World Lit 1 (comparitive) Format?

[cheeko]

Heyy! I'm writing a world Lit on "the role of women in portraying the protagonist's character and philosophical views in The Outsider by Albert Camus and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse"

But I'm finding it really hard to write the essay unless I talk about book 1 and then book 2 seperately. So is that format ok or is it necessary to it like point 1 compared then point 2 compared etc...

Oh and if anyone can think of points i can use in my essay, i would be happy to read those aswell....thnx!!

[sweetnsimple786]

Read through this thread for advice on structure:

I did each work separately for my WL1, but apparently, that's a horrid way to do it. Do it point of comparison by point of comparison.

I haven't read the works. It'd be a good idea to tell us what you want to compare about the books so we can help you further, I think. Also, why not work on a thesis rather than a title first? The thesis will let you know where you're going. Having a title without direction in your paper won't do much good.

Edit: I'm also not sure what you mean in your title... you'll be comparing how the authors reveal the protagonists' character through the actions of the women?

Edited August 2, 2009 by sweetnsimple786

[Sandwich]

The best way to do it, if you're struggling with coming up with points of comparison, would be to make a list of all the ways in which women play a role in showing the protagonist's character for book one, disregarding book two temporarily. Once you've made a list as exhaustively as you can, go through every point you made for book one and think "did the the author use women to the same effect in book two?". If you're thinking to yourself "no, in book two women were always used as symbollic of the home, not as symbollic of domination" or "yes, in both books women help to bring out the emotional side of the protagonist", you've got yourself a point of comparison which you can then explore to find out how it worked.

It's more effective to do it for one book and make yourself think about the second, because you'll see things you wouldn't otherwise Also you will be able to have an integrated format because all your points will match up! Convenient.

I haven't actually read the books to give you any real help with that, but what I would say is that you may find yourself struggling with the world limit. World Lit essays are meant to be pretty exhaustive (i.e. they're looking for quantity in terms of not missing any points out AND quality, so you should pick a very specific aspect and then discuss it in great depth). You only have 1,500 words to say everything there possibly is to say within your title (within certain reasonable parameters, obviously). Discussing TWO things rather than just one may land you in a tricky situation - it'll either mean you severely run over the limit and have some incredibly tough editing to do (and probably have to drop some of your points), or that you "skim" the topics and fail to get the depth which is required. Both of these will lose you marks.

EDIT: out of curiosity, what is the difference between a title and a thesis? I've never heard the word thesis used before!

Edited August 2, 2009 by Sandwich

[sweetnsimple786]

EDIT: out of curiosity, what is the difference between a title and a thesis? I've never heard the word thesis used before!

The thesis is usually the last sentence in the introduction. Many people call it the "road map" for the essay because it shows your readers exactly what the paper will talk about. Often, in non-comparative essays, the thesis outlines three points [and you'd spend a paragraph discussing each point].