Albert Camus, The outsider (or, the stranger)

[tmac1]

Hi, I have to write a high school English paper, however, I’m having a really difficult time finding a topic. I am really worried, can someone please try to think of a topic or two regarding my 2 choices:

 

1. The outsider (or, the stranger), by Albert Camus: a detailed study on any section of the book or an essay on anything in the novel. The topic cannot be too general or common, such as discussing the sun as a symbol, truth, existentialism, etc.

2. A comparative essay between the outsider and Macbeth, on any topic, however, again, cannot be too obvious, eg. Macbeth is ambitious, meursault is not, etc.

 

Thanks you guys so much!

Edited June 7, 2008 by Janet
Capital letters

[Guest Sedgewick]

Wow, the cheek! When I was in school we had to do our own homework. Has that all changed?

[Icecream]

I shoudn't think so. I had to as well. You are not usually allowed outside help, but then I don't think I was given enough tuition to reach my full potential either. I think, from my experience, school lessons need to be catered more individually, though I realise that must be a hard thing to implement.

[Guest Sedgewick]

I just think it strange that lecturers can't be doing their jobs if their students are resorting to the internet to do their work for them. Surely part of their job is to be approachable and to act according to their students' needs.

[Icecream]

Well I remember being very stressed at school because I hardly ever knew what I was really doing. I got good enough grades, but could have done a lot better, and gone on to do better work in my degree. I think it is something to with the rules. We were never allowed to be inside the school at break times or ever to visit the staff room. Pupils were almost made to feel that it was wrong to talk to staff. During lessons there was often too much going on, with work and 30 pupils around. I got behind my abilities because I was rushing from one class to another without much time to digest anything or think about why I was confused about something. Lessons often too quickly moved from one thing to another too, so that we didn't spend much time on the important things, like learning to write proper essays, or math equations. It can't be too hard for teachers to spot when someone is changing their work habits and to spend some time with that pupil. Maybe schools are too worked up on discipline and paperwork. I understand that teachers are busy, and our school seemed to have a lot of detentions taking teachers time up, and unruly pupils taking up valuable lesson time.

[~Andrea~]

Were there any parts of either work you particularly enjoyed? Any characters you loved? Is there a particular location that is brought to life for you? You need to start off by focusing on an aspect that you enjoyed I guess, and no-one else can do that for you. It also depends very much on how long the study is supposed to be and what the aims of it are. It sounds as if "detail" is the key here. If it were me I would focus on an aspect I enjoyed and try to figure out why/how the author made that successful. Conversely you could pick something that didn't work so well, but that might be too negative.

[Guest Sedgewick]

Were there any parts of either work you particularly enjoyed? Any characters you loved? Is there a particular location that is brought to life for you?

That's much of an irrelevance though, isn't it? He's talking about writing on topics like symbolism and existentialism. That requires a bit more thought than namby Amazon reviewing.

 

Conversely you could pick something that didn't work so well, but that might be too negative.

There's nothing wrong with being negative about a book, provided you can cite examples of where it fails.

[~Andrea~]

That requires a bit more thought than namby Amazon reviewing.

Oh well pardon me for coming up with pathetic ideas. We weren't actually given a spec, which is why I asked for one.

[Guest Sedgewick]

Excused.

 

You can't like the characters in this book. As for locations, there's not much you can like about a beach with a dead Arab...or a prison cell.

 

Seriously, though, you aren't going to get points for saying you liked Meursault - Camus would never have expected you to identify with him, good or bad - because it's a novel of ideas and not some popcorn whizz. Essays require that the essayist identify their subject from the subject matter, document instances and attempt to explain - or, indeed, refute - the writer's intentions.

[Michelle]

Wow, the cheek! When I was in school we had to do our own homework. Has that all changed?

 

The OP wasn't asking anyone to do their homework for them, just for a little help coming up with topics. FAndC, I think your idea about focusing on what you find particularly interesting is a good one.. homework is always easier if you're enjoying it.

[~Andrea~]

FAndC, I think your idea about focusing on what you find particularly interesting is a good one.. homework is always easier if you're enjoying it.

 

Thank you

[NiceguyEddie]

That's much of an irrelevance though, isn't it? He's talking about writing on topics like symbolism and existentialism. That requires a bit more thought than namby Amazon reviewing.

 

Yes, it's crying out for a pseud to belittle fellow posters.