Making A Start?

Since I submitted my proposal and Ethical Approval Form, our EPQ sessions have been very independent and subjective as we have now started to look for literature works that are relevant to our project which we can use as part of our research. Chris, our supervisor, has allowed us to spend our sessions searching for relevant information relating to our project while frequently recommending to us several research methods and tools we can use to make sure our findings are specifically relevant to the topic of our project, such as Google Scholar. Before we broke off for half term, he also dedicated one session to telling us about Gantt charts and several other planning techniques we may want to use to plan out our research and upcoming tasks. This was helpful as it led me to start planning my own Gantt chart which I found difficult to do at first but I think I'm understanding now. It also encouraged me to start planning out my next tasks so I can look at the objectives I need to complete, as well as the ones I need to prioritise.

To help me with my research, I have also created a list of research topics since my last post as I believe this assist me hugely when researching for specific areas.

Here are some of the topics on that list:

• Jane Austen's background; family life, social class, relationships, key beliefs
• Era of Jane Austen; key events, Regency England, Romanticism movement 
• Themes in Pride and Prejudice
• Role of women
• Marriage/economic security
• Portrayal of main characters and their relationships
• Austen's aims when writing the novel
• Feminist/marxism criticisms of the novel

Furthermore, here are a few of the websites and pieces of literature I have managed to find relating to my project: 

• https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/node/1765 - Historical context on late 18th century 
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/prosegreatexpect/0prose_greatexpect_contrev4.shtml - the 19th century social, historical, and cultural setting 
• http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Early-19th-century-Literature.htm  
• http://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-biography.asp &  
• http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janelife.html  - Jane Austen biography  
• http://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-timeline.asp

• British Women in the Nineteenth Century / Thompson, Dorothy KG  (1989) 
• Ninteenth century Britain 1815-1914  /  WILLIS, Michael  (1990) 
• Feminism for beginners  /  WATKINS, Susan Alice ,  RUEDA, Marisa  &  RODRIGUEZ, Marta  (1992) 
• Feminism  /  SAUL, Jennifer  (2003) 
• Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction – Margaret Kirkham