English 1B
Themes for Research Paper

If you find a good link, email it to Dave, and he'll add it under the topic.

1) Exploring multiple stories by a single author: a good place to start is to go read some biographical and bibliographic material on the author, such as you would find in our anthology or on the Gale Literary Database (go to the library's website and look under "Search for Articles"; then select the Gale Literary Database and do a search under the author's name).  Also, you can try looking under "Search for Books" and see if the library has any criticism on that author, so look up books about the author, not by the author.  Check out the authors section of our website.

2) Negative effects of war: here a good idea is to focus in on a particular aspect or aspects that war is manifesting in these characters in these stories or poems.  You can then look at these effects from a political lens (such as how was this particular war viewed during this period?), a psychological lens (such as how was this effect understood psychologically during this era?), a historical/biographical lens (such as what was happening during this war and how did the author or poet experience the war?).

National Public Radio piece on difficulties families experience with vets going to war
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5359966

Informational Article on Depleted Uranium (Traprock Peace Center website)
http://traprockpeace.org/TribTest062803.html

National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/

3) Marginalization of women: here a good idea is to first focus in on a particular aspect of how women are marginalized in these stories or
poems.  You can then consider these effects from a psychological lens (such as how did this affect women's psyches?), a political lens (such as how much or little power did women have during this era and what was the result of that power or powerlessness?), an economic lens (such as what economic options were available to women and how did that affect them?). 

4) Cultural marginalization: here a good idea is to first focus in on a particular aspect of how this group or individual is marginalized in these stories or poems.  You can then consider these effects from a psychological lens (such as how did this affect this group's psyche?), a political lens (such as how much or little power did this group have during this era and what was the result of that power or powerlessness?), an economic lens (such as what economic options were available to this group and how did that affect them?). 

5) Negative aspects of materialism: here, again, it is a good idea to first focus in the stories/poems themselves and take note of how you see materialism affecting the individual or group.  You can then go do some research on materialism, perhaps looking at such terms as "affluenza."  You might also consider biographical material on the authors, which may tell you more about their economic backgrounds or what ideas shaped their worldview.  You may also look at secondary sources which consider the economic issues present in the author's works.

6) Book of the Year: For this topic, you will need to locate an aspect of the novel that you want to consider, such as the cultural divide that exists in the family as well as the nation.  Or you may want to consider the immigration issues, particularly the refugee crisis in Pakistan, and the author's involvement in trying to remedy that crisis by bringing more public awareness to that issue.  Or maybe go onto the Book of the Year website and hunt around for ideas. 

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