Coming Up With Powerful Research Paper Topic Ideas On American Literature

Research papers on American literature are common writing assignments in English course. As a rule, you are supposed to analyze a certain literary work by some author and focus on key ideas and philosophies provided there. The success of your research paper depends much on the topic you choose. To come up with the powerful topic ideas on American literature, make use of the following tips:

• Choose the literary work or writer you are passionate about.

If this is your favorite writer or the plot of the novel is particularly interesting to you, you’ve made a right decision, and the process of conducting research and composing your paper will be fun.

• Check if your topic is narrow enough.

You should cover the issue in your research paper completely. Therefore, it is important that the subject of research be limited. For example, you may choose to explore not only a particular period of American literary history, but the author’s contribution to it. You may also research a particular character or idea from the work of your choice.

• Check if your topic is formulated according to the assignment details.

If you have any doubts about your choice, turn to your teacher. Your instructor will prompt on how to improve your topic and make it more manageable.

If you still cannot come up with the idea that sparks your interest, look through the topic suggestions on the Internet. A lot of original thoughts can be taken from there. One of the similar lists of topics about American literature is provided below. Use it to your advantage and borrow any idea you like.

• Educational focus in the works by Benjamin Franklin.
• Thomas Paine’s Common Sense versus the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson: comparative analysis of ideals depicted there.
• Exploring the wilderness motives in The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.
• Symbolism in The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
• Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience versus Martin Luther King’s A Letter from Birmingham Jai: comparative analysis of ideas.
• Humanitarian themes in My Bondage and My Freedom by Douglass.
• African influence in Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
• Social themes in poetic works by Robert Frost.
• Imagery in William Faulkner’s short stories.
• Moral ambiguity in the works by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• Attitudes towards women in the works by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
• Analyzing the effects of Bryant’s literary works on Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
• Depiction of freedom in Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
• Colonial America in the works by William Bradford.