PROPOSAL FOR EXTENDED ESSAY TOPIC

To the Chairman of the Board of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages

Name ........................................................of .................................................................. College

Candidate in the Final Honour School of ....................................................................................................

.........................................................................Year of sitting examination ................................................

Proposed title of Extended Essay

......................................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................................
Statement of how the subject is to be treated:

Signature of candidate .......................................................................

I consider the subject to be suitable and suggest that ..................................................................................

might be invited to be an examiner or an assessor.
*

Name of Supervisor: ........................................................................... College: .........................................

+Signature of Supervisor or Tutor ....................................... of .......................................... College

I approve the candidate’s application

+Signature of College Tutor ................................................ of .......................................... College

NB The regulations provide that the statement of how the subject is to be treated should be in about fifty words
and that the supervisor or tutor certifying that he or she considers the subject to be suitable should be
preferably in the language or in one of the languages or in the field of study with which the proposed
extended essay is concerned; and that the completed application form should reach the Chairman of the Board
c/o Mrs Clifton, 41 Wellington Square, Oxford, not later than 5pm on the Wednesday of Week 2 of the
Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination.
Candidates should consult the relevant sections of the regulations for the Honour School concerned before
submitting their proposal.

* A space is provided here for any brief comments which the supervisor or tutor may wish to make, in
addition to signing the statement required by regulation that he or she considers the subject suitable and
suggesting a person or persons who might be invited to be an examiner or an assessor.
+ The same college tutor may sign in both places.

A copy of the guidelines for the presentation of extended essays will be enclosed with the notifications
sent to those candidates whose titles have been approved.
BA – extended essay proposal – 10/10/2005
Updated: May. 07
 FACULTY OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN LANGUAGES

Extended Essay Topics

The Faculty Board’s Committee on extended essay proposals has recommended that, for the guidance of
candidates completing the application form, examples should be provided of proposals which have met
with the committee’s approval in the recent past.

1. Art as commodity in “A la recherche du temps perdu”. Proust as a “Whole Truth” author.

This essay will examine the theme of the production and consumption of art in Proust’s “A la recherche
du temps perdu”, in relation to his presentation of particular art works. Proust’s preoccupation with the
social value of these art works will be examined with reference to the role of material objects in his own
work.

2. The relationship between humour and horror in French nineteenth century fantastic literature,
with particular reference to Gautier and Maupassant.

I intend to examine the dual purpose of humour in this conventionally fear-inducing genre, arguing that it
can either diffuse horror or be used to enhance it. I hope to explore the variety of styles and tones in this
kind of writing, with reference to the development and context of nineteenth century fantastic literature.

3. Coherence in ‘no-man’s land’: a study of Céline’s “Voyage au bout de la nuit”

This study examines Céline’s use of oppositions in “Voyage au bout de la nuit”. It argues that narrative
coherence lies in the ‘no-man’s land’ created by a variety of opposites, and it investigates how Céline uses
language to create fictions of the self.

4. Translating children’s literature from English into German: problems and perspectives.

This study examines some of the challenges faced in translating children’s literature, focussing on
children’s books translated from English into German and the particular issues they throw up. It examines
the theoretical literature on this subject, as well as discussing practical examples, and then attempts to
devise possible guidelines for successful translation.

5. What is meant by development in medieval texts?

The development of the protagonist of a medieval text is problematic from a modern perspective. I will
evaluate the critical debate on Hartmann von Aue’s “Iwein” concerning the notion of development.
Extending this also to the text “Erec”, I will examine development in terms of a psychological process,
symbolism, guilt/sin and narrative structure.
 6. Developments in women’s rights as reflected in a small selection of novels by Spanish women
writers, 1939 to the present.

In this essay I plan to examine the literary depictions of the changing roles of women in Spanish society
from the immediate post-war period to the present day. The focus of the essay will be on women’s rights
with particular reference to novels by Carmen Martìn-Gaite, Almudena Grandes and Lucia Etxebarria.

7. Narrative subversion in a selection of stories from “Cambio de Armas” by Luisa Valenzuela

and “Papeles de Pandora” by Rosario Ferré.

The essay will examine how Luisa Valenzuela and Rosario Ferré, in short stories including ‘Cuarta
Versiòn’ and ‘La Bella Durmiente’, “unsettle the stance that supports gender power/knowledge as
masculine” (JEAN FRANCO). It will investigate how these authors employ different narrative techniques
to undermine a dominant social and literary patriarchy, particularly by subverting genres, substituting
alternative mythologies and creating an ironic narrator.

8. Covert communication and inference in modern advertising.

This essay examines covert communication in modern advertising and the role of inference in
understanding what lies hidden behind seemingly unrelated messages. Theoretical ideas are discussed, and
using English and French advertisements the surrounding issues of responsibility and reward are
examined.

9. Guilt and silence: dramatic action and social comment in Spanish theatre of the 1950’s.

The historical background and censorship of literature under Franco are considered first. The main focus
of the proposed essay is a comparison of the dramatic and thematic treatment of guilt and silence within
the family as seen in two plays by Alfonso Sastre and Joaquìn Calvo Sotelo

BA – extended essay proposal – 10/10/2005

Updated: Sep. 06