RESEARCH IS INSPIRING!!!

But...only if you allow yourself the freedom to explore different topics and ideas. The more inspired you are by your topic, the better your paper will be.

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Literary Criticism: the academic study and evaluation of literature

GALE IN CONTEXT: LITERATURE LINK

RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS

• At least THREE references to at least ONE interview.  These can be direct quotes or information provided by interviewees that you have put in your own words. Interviews can be by phone, email, or video conferencing. 
• References – put in your own words - to a variety of reputable print sources including ONE anchor book and FOUR other sources - a total of FIVE - cited according to MLA guidelines.  Relying mostly on one or two sources will result in a low grade.
•  A conclusion that represents your consideration of all that you have learned, the answer to your question, AND your thoughtful prediction/speculation about the future with respect to your topic.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

During the process, you must submit an annotated bibliography that contains at least FOUR entries in MLA format.  I will be checking notes on your sources throughout the research gathering process. Use Noodle Tools.

1. Which philosopher of the 19th or 20th century had the most influence on literature of that period?

2. What are the reasons for the growing number of non-fiction readers?  

3. Why are more people drawn to memoir writing nowadays than years past?

4. Is the poetry of John Donne still relevant today?

5. How are most novels stylistically and structurally different from 40 years ago?

6. How are contemporary science fiction writers (writers of speculative fiction) utilizing technology in their works?

7. How and why does the reading of novels make someone more empathetic?

8. What accounts for the renewed interest in classical Greek / Roman myths and tales?

9. To what extent have past writers of speculative fiction (science fiction) made accurate predictions?

10. Which dystopian writer has had the most impact and why?

11. How have young female protagonists of young adult literature evolved over time, and why has that evolution taken place?

12. Why and how has language used in political discourse devolved to such a hateful level?

13. Which novelist has had the most success with movie adaptations of their books?  Why?

14. Who is one of the most cinematic novel writers?

15. Are graphic novels just as legitimate as traditional novels?  How might they even be better? Worse?

16. How is the Beat movement a precursor to the rebelliousness and free love movement of the 1960s? 

17. Is Slam poetry as legitimate as “traditional” poetry?

18. Which confessional poet resonates with contemporary readers?

19. Which poet best represents the ideals of English Romanticism.

20. Who is one of the most revered American writers today?  Why?

21. What inspired the Gothic movement in literature?

22. Why are many teens so enraptured by fantasy fiction?

23. Is race / politics affecting the publishing industry today in a positive or negative way?

24. What is the best way to teach children to read – whole language, phonics, or something else?

25. Is it truly possible to discern the truth today in a world featuring so much fake news and misinformation?

26. How do different translations of a written work alter / affect our understanding of a written work?

27. To what extent- if any - do true crime writers exploit victims and their loved ones?

28. Is there any scientific evidence proving that some people are more adept at analyzing poetry than others?

29. Will AI signal the death of originality in works of art – movies, books, painting, etc.? 

30. What societal factors have contributed to an increase in dystopian novels?

31. What is the impact of true crime nonfiction on popular culture?

32. Which philosophical movement is most helpful in navigating contemporary society?  Why?

33. Which female novelist / writer is / was the most groundbreaking?  Why?

34. What are the current trends in young adult fiction today and why is this the case? 

35. To what extent does science fiction inspire and/or affect scientific innovation?

36. How does Shakespeare influence contemporary fiction?

37. Are teens really reading less today, and if so, why?

38. How does fantasy fiction help or hinder an adolescent’s development?

Literary Periods 

From the Poetry Foundation: The English Renaissance (1495-1644) - Ornamented and lyrical verse, poetic dramatic works, metaphysical poetry.

Representative Writers: William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Donne, John Milton, Edmund Spenser

From the LLHS Library Guide: The Enlightenment (1650- 1789) – Neoclassical era: emphasis on reason, harmony, and balance.

Representative Writers: Daniel Defoe, John Locke, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift.  

From the Common Lit/Poetry Foundation: The Romantic Era: (1789 – 1830) America/Britain- Focus on subjective experiences, emotion, and nature as source for inspiration.  

Representative Writers:  William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, John Keats, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley. In America, the Transcendentalists: Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson.   American: Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving. 

From the Poetry Foundation: The Victorian Period (1832-1901) – Period of growth and change. The reaction to industrialization; people flocking to cities, poverty and social ills.

Representative Writers: Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, H.G. Wells, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson

From Master Class: Modernism (1902 – 1950) Social Commentary and criticism inspired by two wars and the Great Depression. Women’s right to vote.  Dystopian themes and the emergence of science fiction. American: The Harlem Renaissance (1920’s – 1930’s) Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and others.

Some Representative Writers: T. S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Dylan Thomas, Aldous Huxley

From The Library of Congress: Contemporary Period:  (1950-now)

Beat poets like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac; poet Seamus Heaney.  Playwrights such as Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard and novelists such as Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood and so many more.