Project Topic Brainstorm

Possible Topic #1

The first topic that I have an interest in is choosing a female character to focus on and discussing my own,  another character's, and the author's attitude toward her, as well as the way she views herself. I found this one interesting because in a detective literature class I've taken before we discussed this topic a few times. In these noir style stories from the 20's and 30's, women were almost always viewed as sex symbols, the damsel in distress, or sometimes the sneaky and backstabbing antagonist, but never really regarded as respectable or heroic character. I would be interested in seeing how our stories this semester portray women, although knowing that most of these stories are from the past, I don't see them being much different. One thing I love about literature is being able to sort of view the world from a different perspective, and I think that it would be really interesting to see how the women are treated in these stories.

Possible Topic #2

The second topic I think would be cool to focus on is how the story could be considered an artifact of history, what the story teaches us about history, and how a story could teach us about a time or place differently than a history book. The main aspect I'm interested in on this topic is how a story can teach us about a time or place differently than a history book, because I feel like a fictional story can tell us a lot more about the feeling of a specific time period, rather than just the factual evidence that a history book provides. A story can tell a lot more about the culture in that time period than a history book can, because those authors were directly influenced by their surroundings.

Possible Topic #3

Another topic that I would enjoy would be looking at a common theme in my life, and comparing it to the theme of one of the works we read. I think that a persons favorites works of literature are their favorite because they can find a personal connection to something within the story. Kind of like when you hear an old song and it brings you right back to a certain place in time that makes you happy. I think personal connections in art are very important and I would love to discover what kind of connections I can make between my own life and the reading we will do this semester.

Possible Topic #4

The last topic I have some interest in would be to pick a subject (love, work, freedom, etc.) then choose two different works and explore how the subject is discussed in those selections. I am interested in this topic because it would be interesting to see how two different authors can be talking about the same subject, but explore it in two totally different ways. I think that is. one of the most beautiful aspects of art, is that it is extremely subjective and the same topic can be both conveyed and interpreted in completely different ways.