PDA

View Full Version : topic suggestions?



dicer
06-06-2010, 06:20 AM
Hello. I think this might possibly be the wrong board, but I couldn't find a more appropriate section. Basically, I was wondering if anyone might suggest an essay topic I could work on next month? To clarify, I actually have to write one; I have not chosen this as my preferred occupation, although I do like writing essays. :) I was trying to think of one myself, but I just choose very general topics and I can't decide on what sort of texts to base it on, either.

I was thinking of researching war literature and films this summer, because I've prior shrugged them off in the ignorance of youth. I've never really read any before. I tried to read Birdsong a few years ago but found it sort of confused, because I didn't have the context to place it in. I know more now, though. I am specifically interested in WWII literature, but I think there are less examples from this period, or so my searches would suggest.

However, as I have never looked into war literature before, I am not sure if this would be a good or bad idea for the essay. I am a huge fan of Charlotte Bronte's work so I was wondering if there was anything I could do with Jane Eyre, Villette, or both acting as the foundation.

I'm not really asking for anything specific based on the above, but I am just looking for suggestions of interesting research questions. I would like to look into new texts, but I don't mind delving into ones I have read before because I find a closer reading rewarding anyhow. I also love Dostoevsky (thinking the books might be a big considering time constraints, however), Austen, 'In Cold Blood', Daphne Du Maurier, to name a few that might appear relevant to this question.

I hope that somebody will understand what I am asking. I would just like an external prompt to propel my own research into some aspect of literature or other. I don't really mind where it is founded.

Thank you very much for any help.

mal4mac
06-06-2010, 06:50 AM
If I had to write an essay *now* I'd compare the Epicurean philosophies revealed in Whitman's Song of Myself, Russell's "The Conquest of Happiness", and Lucretius' The Nature of Things. But as writing essays is quite stressful, I'll just relax in my garden and read some Epicurus if the mood takes me...