HC 221 H, Honors College World Literature, TIPS FOR TOPICS (with thanks to Prof. Jim Earl)

When you don't have an earth-shaking brainstorm for a paper topic, you can fall back on the following advice. It is always worthwhile to practice straightforward literary observation, description, and analysis. When done well, this sort of paper is worth a lot more than heavy theorizing done less well.

Describe in literary terms some of the features of the text. Take at least two passages, one or both from one assigned text or passages from two different texts, and compare them critically. Be sure to state a thesis and demonstrate it, drawing clear conclusions from textual evidence. Don't overstate your case, but try to say something interesting, original and memorable. After reading your paper, I should be able to summarize your point in a sentence or two.

Try to make firm generalizations about your texts, regarding one or two of the following literary concepts:

Narrative style and characterization Is the story told chronologically? Are there digressions? Are the characters' thoughts and feelings reported, or only their actions and speech?
Dialogue and rhetoric Is the text repetitive, formal, ritualistic? Is it conversational, or do characters make long speeches? Do different characters have distinctive styles of speech? Is there dramatic irony--characters not knowing important information the reader knows?
High and low style Are the lives of ordinary people represented? Is there attention to everyday activities like eating or sleeping? Is humor or comedy included for its own sake?
Imagery, allegory and symbolism Is the narrative "realistic," or do you feel the characters and events mean something beyond themselves? Does the writer use images consistently, to color, intensify, undermine or unify the narrative? Are characters aware of their own symbolism, or are they part of a drama they don't know about or understand?
Time, causality and pattern Why do events happen? Is the plot driven by plausible cause and effect? Does time move in a linear or cyclical way? Are events unique, or patterned, or repeating?
Anticipation and suspense Does the author control our responses by stretching out the story to delay the outcome, or withhold crucial information from us?
Chance, accident and fate Do things happen by chance, divine intervention, or fated outcome?
Repetition, variation and paradox These are useful literary devices for structuring a narrative, making things refer to each other, creating sense or confusion
Prose and poetry How do we read a poetic narrative differently than one written in prose? What are the principles of poetry? When and why does an author use poetry?
Myth, folklore, fiction and history These are major modalities of narrative writing, sometimes mixed, often confused by readers. Is the narrative based on oral traditions? Is it serving religious practice, or is it for entertainment? Is it faithful to modern notions of historical veracity)
Understatement, irony and humor Why would authors or characters distort their language or tone in these ways? When what they say isn't what they mean, how can you tell what they mean?
Emotion, motivation and psychology Does the author look inside characters to portray their emotions, or does he/she only represent behavior and speech? What motivates the characters' behavior, and how do you know? How is their psychology different than our own?
Morality and teaching Some narratives are organized largely or solely to illustrate a point or teach a lesson. How can you tell if this is the case? And what is the lesson or lessons?
Mood, tone and narrative voice Always pay attention to the voice of the narrator, even when the narrator is trying to remain invisible. Does he/she pass judgments on the action, editorialize, draw your attention to certain things, preach? Is the tone didactic, pessimistic, anxious, self-righteous, whimsical?
Author and audience Who is the author, and what stake does he/she have in the story? What audience was he/she aiming the narrative at? How do these facts affect our reading?
Historical setting and point of view Literary history is an aspect of political/social history, and the more you know about the setting the better; within this setting, what is the author's or narrator's position? Does he/she have an attitude about the action and the characters?
Genre and intention Literary texts come in types: epic, romance, song, chronicle, liturgy, philosophical discourse, wisdom, aphorism, story. What are the set features of the genre you are reading, and how do they affect our interpretation?
Unity and coherence Is the story coherent and unified? Are there extraneous details, confusing digressions, inconsistencies that point to the narrator's attempt to bring disparate traditions together? Are the author's ideas of unity and coherence the same as ours?
Artistry and aesthetics Is the work beautiful? What does that mean? Is the author a good literary artist? Did ancient cultures have their own notions of beauty?
Gender and ideology How does the work portray women and men differently? What gender roles are being endorsed or undermined by the text? What social-political values and institutions does the work represent, embody, endorse, or critique?
The limits of representation and reader response How does the author manipulate our responses to the work? Does the work provoke anger, sympathy, anxiety, confusion, eroticism, meditation? How and why? Are our responses appropriate? Does the work get under our skin? Does it mean to, or is it our problem?
Difficulties and appropriate methods of interpretation Are there points in the narrative where the meaning of the whole seems to hinge on some small detail? Is there a point where your understanding fails? Are their specific critical responses that are called for?

There's a lot here, but this is not a complete list of possibilities, only a reminder of what kinds of literary categories can help focus your thoughts. Whatever you do, do not try to discuss all these issues! Focus on just one or two features, and on no more than two passages.

Always illustrate general statements with particular passages. Do not just state opinions, but make clear judgments about the text based on the text. Comparisons between literary texts are often useful and clarifying--and might even be the point of the paper. I'll let you know when library research is required, but learning as much as you can about your topic never hurts. Make a point to cite in your paper the supplementary reading, including Web reading, that you have done.

Remember: good literary criticism always focuses on the text. Quote your text often but succinctly, to prove or illustrate your points. The smaller the unit you focus on, the more likely you will draw solid conclusions in the short space required. For example, don't choose a whole table of Gilgamesh, but an episode like Enkidu's death. Don't ask, What makes Job suffer? Ask rather, What are the metaphors Job uses to express his wish never to have been born, and why use those particular ones? Be specific.

Back to top of page | Back to Bishop Home Page | This page created by Louise M. Bishop | Last updated 16 September 2012