Spanish B EE--Culture&Society--Moorish Architecture

[sweetnsimple786]

Hello.

Background on me: I took the Spanish B SL exam this May and scored a 6. I'm a M10 candidate. I'm nowhere near fluent in Spanish. My speaking is terrible [thank goodness this isn't orally delivered!], and while my writing is much better, it's not that great.

I am passionate about doing something related to the effects of Moorish architecture in Spain--maybe study the Alcatraz or Alhambra or the city of Cordoba, Granada, or Sevilla. The most logical thing seems to do the EE in Spanish, because I don't see where else this could fit. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

What I'd like is your opinion. Is the topic [which is quite broad at the moment] viable? A possible, very rough RQ could be "How significant are the geometric shapes in Moorish architecture?" or "The influence of Moorish architecture on existing Spanish architecture"

I first learned about Andalusia [the region the Moors ruled from the 8th to 15th century] 5 years ago, and I found the architecture/culture part riveting. I've only devoted 3-4 hours researching, but I need to know if I'm totally off track. If so, I'll have to work harder; I don't see myself doing a 180 on the topic.

I'm hoping to score well enough on the other critera so as to overcompense for the grammar blunders. And I'm not a moron either--I can figure out the basics. I guess it might be like reading a 14 year old's writing? Varied sentence structure, but nothing diabolocially complex.

Ooh I have a question for Elsa, but I'd like input from anyone =)

Elsa, you said in one of your posts that you talked about a local piece of architecture [i think] in your EE so that the graders would be more impressed. Do you suggest I look for more low-key examples, or do you think I shouldn't worry about it, as I probably won't score that high anyways? Hahaha

Edit: Here is the thread I was just talking about.

Edited July 16, 2009 by sweetnsimple786

[Vvi]

You could fit it under Spanish or Visual Arts for your EE, both approach it from a different viewpoint. I do think you should pick something local (maybe not just one building, you could choose a modern day city and explore how much of that city's architecture has been influenced by the Moors).

There must be loads of Spanish speakers over there, so after you've finished your EE you could get someone outside school to check it for you and make sure that you haven't written anything completely stupid/misphrased things. However, I don't know at what standard A1 EE's need to be at grammatically, as Elsa wrote hers in Arabic but she's a native speaker and has lived in Jordan all her life. It may be that Visual Arts will be better suited to you from a language point of view. Examine the criteria and see which direction fits what you want to do better.

[deissi]

en español, ay caramba! you need to be very fluent for a lang b EE. An excellent RQ, though. If you can find someone who can fix your grammar, go for it.

Viivi: Elsa did Arabic B for her EE.

[Abu]

I watched a documentary made by Boris Johnson (Londoners would know who I'm talking about) which was very insightful with regards to the Moorish conquest of Spain. It's 2 hours long and even if you're not going to be utilising all the details, it makes for a very interesting watch.

Here's the first of 12 parts on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9_-BeXKRMI

[~Lc~]

ok here's the dealo!

I'm giving you a bit of Uni research experience in addition to my ickle EE knowledge.

Your topic is broad, which will leave you making lots of assumptions and open ended arguments. Thus you need to specify it down to what elements you are looking at, where, and what building, maybe a how as well =). This you will only find out by reading lots of texts and having prior knowledge which will lead you into making a thesis in your introduction. There are 2 ways of doing research, writing as you go along, which is easier in the sense you get more written while reading, and doing all the reading then starting to write, which often proves more efficient.

That said, look at my EE for a start point if you like, and try and get a hold of the books I used for Islamic architecture. They're cited in English in the bibliography =)

otherwise get your hands on touristic articles or even wikipedia on certain moorish buildings in an area you'd like to research, do not use these for your EE but use them for prior research knowledge. They may be slightly inaccurate but the general gist should be on the spot. When you roughly know what they are, where they are, a bit of their history. Then pick one and go with it. I'd stay clear of the popular ones which are very researched, I think if you do lots of reading you'll find a building you'll take a fancy for and decide to do it on that because you like it.

Since you mentioned you're Indian by birth, maybe compare it to other Islamic architecture developed elsewhere (do you have any in India?) and maybe compare the Islamic elements?

I'd stay away from linking it to modern architecture, because finding resources for that will be tricky, as most of them must be in journals and journals are usually hard to access when you're at school.

[sweetnsimple786]

Thanks so much for everyone's advice.

I have another question. So I changed my subject to history. I'm using the Alhambra Palace to show what was going on with between the Christians and Muslims at the time. The thing is my essay seems to be synthesis more than analysis. Is that going to limit me from getting a good grade? I don't know how I can analyze because I'm looking at the changes to the Alhambra on one side and the Muslim and Christian rulers and any possible conflicts they had. I guess I'm relating them, but I'm still only using information that was already there... I'm just putting 2 and 2 together, so to speak. Help?

Edit: Done with it. I'm so glad I did this topic. Thank you to everyone =)