Need help with EX1 assessment- due monday! (1 Viewer)

[Simran-]

Need help guys...

I've got an assessement task for EX1 on Monday and I basically have to write an essay in class.
The question is:

Significant texts in any period arise from particular ways of thinking and possess an enduring relevance.

"Write an essay, in which you explore the extent to which this is true of the scene viewed and texts you have studied in your elective"

I need to refer to 2 prescribed texts and 1 related text. My prescribed texts were the Catcher in The Rye and the movie, "Into the wild" and my related text is The Outsiders.

Now, what Im confused with..is what should I be writing about?? Themes? Character? And how the heck do I talk about the statement. I kinda did an intro and I wanted to start my 1st paragraph on catcher in the rye...but how do I introduce it??

 

[Axio]

I think that you mainly need to discuss the themes that reflect the attitudes of society at the time, and briefly mention somehow that these attitudes are still relevant today (assuming that you are agreeing with the statement). For example, with The Catcher in the Rye, I would write about how the author was conveying the ideas of the perils of adolescence and the phoniness of the adult world during his time and how this is still relevant in today's society. Really focus in on Holden Caulfield's experiences and his own perspectives/ways of thinking.

The topic sentence could be something like: In The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger, the experiences and perspectives of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, explore the issues of adolescent identity and alienation during the early 20th century.

 

[rumbleroar]

You need to identify the historical periods your texts are in and the values or dominant discourses of those times, as well as how these values, despite a different context, still hold relevance today. Or you can discuss how they don't hold relevance. The beauty of "extent" questions is that you can say oh "no it isn't true for so-and-so".

Focus first on ideas, because that's the most important part of extension. Techniques and textual analysis usually come second. I suggest you do a brainstorm to clarify your thinking first because it can be really hard to write an essay or even an essay plan when your thoughts are really clouded.