Picking a Topic

Subject Topic Thesis British Literature British History

Remember you have two choices for the subject of your topic: 1. The History of England and its Commonwealth Countries 2. The Literature of England and its Commonwealth Countries These countries include: England Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa, Bahamas, Jamaica, Kenya

2. Choose A Topic You’re Interested in What do you want to be when you grow up?(ok – I could say when you get older – but this form is more familiar). This is the number one question that I ask students. This and what are your hobbies? How do you like to spend your spare time? Have you ever watched a TV show or movie and went to look things up in the encyclopedia (or Wikipedia)? What made you do that? Can you pick something that would make you want to continue looking up more – doing more and deeper inquiry? Examples: If you want to be a Doctor – you could choose medicine in Medieval England. If you want to be a dancer you could write a paper on Masques in Elizabethan England. If you like to play computer games you might want to write about virtual worlds based on Shakespeare’s works (if you could find 7 sources).

3. Choose a Topic that you could write a book on – not an encyclopedia Remember – you are writing a 5 page paper with 7-10 sources. Think about your topic – could there be a book on it? Go online – is there a book on it? If there is, great. Or have you chosen something so broad that it more likely to be the subject of a multivolume encyclopedia? Example: Women’s Rights is an encyclopedia Midwives in the Renaissance is a research paper topic.

4. Think like a Chess Player In the back of your head, you have to think: can I eventually get a thesis out of this – is there a point to be made that could pass the “So What?” test (see your earlier handout). Medieval Medicine was bad is a terrible thesis – The Catholic Religion had a negative effect on the mortality rate in Medieval England is a good thesis (and one that will fit in 4 pages).

5. Stay Away From Biography Remember, you can’t have a good (or at least easy) thesis about someone’s life. If you see a good thesis emerging (see box 4) when you are doing your preliminary research pounce on it: Christopher Marlowe’s life influenced his plays is a terrible thesis – but Christopher Marlowe died as a result of his atheistic views is a good one.

6. Same Warning for Historical Papers You CANNOT do a chronological history or survey of a topic. You must have a point that you are trying to make – something that someone could potentially argue against (or for). You could not write a history of the printing press in England – but you could write a paper that the loss of Europe’s primeval forests significantly led to the Industrial Revolution.

Potential Topics – which do you think are more likely to lead to successful theses? The Life of Oscar Wilde Oscar Wildes imprisonment for Homosexuality Monks’ influence on Anglo-Saxon Literature Monasteries in England The Globe Theatre Play Acting versus Bear Baiting in Elizabethan England Changes from the historical Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Play The different versions of Macbeth over time Women in Celtic Culture The purpose of Stonehenge Slavery in England Popular Literature’s Role in outlawing slavery in England The use of Slavery in English Commonwealth Countries Influence of English Copyright laws on American Intellectual property laws Copyright laws and their development in England The Development of the Sonnet Form The Sonnet’s influence on Prose The British Rock Invasion of the early 1960’s The influence of the British Rock Invasion on American music How the King James Bible was created and written The printing of the King James Bible as a subversive act

Potential Topics – which do you think are more likely to lead to successful theses? The Life of Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment for Homosexuality Monks’ influence on Anglo-Saxon Literature Monasteries in England The Globe Theatre Play Acting versus Bear Baiting in Elizabethan England Changes from the historical Macbeth in Shakespeare’s Play The different versions of Macbeth over time Women in Celtic Culture The purpose of Stonehenge Slavery in England Popular Literature’s Role in outlawing slavery in England The use of Slavery in English Commonwealth Countries Influence of English Copyright laws on American Intellectual property laws Copyright laws and their development in England The Development of the Sonnet Form The Sonnet’s influence on Prose The British Rock Invasion of the early 1960’s The influence of the British Rock Invasion on American music How the King James Bible was created and written The printing of the King James Bible as a subversive act