Writing a Dissertation

[Ben]

Hey guys, so I know we don't normally let members post asking for help with 'homework' but this is more of a 'throw-some-ideas-into-the-hat' type thread - I won't pick off someone's idea and use it entirely, I just want to see if there's anything that can unlock some ideas in my own head. However, if this thread isn't suitable, moderators/admin(s) feel free to delete..

 

Now, today I've had a bit of a disaster. I've just found out that on by Thursday midday I have to submit two dissertation proposals. Now, this would be all well and good and I would have spent ages thinking about it, but because of illness I missed the meeting where we got the forms, and this is the result.

 

I'm a little thin on ideas, which is mildly irritating because I'm reasonably widely-read and should have a good pool of authors to pick from. So what I want to know is what you think you'd write about if you had to a 10,000+ word essay on some aspect of literature. What themes do you think you'd want to cover?

 

Amongst the authors I've considered so far are Oscar Wilde, George Orwell and Sylvia Plath. I've also thought about some sort of travel writing aspect (Kerouac's On the Road, a mixture of Orwell's books). Or even some kind of mental illness/breakdown aspect in literature (Plath's The Bell Jar, 'The Yellow Wallpaper', etc.)

 

But at the moment these are a bit vague and insubstantial. I mean, we only need a brief title like 'gender and how it's changed through time', because the proposals aren't needing to be fleshed out yet, I'm just a bit wary. I know it's up to me to pick what I'd like to write about, I was just wondering what things you guys might come up with if it were you..

 

 

 

[risingdawn]

I've never done a dissertation but I know I will have to within the next 3 years. I did Sylvia Plath's Daddy for one of my  A2 essays and talked about how the political and personal within the poem aren't all that different. They blend together. I don't know if I could really help. I'm not well-read in terms of literature. Maybe Cormac McCarthy's The Road and the way setting it presented or something? I'm not entirely sure. xD

[Ben]

Setting is something that could be worth exploring. I think I'd lean to contemporary fiction if I did that though - maybe exploring the importance of 'spaces' in terms of culture and identity, or something along those lines. Contemporary London is a hub of diversity and novels that I've done this year like Kureishi's The Black Album spring to mind..

[Chrissy]

I do like the authors and the areas you are contemplating, and think that as they are what you are leaning toward it makes them more likely something you could expand on.

 

What your tutors are looking for is 'evidence' that you have been contemplating your dissertation subjects, and they will be aware that there will be shifts in focus as you develop your themes. Good luck Ben.   

[Ben]

I do like the authors and the areas you are contemplating, and think that as they are what you are leaning toward it makes them more likely something you could expand on.

 

What your tutors are looking for is 'evidence' that you have been contemplating your dissertation subjects, and they will be aware that there will be shifts in focus as you develop your themes. Good luck Ben.   

 

Definitely, I'm just brainstorming for the minute though I guess..

 

Well, they have said that the themes/authors are subject to change so I'm certain it doesn't matter too much what gets put down on the form for the moment as long as we pick the right supervisor.

 

I've had another couple of ideas. The first being to explore the history in India and Pakistan after Partition, through the works of Salman Rushdie. The latter is to do a short story or poetry collection. We have a lecturer who's a published creative writer and he's happy to supervise people 'in his areas'. I don't know if this means that doing a creative piece is a viable option, but I've contacted him as it's definitely something I'd consider if it's allowed..