Literature

A look at the medium of short stories and the reasons behind why they should be regarded as highly as the novel. This article would look at several famous short stories or short story writers and the influence they've had on writers throughout history (including the influence they've had on the medium of the novel). It might also be helpful to discuss the status of the short story–how it's risen or declined in popularity through time.

Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth – these plays could be considered the "Holy Trinity" for Shakespeare in academia; these plays seem to be the ones that are introduced to students most often and at the earliest ages (with an occasional Othello or King Lear thrown into the mix).

Why are these three plays seemingly the most prevalent in English classes? Some of the more "obscure" Shakespeare plays are, arguably, just as good for both reading and teaching as the aforementioned ones. Consider Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus, or the history plays (Richard/Henry) and how they would fare as a student's first exposure to Shakespeare, as opposed to Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth.

The emphasis of a woman’s appearance as a means of fashioning an identity in literature, art, film, or TV. Discuss and explore the ways in which fashion and consumer culture influence individual self-creation (whether it be in literature, film, etc.). Female beauty and self-confidence are consistently linked to male attention in literature, and this “beauty” that attracts the men is, most of the time, some kind of physical beauty. This topic would analyze how beauty is equated with physical appearance (meaning possession of expensive commodities and attractive body shape) and how a woman’s level of attractiveness is often linked to the status, price and brand, of her clothing and commodities in literature, film, or TV. Furthermore, discuss the idea that women’s appearances are emphasized and linked to consumer culture and often times used as a means of connection to wealth and status in literature, TV, film, or any other form of art/ popular culture.

What do readers look for when purchasing a celebrities autobiography? Do readers prefer sentimentalism or heart-felt stories.

Also, what are a celebrities' aim for their autobiography?

Analyze why certain things are redone over and over again. For example, why is Romeo and Juliet so popular that it is re-released in different formats? These include: movies, books, parodies, revamped novels/movies/games, etc. Why are fairy tales re-written every couple of years? Why are certain movies redone and re-released every few years? It can't just be popularity, is there a trend in the stories?

Consider the hallmark characteristics of each of the races described in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the epistemic basis for racial characterization in modern fantasy novels and film. To what degree of accuracy does Tolkien's distinction between good and bad races (i.e. elves and orcs, men and haradrim, dwarves and goblins) describe racial conflicts in the western world? How does Tolkien's attempt to moralize race? What are the implications of attaching an inherent evil to a race?

When analyzing literature from the early half of the 20th century, there are clear changes in writers before and after the World Wars. The biggest shift came after the Great War, as this was the first war of this scale, with such a large body count, and with new technologies and conventions.

Now that we are coming up on 15 years after 9/11, I suspect we can see a shift in pop culture following the attack on the Twin Towers, and analyze what the shift was, how it affected each medium, and how long the shit remained.

There were works created specifically in response to the attack, including Bruce Springsteen's The Rising as well as Frank Miller's controversial follow-up to the Dark Knight Returns: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (at least in part as stated in Miller's forward to the Dark Knight Saga hardcover).Other works that were written before the attacks were deeply patriotic were brought back into the pop culture, notably Proud to be an American.

Examine pop culture before the attacks (late 90's-mid 2001), immediately after the attacks (late 2001-2002), a couple years after *2003-2005), 5-10 years after (2006-2011), and contemporary works.

The best 'good stories' have a meaning/symbolism to them, most people agree; however, some stories out there impress that too hard, some stories don't 'require' you to search for any subtext, and some stories' meanings/symbolism you only realize later. How far should one go to impress meaning/symbolism, how much should be impressed, and can/should a story be…just a story?