Tilia Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 I need to come up with a topic in 2 weeks and I just want some opinions on the results of my brainstorming My first idea is to do it in Swedish A1, on the novel "Kallocain" by Karin Boye (don't know if there is an translation of it, if not, I hope that some of the Swedes out here have read it). I thought I could write about how the protangonist's attitude towards his invention and his boss changes throughout the novel. The guy has invented a drug which forces you to tell the truth and finally he realizes that maybe it was such a splendid thing. I also thought that I could to a comparison with "Brave New World" about the societies, since both have a subculture that differs a lot from the dominant. The apparent risk with this is that I focus too much on "Brave New World" instead of Kallocain... To be completely honest, a literature essay is not really what I feel like doing, I would prefer philosophy. I have thought that it would be cool writing about synesthesia in one way or another, maybe using Kant's theory of "das Ding an sich" etc, and how we can't know how other people experience the world. This is just a wild thought, I have no idea whether it is appropriate or not. Anyway, any comments will be appreciated. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperbole Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 I wrote my EE in Swedish A1 too, and I think both your suggestions sound good. However, the absolute majority of Language A1 essays I've heard of have been comparisons between two (or more) works, which might be worth taking into account. That said, you shouldn't let one of them take too much space; what I did to avoid that was to choose a few (three) aspects the works had in common to focus on, analysing how that aspect was used in each novel and with what result. (I was comparing the authors' ways of expressing their differing opinions on the traditional marriage in two novels from the mid-nineteenth century, so finding three aspects they both used was pretty simple and the comparison came by itself. Since I was also exploring their effectivity, the critical thinking and personal response type thing was also included without too much fuss.) Also, do be aware that the works you use should preferably be written in Swedish, and at least one of them MUST be. I've only heard of Brave New World vaguely before, but it doesn't sound as though it's of Swedish origin to me... Oh, furthermore, make sure that the aspect you're covering isn't too broad. It's better to go into a lot of detail than only barely managing to cover the entire topic in the four thousand words you're allowed. Up until the point where I finished my second draft completely, I was positive I wouldn't make it past the 3500 line because the aspect was limited and I just didn't have more to say. But I ended up at almost 3900 before handing in the final draft, so my conclusion is that it's better to go very specific than to go general. (It's also an important part of the criteria, so.) Finally, I don't think it's a brilliant idea to choose a subject and topic you aren't super interested in. You will be sick of it before the end even if you choose something you find really fascinating, so make sure your favourite option is actually a bad idea before going for your second choice. Ask your potential supervisors, both about the philosophy suggestion and the Swedish suggestions! It'll show in the essay if you're interested, and it'll make your work so much easier if you are. Good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilia Posted January 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Hyperbole' post='32828' date='Jan 8 2009, 08:24 PM']Also, do be aware that the works you use should preferably be written in Swedish, and at least one of them MUST be. I've only heard of Brave New World vaguely before, but it doesn't sound as though it's of Swedish origin to me...[/quote] Brave New World is an English novel, but I [i]can [/i] do a comparison as long as one of my novels is Swedish, right? I don't know if you've read these books I'm talking about, I wonder whether the subculture, or whatever to call it, in Kallocain is important enough to make up an interesting EE. [quote name='Hyperbole' post='32828' date='Jan 8 2009, 08:24 PM']Finally, I don't think it's a brilliant idea to choose a subject and topic you aren't super interested in. You will be sick of it before the end even if you choose something you find really fascinating, so make sure your favourite option is actually a bad idea before going for your second choice. Ask your potential supervisors, both about the philosophy suggestion and the Swedish suggestions! It'll show in the essay if you're interested, and it'll make your work so much easier if you are.[/quote] It's not that I'm not interested in Swedish, but I would prefer doing philosophy for a lot of reasons. By the way, which books did you write about? Thanks for opinions! Edited January 9, 2009 by Tilia Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperbole Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 (edited) No, sorry, I've read neither of those so I can't help much with the content. Kallocain is definitely on my Post-IB Reading List, though! I used Almqvist's [i]Det går an[/i] and Sophie von Knorring's [i]Torparen och hans omgivning[/i]. (I will adore you forever if you've heard of the latter before! Everybody keeps going "...huh?" when I talk about her.) The former was good because it was short and very to the point with regards to the topic I chose; [i]Torparen[/i] is 500+ pages and not very concise, so it was hard to find actual quotes supporting my arguments. But I'm very pleased with the result, and I had lots of fun writing it! Just hope the examiner will be as happy with it as I and my supervisor are. Edited January 9, 2009 by Hyperbole Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilia Posted January 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='Hyperbole' post='32968' date='Jan 9 2009, 07:39 PM']No, sorry, I've read neither of those so I can't help much with the content. Kallocain is definitely on my Post-IB Reading List, though! I used Almqvist's [i]Det går an[/i] and Sophie von Knorring's [i]Torparen och hans omgivning[/i]. (I will adore you forever if you've heard of the latter before! Everybody keeps going "...huh?" when I talk about her.) The former was good because it was short and very to the point with regards to the topic I chose; [i]Torparen[/i] is 500+ pages and not very concise, so it was hard to find actual quotes supporting my arguments. But I'm very pleased with the result, and I had lots of fun writing it! Just hope the examiner will be as happy with it as I and my supervisor are.[/quote] No, actually I haven't heard of it, but I recognise the name of the author. We'll read [i]Det går an[/i] next year, or at least parts of it. I've heard it's good though. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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