do the songs find a balance between length of sentences and details. What merits do these songs have if studied as poetry? What rhyme schemes are commonly used and why were they used?

Hello, I just want to firstly thank you for responding. 

I just had my EE 'fair' today before you replied and I talked about the K-Pop one to my English EE Supervisor and got rejected because the language is not English, but Korean. I wanted to analyse the translated K-Pop songs, but apparently it has to be originally in English. Also, the other English supervisor said that generally song lyrics won't get high marks, so there's that too. 

For your guiding questions, thank you so much. But, unfortunately I have to give up this idea because I have no choice anymore, right? And the band do have some English lyrics in their songs, but very very few to be honest. I originally just wanted to talk about the message BTS have conveyed in their songs and how it has helped so many people, but I guess it's not possible anymore and as you said, it's very difficult even though it was allowed. 

So, basically I am EE-less as of now because my Economics EE also got rejected (I had 3 RQs for Econs, all 3 were either too narrow, too common, or more to business, etc). 

To be honest, I really don't know if I can come up with an EE topic that I am interested with in less than 3 days, especially when my mind is blocked and all that. I was one of the few people who are EE-less today 😞

Do you perhaps have any other thoughts on my (additional) situation right now? But, thank you so much again for responding. I really really appreciate it. 

[kw0573]

You should do the EE in your best subject. If that's Econ then continue to think of a topic.

[Gav]

2 hours ago, kw0573 said:

You should do the EE in your best subject. If that's Econ then continue to think of a topic.

Thank you.