Idea 1: How have the roles of women been presented across literature?
A strength of this idea is that it is focused around English which is a subject that I am considering taking at university so I will not lose interest during the year. Within this subject, there are innumerable pieces of literature that could be studied which makes this idea very easy to research and also means that it can be sustained for the full year. Some initial ideas include Shakespeare (Sonnet CXXX and Macbeth), Jane Austen’s novels, magazines/the media and fairy tales. I would also be able to conduct a survey to find the opinions of the general population to see whether the effects of such literature have a positive or negative effect on today’s society. One of the weaknesses with this idea is that something very similar has been done recently and even though it was limited to children’s stories (which only make up a small part of my idea), they may still be too similar. As previously mentioned, there are many resources for this project and they are very easy to access either online or from libraries. This project is achievable in the time frame, the only possible issue being the time it takes to read the material but as I have already read many of my proposed resources, time shouldn’t be a problem. there would also not be any additional costs for doing this project because of the availability of the texts. If I do decide to take English further, this will be a very useful project to do because it shows how I can analyse texts effectively and extract meanings and messages.
Idea 2: Has science disproved the Bible?
My other option that I am interested in taking at degree level is theology and so using an idea that looks at apologetics links to this. It is a very interesting subject that causes huge debate and disagreement which makes it very fascinating to look at and a personal interest means I will enjoy researching it for the full year. There are many strengths of this idea including the fact that there are many resources that I can use as research. My uncle has written a book around a very similar subject and I have the opportunity to go on a week-long camping trip in which seminars are held concerning apologetics. There are financial implications as the trip costs approximately £100 and is in Norfolk but even if I was not doing the EPQ on this subject, I would have gone anyway so it is a happy coincidence that I have the opportunity to go. At this conference, there will be speakers who are experts in their fields such as Professor John Lennox who has argued his case against Richard Dawkins. It will be a highly fruitful topic to survey people on because, as I have said, it is very controversial meaning the variety of responses will be interesting to analyse. This may cause a problem for me personally because it is a subject that I have very strong opinions about so I will need to bear in mind that not everyone will share my opinion. However, this can be overcome easily.
Idea 3: Why would a God of love allow pain and suffering?
Staying with the theme of apologetics, this is an issue that is very prominent in today’s society because with the rise of a dictator or a natural disaster people frequently ask ‘where was God?’. This is also fairly controversial which will make it very interesting to study and research. Again, there are many resources such as books and the conference in August will also cover this subject. Because it is very similar to my previous idea, there will be similar costs involved but I am unlikely to lose interest in this topic. The only weakness of this idea is that there may not be enough to write about for the full year. Despite the availability of resources, it is possible that they will all have very similar messages which could make my essay too short with not enough variety. If I do decide to take theology further, this project will be more suited to the course than my first idea.
One EPQ to rule them all 