Remember that these are broad topics, and only serve as a starting point. You will need to focus your paper and make a claim, i.e., have a thesis statement.
General advice:
You can write on any of the short stories we have read in class. With any of these texts, you could always choose to look at the form or structure and comment on the effects. You could focus on language use, maybe even one repeated phrase, the use of dialect, particular phrasing, or anything else and build an argument around that. You might focus on one particular trope, a repeated image, a repeated idea or circumstance, and analyze that. You can also do a character analysis or compare and contrast two characters.
All of these options require you to HAVE AN IDEA that guides your inquiry. You need to have a reason for comparing the two characters or performing a character analysis of one character. You need to make a claim about the language, or make a claim about the repeated trope that is tied into the larger meaning of the text you’re examining. For example, saying, “I am going to examine the color red in the text” is not enough. That is only your starting point. You need to say something about the use of the color red in the text, e.g., “The use of the color red is tied to the themes of childbirth and death, appearing at key moments in the text. By examining the author’s use of this color, we understand the author is challenging the natural cycle of life and inviting the reader to question conventional religious constructs of what it means to live.”
You are free to choose your own paper topic, but you need to have it approved. These are just some ideas.
Potential topics:
The concept of endings in “Zidane’s Melancholy”
Art in “Zidane’s Melancholy”
The concept of the great man in “Zidane’s Melancholy”
Nature in “Journey Back to the Source”
Time in “Journey Back to the Source”
The concept of marriage in “Marriage á la Mode”
Memory in “Bullet in the Brain”
Adolescence in “Where are You Going, Where have You Been?”
Folklore, Judeo-Christian or other sources of influence in “Where are You Going, Where have You Been?”
Music in “Where are You Going, Where have You Been?”
Power in “Where are You Going, Where have You Been?”
Compare and contrast two characters in “Man in the Case”
Various kinds of cases in “Man in the Case”
The role of the narrator in “Man in the Case”
Animals in “Now I Lay Me”
Sound in “Now I Lay Me”
Solitude vs. companionship in “Now I Lay Me”
Solitude or isolation in “Araby”
Vanity in “Araby”
Religious imagery and tropes in “Araby”
Light and dark in “Araby”
Seen and Unseen in “Araby”
Race in “Why I Like Country Music”
Memory in “Why I Like Country Music”
The role of music in “Why I Like Country Music”
You are also allowed to write about two stories if they share a similar theme. The connection should be clear, and your discussion of them together should enhance our understanding of both texts. You can also choose to read another story by one of the authors we have studied and do a comparison
