Where do you start? How do you pick a topic?
Step 1: DON'T PANIC!
There are four prompt questions I ask myself when I want to write a paper, or when I want an easy starting point for discussions. These four questions are actually not my own, but are rather the old common core questions from The Human Journey curriculum at Sacred Heart University. Some future blog posts or podcasts will use these as a starting point for discussions of some favorite stories (like Frankenstein!). If your essay assignment really is open ended.... examining themes, or conflict, or character development...give yourself a chance to do about ten minutes of brainstorming for the question that most appeals to you, or which feels most appropriate for your text. Here they are!
(In your text(s)) What does it mean to...
Live a life of meaning and purpose?
Be human?
Understand and appreciate the natural world?
Forge a more just society for the common good?
Because these are so broad, you can approach almost any book from one of, or a combination of, these questions. I like using these to get started and I find that it is easy to zoom my focus in to one character's struggle with these ideas, or zoom out to the societal attitudes within the text. Either way I find that authors regularly address these large concepts...though with different degrees of subtlety and nuance.
Additionally, not only can you examine one text using a combination of these questions, you can also construct an amazing compare/contrast essay using a single question as your focal point. I know that English essay assignments in high school and college are shifting from class-reads to individual reads in tandem with mentor texts, so it can feel overwhelming to develop a thesis from thin air that connects back to course material. Let these questions help you narrow down your focus!
Lastly, these questions ARE NOT JUST FOR ENGLISH CLASSES. I was expected to apply these ideas to my classes in English, History, Anthropology, Philosophy, Religion, Science, and the Arts! So take a deep breath, do a little bit of brainstorming to find the best fit, and go for it: Whittle down these large ideas to a specific and defendable thesis statement, commit to your strongest points, use excellent evidence and blend it well, and dazzle your teacher and your peers with your rich and insightful paper!
Let me know which questions/texts you used and how it turned out by commenting or sending me an email at carrianne@carriannedillon.com!
Best of luck!
-C
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