Heart of darkness for section A or section B?

[andreag]

Hey guys i'm in a bit of a dilemma so I need some help,   

For the exam I was originally going to do the lit perspectives essay on Buried Child (by Sam Shepard) which is what I did my SAC on and do passage analysis for Heart of Darkness but now i'm not so sure.

Heart of Darkness, I believe, is good for passage analysis because of the complex language and features that are within the text and I can write/analyse a lot on just one sentence. However, I feel like the text was made for lit perspectives and also there's a bunch of resources out there for it. Not to mention, I literally paid someone to give me their lit perspectives essays and resources on HoD and I don't want that to go to waste. However, I'm not really familiar with it and how to approach it (I can only approach psg analysis). For Buried Child, I feel like I understand and i'm familiar with approaching the lit perspectives, but there's not much I can write about it and my interpretations just feel repetitive as I've done two sacs on it (lit perspectives and psg analysis) and gave out too much of my draft essays. Also, I can't really find much information about the play because it is quite unknown and the critical articles are limited. I'm thinking of doing HoD for section A and buried child for Section B, but buried child is a play that has not much complex language, mainly single worded dialogues (here's the pdf of the play - http://azactorsacademy.com/uploads/plays/buried_child.pdf). So to compensate for that, I was thinking of doing cat on a hot tin roof for the passage analysis (Because there is more stuff to write about it as opposed to buried child). COAHTR is more well known as well, and I can develop more unique interpretations from the many resources online. But, i've not really dug deep into the text (as opposed to BC) as i've only done one sac on it (for passage analysis) and I don't want to waste time having to analyse the text deeply.

So here are my questions:
- Which text should I do for a specific section?
- Should I just prepare for both sections on both texts as a way to provide backup should I find a prompt on one text more better than the other?
- Which section is more important? Is lit perspectives more important than psg analysis?
- Should I so psg analysis on a text that has a lot of nuanced language and meaning?

Please help me because I'm stressing out big time!

[colline]

Hi! I did HOD and COAHTR last year (including COAHTR for lit perspectives on the exam). My 2 cents is that you should do a text you’re comfortable and most important of all, familiar with. Doing a text you haven’t read much is quite risky because, as you’ve mentioned, you can’t bring in deeper analysis (especially when you’re so close to the exam).

I haven’t read Buried Child myself but you shouldn’t let the language of the author hold you back. There is always something to analyse! Why did the author use simple language as opposed to words with more complexity? What was he trying to achieve through his language choices? What does simple language do that complex language can’t? These are all things you can explore in your CPA, along with many others.

COAHTR is quite a popular choice, it’s one of the most common choices for both Section A and B and most students writing on it has done extensive preparation. It may seem like an easier choice with lots more to analyse, but don’t forget it’ll be the same case for the hundreds of other students doing COAHTR.

However, I feel like the text was made for lit perspectives and also there's a bunch of resources out there for it. Not to mention, I literally paid someone to give me their lit perspectives essays and resources on HoD and I don't want that to go to waste.

HOD is definitely more suited for lit perspectives but that doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it for LP only. Regarding the resources you have, they may have been written for LP but a lot of analysis can be carried over to CPA. Anyway, I don’t think you should base your decision on whether or not you’re wasting resources, especially if it comes at the expense of your study score.

You CAN prepare for all 3 texts and see which one is more suitable on the exam but I think you’ll do better if you spend your time digging deeper into two. On the exam you only have a very limited amount of time and you don’t want to waste any on deciding which text to do, you’d want to be diving into planning your response during reading time as quickly as possible.

I personally would suggest against doing COAHTR and just sticking with the texts you’ve done a lot of preparation for. But of course it’s your decision. If you think you’re able to delve deep into the mind of Tennessee Williams before November comes along, you should go for it!

Hope that helped! Let me know if you have any questions

[MitosisMeiosis]

Any recommended Section A prompts for HoD (excluding the VCAA prompts)