WL 1 - Comments on my selected topic?

[Master Oz]

Greetings to all.

As the topic title suggests, it is about my World Literature 1 essay research question. Finding it kinda a pain to find a specified topic that can be compared from the three books I had to read (Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi, Blood Wedding by Lorca and The Outsider/Stranger by Albert Camus)

I did finally come up with a topic but I fear if it can be a "comparative" question to write on. I am kindly asking for your views and comments on my topic.

The topic is:

"The Role of the Sun and Moon in The Outsider by Albert Camus and Blood Wedding by Garcia Lorca"

The problem here is that I will be talking about the Sun for The Outsider and the Moon for Blood Wedding. Comparative wise I think that both are symbols of nature/science and say how the sun and moon causes the timely death of certain characters in the book and how it is able to manipulate the characters as well. But then I start thinking otherwise because I am not focusing on one thing from both books for eg. A similar theme found in two books from the three stated above.

Kind of in a dilemma at the moment so I am seeking some views and comments from you. Any type of comments will be highly appreciated.

Master Oz

[Sandwich]

Well if you've identified that the sun and the moon both have the effect X on both books, why not just flip the question round and have "The creation of X in Book1 and Book2", or something along those lines?

For instance if they're both nature imagery, compare nature imagery, if they both have a manipulative effect on the characters, compare how the surroundings are used to affect the lives of the characters, and so on. You may end up talking about a little more than the sun and the moon, as you may well find additional aspects which fit into those categories, but I'd say that's actually a bonus. Few pairs of novels have enough significance and multiple different repetitions of a particular symbol to give a decent comparison between them both. Usually you have one novel with a strong symbol and one with a weaker one etc.

Having read the Outsider, but not the Lorca, I'd personally go for something about how the author uses the surroundings to create or explain changes in the characters. Depends whether you think you could fit all of that into an essay, of course - I don't know the Lorca or how many ideas you might have about the Outside.

[Master Oz]

Well if you've identified that the sun and the moon both have the effect X on both books, why not just flip the question round and have "The creation of X in Book1 and Book2", or something along those lines?

For instance if they're both nature imagery, compare nature imagery, if they both have a manipulative effect on the characters, compare how the surroundings are used to affect the lives of the characters, and so on. You may end up talking about a little more than the sun and the moon, as you may well find additional aspects which fit into those categories, but I'd say that's actually a bonus. Few pairs of novels have enough significance and multiple different repetitions of a particular symbol to give a decent comparison between them both. Usually you have one novel with a strong symbol and one with a weaker one etc.

Having read the Outsider, but not the Lorca, I'd personally go for something about how the author uses the surroundings to create or explain changes in the characters. Depends whether you think you could fit all of that into an essay, of course - I don't know the Lorca or how many ideas you might have about the Outside.

Ah yes, swapping the research question around seems like a very reasonable approach. Thank you for your reply. Before I came upon the Sun and Moon motifs in the book topic, I was thinking about how the surroundings affect the characters (similar to your personal view towards the Outsider), but then I realised having a cap of only 1500 words, it would have been vague essay since I would not be able to dive in-depth. That is how I came upon the Sun and Moon.

Blood Wedding by Lorca is a like a short play and the instance of the Moon comes for a short period. The Moon is actually personified as a character in the book and it foreshadows the timely death of two men over the love of a woman. Compared to the Outsider, the Sun becomes the main cause of Meursault killing the Arab and eventually leading to his death.

Hmm how about " How does the Imagery of Nature have an Manipulative Effect on the characters from The Outsider and Blood Wedding?" In this way I will be comparing as I can state the sun and moon as imagery of nature and how they affect the characters respectively. I can try adding in some other imagery of nature as well from both books. Your comment/views?

Any other comments will be appreciated as well.

Master Oz