Advanced Higher English - disseration texts...?

caughtinamosh · 06-12-2009, 05:15 AM

Advanced Higher English consists of three units - creagive writing, dissertation, literary essays. Now, the creative aspect of English has always been my forté, but I'm a little stuck with regards to picking texts for the disseration unit. Advanced Higher English is intense - well into university standard, so I'm loooking for challenging texts, and more than one, often three, in the case of novels (up to nine in the case of poems). They should share a common link, be it theme, techniques, characterisation, author etc, so that I can compare them to an in-depth degree. I'm not completely stuck, but any recommendations from you guys would be appreciated - poems and/or novels, especially if you have a background in this field.

GO!

hufschmid · 06-12-2009, 05:46 AM

You need to contact my mother Jennifer Paull if you looking into advice and perfect english stuff, its her job......

Not only is she a professional writter but she translates texts for movies, articles and seminars all over the world....

She actually translated the french version of the movie they made in tribute to Jean-Sébastien Bach

This is her first book, she is starting a second one....

Cathy Berberian and Music's Muses by Jennifer Paull (Book)

A few scores...

http://www.amoris.com/sheet_music/index.html

I'm sure she could help you out....

I'm 100% self taught for writting and reading english so I cant help

DavyH · 06-12-2009, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caughtinamosh

Advanced Higher English consists of three units - creagive writing, dissertation, literary essays. Now, the creative aspect of English has always been my forté, but I'm a little stuck with regards to picking texts for the disseration unit. Advanced Higher English is intense - well into university standard, so I'm loooking for challenging texts, and more than one, often three, in the case of novels (up to nine in the case of poems). They should share a common link, be it theme, techniques, characterisation, author etc, so that I can compare them to an in-depth degree. I'm not completely stuck, but any recommendations from you guys would be appreciated - poems and/or novels, especially if you have a background in this field.

GO!

Well for starters, what do you read? I'm an avid SF fan and thematically Arthur C Clarke, Greg Bear and Alastair Reynolds - all hard SF writers of quality literature - could be compared over a dissertation of any length you like.

Doubtless these have been done to death in Scotland, but the similarities between Iain Banks' The Bridge and Alasdair Gray's Lanark are pretty striking.

Should be fun (and incredibly frustrating). Enjoy.

caughtinamosh · 06-12-2009, 06:16 AM

It's somewhat ironic, but my reading habits have dissolved over the last few years through intensive examninations.

I have read Iain Banks' "The Wasp Factory," and was thoroughly horrified/impressed by it. There is nothing wrong with doing what has been done before, but it has to be something outstanding. I will look into "Lanark" and "The Bridge."

Thank you!

hairychris · 06-12-2009, 07:15 AM

Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (Penguin Modern Classics): Jorge Borges: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Foucault's Pendulum: Umberto Eco: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Couple of suggestions!

DavyH · 06-12-2009, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hairychris

Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (Penguin Modern Classics): Jorge Borges: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Foucault's Pendulum: Umberto Eco: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Couple of suggestions!

Foucault's Pendulum? Holy shit Chris, that's one serious piece of literature there. Numerology, Rosicrucians, Templars, what more could you ask for?

The BEST thing about it is it makes the Da Vinci Code look like the trashy pot boiler it really is.

Great choice!

hairychris · 06-12-2009, 08:48 AM

To be fair the Borges book is more of a head ....er then Foucault's Pendulum! I still haven't got through it as it takes a lot of effort! It's short stories but damn... there's mad conceptual stuff in there.

As for Eco, I love Baudolino and The Name of the Rose but Foucalt's Pendulum seemed more suitable for the OP. Another favourite book of mine is called 'Q' by Luther Blissett, based in the Reformation. It's less philosophical then Eco (although still pretty deep) with a lot more action - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(novel)

CIAM - You could think about studying 3 Umberto Eco novels but it'll be hard work! Banks is cool, especially if you look at one of his contempory novels (eg Wasp Factory), a sci fi one (eg Feersum Endjinn), and maybe his short stories (State of the Art).

Q + The Name of The Rose + Baudolino are linked as they're medieval/religious based. The Borge book has a common thread running through the stories about looking at reality in different ways.

Trying to think of more books I've read. Can't remember right now as I'm reading a lot of philosophical & mythological non fiction at the moment. I'll go digging in my bookshelves for inspiration over the weekend!

FWIW I did English Lang & Lit to A level. Thinking back to my course books - Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (actually a political satire) is well worth the effort. Shit, that's the only one that stands out!

caughtinamosh · 06-12-2009, 08:51 AM

That'd be appreciated.

I appreciate that reading some of these texts will prove to be hard work, but I'm more than willing.

I'm desperate to break the long string of secondary grades - no-one in Thurso High School has achieved an A in Advanced Higher English for ten years.

Varcolac · 06-12-2009, 09:42 AM

This is what I can remember from International Baccalaureate English higher level which I took five years ago. Got a 7 in it, which is, depending on who you ask, better than an A at A level, better than an A* at A level, or physically impossible. Or you could ask the admissions people at Oxford, and they'd ask you to get a 7 in just about everything. Jackasses.

So anyway, books. Try "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's madder than a sack of badgers, often hilarious, and challengingly written. The narrative shifts between your standard omniscient third-person narrator telling a background story set in the distant past (a story which is technically being researched by the protagonist of the other narrative), and a very unreliable first-person narrative of present-day events provided by someone who learnt his English out of a thesaurus. It screws with your mind, your preconceptions, and plays with the fourth wall a fair bit.

Because that Baccalaureate thing was "International" we had to do a bunch on foreign literature in translation. Camus is awesome. Read "The Stranger." Read it again in French. Marvel at the fact that by the time you finish an essay about it you'll have used every single synonym that you know for "lonely" and "pointless" to avoid repeating yourself. It's quite a short read, but densely written and has the dubious honour of starting with a funeral and ending with a death. Fun book!

I'd second the Iain Banks and Jonathan Swift stuff. Banks is a great mind; there's a lot of ethical/political conflict even in his "space-opera" stuff. Are machines, several orders of magnitude more intelligent than any human, and in charge of everything, masters or slaves in the Culture? If they are either, does anyone care? If your gilded cage is the entire universe, does anyone still see it as a cage? Surprisingly deep, but that's more meta-criticism of an entire series of novels rather than anything specific. Swift makes a lot more sense if you look at the historical context. It goes from crazy travelogue fantasy to biting satire if you can see the connections.

nespythe · 06-12-2009, 02:27 PM

If it's ethical/political conflicts you're looking for, try Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or George Orwell's 1984. Although at this point you've probably read and re-read them to hell and back.

caughtinamosh · 06-13-2009, 03:55 PM

I have read Brave New World, and yes, more than once.

I'd rather steer clear of this style of writing for now.

Trespass · 07-11-2009, 01:53 AM

Ramsay777 · 07-11-2009, 10:16 AM

This sorta shit overwhelmes (That's probably spelled wrong

) me, I was never able to get the motivation to do totally brilliant in school.....

Good luck with yer technical-assed English biy

caughtinamosh · 07-11-2009, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramsay777

This sorta shit overwhelms (That's probably spelled wrong

) me, I was never able to get the motivation to do totally brilliant in school.....

Good luck with yer technical-assed English biy

Truth be told, Ramsay, I'm nowhere near as academically driven as I was. English is the only subject that I *really* have a passion for. my Higher results are due in less than a month and I'm freakin' petrified. Hell, I'm taking Business Management this year (don't laugh

).

Ramsay777 · 07-11-2009, 10:36 AM

Thanks for the correction

Business....... Management.....?

Haha, sorry bro, I joke!

I never really had a subject I had a "passion" for in school. PE was good for a laugh, and music was good, but as far as "real" subjects went..... Bleh

I was good at maths though.

caughtinamosh · 07-11-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramsay777

Thanks for the correction

Business....... Management.....?

Haha, sorry bro, I joke!

I never really had a subject I had a "passion" for in school. PE was good for a laugh, and music was good, but as far as "real" subjects went..... Bleh

I was good at maths though.

Yes. Business Management. Filled with giggly 5th year girls. What's not to like?

Maths... What a cluster..... It was a bloody hard exam. The fact that my teacher was kind of, not really, but quite... alright, *absolutely* shit certainly didn't help.

On topic - I'm gonna go to the library and look out some Evelyn Waugh. My English teacher has informed me that his (yes, *his*) work tends to revolve around the dark and cynical, which definitely appeals to me.

troyguitar · 07-11-2009, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caughtinamosh

It's somewhat ironic, but my reading habits have dissolved over the last few years through intensive examninations.

Thank you!

I stopped reading for fun right around the time I started having to read and analyze things for school. Turning reading into "work" just totally killed it.

	sevenstring guitars		sevenstring registry		photo gallery		subscription		spy

06-12-2009, 05:15 AM	#1
caughtinamosh Linguist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 3,775 Thanked: 55 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Advanced Higher English - disseration texts...? Advanced Higher English consists of three units - creagive writing, dissertation, literary essays. Now, the creative aspect of English has always been my forté, but I'm a little stuck with regards to picking texts for the disseration unit. Advanced Higher English is intense - well into university standard, so I'm loooking for challenging texts, and more than one, often three, in the case of novels (up to nine in the case of poems). They should share a common link, be it theme, techniques, characterisation, author etc, so that I can compare them to an in-depth degree. I'm not completely stuck, but any recommendations from you guys would be appreciated - poems and/or novels, especially if you have a background in this field. GO! Find me under the same username on www.metalguitarist.org

06-12-2009, 06:16 AM	#4
caughtinamosh Linguist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 3,775 Thanked: 55 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	It's somewhat ironic, but my reading habits have dissolved over the last few years through intensive examninations. I have read Iain Banks' "The Wasp Factory," and was thoroughly horrified/impressed by it. There is nothing wrong with doing what has been done before, but it has to be something outstanding. I will look into "Lanark" and "The Bridge." Thank you! Find me under the same username on www.metalguitarist.org

06-12-2009, 07:15 AM	#5
hairychris Hairy Old Bloke Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,968 Thanked: 26 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (Penguin Modern Classics): Jorge Borges: Amazon.co.uk: Books Foucault's Pendulum: Umberto Eco: Amazon.co.uk: Books Couple of suggestions! GADZOOKS AND ODDS BODKINS!!!!! Not a hipster: Blackmachine, Jaden Rose, Paul Reed Smith, Ibanez, Jackson, Boss, Diezel, Marshall, Framus, VHT, Ampeg, Electro Harmonix, Korg, Alesis, MFB, Doepfer.

06-12-2009, 08:48 AM	#7
hairychris Hairy Old Bloke Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: London, UK Posts: 2,968 Thanked: 26 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	To be fair the Borges book is more of a head ....er then Foucault's Pendulum! I still haven't got through it as it takes a lot of effort! It's short stories but damn... there's mad conceptual stuff in there. As for Eco, I love Baudolino and The Name of the Rose but Foucalt's Pendulum seemed more suitable for the OP. Another favourite book of mine is called 'Q' by Luther Blissett, based in the Reformation. It's less philosophical then Eco (although still pretty deep) with a lot more action - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(novel) CIAM - You could think about studying 3 Umberto Eco novels but it'll be hard work! Banks is cool, especially if you look at one of his contempory novels (eg Wasp Factory), a sci fi one (eg Feersum Endjinn), and maybe his short stories (State of the Art). Q + The Name of The Rose + Baudolino are linked as they're medieval/religious based. The Borge book has a common thread running through the stories about looking at reality in different ways. Trying to think of more books I've read. Can't remember right now as I'm reading a lot of philosophical & mythological non fiction at the moment. I'll go digging in my bookshelves for inspiration over the weekend! FWIW I did English Lang & Lit to A level. Thinking back to my course books - Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (actually a political satire) is well worth the effort. Shit, that's the only one that stands out! GADZOOKS AND ODDS BODKINS!!!!! Not a hipster: Blackmachine, Jaden Rose, Paul Reed Smith, Ibanez, Jackson, Boss, Diezel, Marshall, Framus, VHT, Ampeg, Electro Harmonix, Korg, Alesis, MFB, Doepfer.

Today
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06-12-2009, 05:46 AM	#2
hufschmid Banned Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: switzerland Posts: 9,089 Thanked: 284 Feedback Score: 1 reviews	You need to contact my mother Jennifer Paull if you looking into advice and perfect english stuff, its her job...... Not only is she a professional writter but she translates texts for movies, articles and seminars all over the world.... She actually translated the french version of the movie they made in tribute to Jean-Sébastien Bach This is her first book, she is starting a second one.... Cathy Berberian and Music's Muses by Jennifer Paull (Book) A few scores... http://www.amoris.com/sheet_music/index.html I'm sure she could help you out.... I'm 100% self taught for writting and reading english so I cant help

06-12-2009, 08:51 AM	#8
caughtinamosh Linguist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 3,775 Thanked: 55 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	That'd be appreciated. I appreciate that reading some of these texts will prove to be hard work, but I'm more than willing. I'm desperate to break the long string of secondary grades - no-one in Thurso High School has achieved an A in Advanced Higher English for ten years. Find me under the same username on www.metalguitarist.org

06-12-2009, 09:42 AM	#9
Varcolac Frets? What frets? Join Date: May 2009 Location: London Posts: 1,504 Thanked: 13 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	This is what I can remember from International Baccalaureate English higher level which I took five years ago. Got a 7 in it, which is, depending on who you ask, better than an A at A level, better than an A* at A level, or physically impossible. Or you could ask the admissions people at Oxford, and they'd ask you to get a 7 in just about everything. Jackasses. So anyway, books. Try "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's madder than a sack of badgers, often hilarious, and challengingly written. The narrative shifts between your standard omniscient third-person narrator telling a background story set in the distant past (a story which is technically being researched by the protagonist of the other narrative), and a very unreliable first-person narrative of present-day events provided by someone who learnt his English out of a thesaurus. It screws with your mind, your preconceptions, and plays with the fourth wall a fair bit. Because that Baccalaureate thing was "International" we had to do a bunch on foreign literature in translation. Camus is awesome. Read "The Stranger." Read it again in French. Marvel at the fact that by the time you finish an essay about it you'll have used every single synonym that you know for "lonely" and "pointless" to avoid repeating yourself. It's quite a short read, but densely written and has the dubious honour of starting with a funeral and ending with a death. Fun book! I'd second the Iain Banks and Jonathan Swift stuff. Banks is a great mind; there's a lot of ethical/political conflict even in his "space-opera" stuff. Are machines, several orders of magnitude more intelligent than any human, and in charge of everything, masters or slaves in the Culture? If they are either, does anyone care? If your gilded cage is the entire universe, does anyone still see it as a cage? Surprisingly deep, but that's more meta-criticism of an entire series of novels rather than anything specific. Swift makes a lot more sense if you look at the historical context. It goes from crazy travelogue fantasy to biting satire if you can see the connections. Carpathia : progressive extreme metal from London. Free track! Click here! SchecterWhore: "Development, phase four. Beethoven takes you for a ride through space in his Pontiac Trans Am."

06-12-2009, 02:27 PM	#10
nespythe ss.org Regular Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: London Posts: 85 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Feedback Score: 0 reviews	If it's ethical/political conflicts you're looking for, try Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or George Orwell's 1984. Although at this point you've probably read and re-read them to hell and back.

06-13-2009, 03:55 PM	#11
caughtinamosh Linguist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 3,775 Thanked: 55 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	I have read Brave New World, and yes, more than once. I'd rather steer clear of this style of writing for now. Find me under the same username on www.metalguitarist.org

07-11-2009, 01:53 AM	#12
Trespass AEADGBEA Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 2,564 Thanked: 132 $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Trespass is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ Feedback Score: 1 reviews	Pseudo-Jazz Sophisticate -The 7 and ERG Chord Melody [Jazz] Thread- "If Stravinsky's music is that of the Earth, then Meshuggah's music is that of the Machine" Teaching Guitar-Piano Technique/Theory/Jazz & Classical University Prep Ossington & Bloor area in Toronto. I now do Sykpe lessons - Inquire via PM!

07-11-2009, 10:16 AM	#13
Ramsay777 Is an A7X fan Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Thurso, Scotland Posts: 826 Thanked: 22 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	This sorta shit overwhelmes (That's probably spelled wrong ) me, I was never able to get the motivation to do totally brilliant in school..... Good luck with yer technical-assed English biy

07-11-2009, 10:36 AM	#15
Ramsay777 Is an A7X fan Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Thurso, Scotland Posts: 826 Thanked: 22 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Thanks for the correction Business....... Management.....? Haha, sorry bro, I joke! I never really had a subject I had a "passion" for in school. PE was good for a laugh, and music was good, but as far as "real" subjects went..... Bleh I was good at maths though.

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