Possible Topics for Final Paper
Here are some ideas that might
help you in your search for a topic. Many can be applied to a number of works
that we have read in class. Remember in some way you want to relate your topic
to the theme of death and dying.
Compare different genres (poetry,
prose, drama). What are the limitations and advantages of each? What techniques
do each employ?
Analyze the use of symbols, metaphors
and imagery in a work/s. How is death and dying depicted? Meaning of titles to
works?
Relation of the writer to her/his
works. How does the writer’s situation (religious beliefs, personal loss,
philosophy, attitude toward death) influence/are given expression in his/her
work/s? You could examine other works not read
in class such as Abel Sánchez by Miguel de Unamuno and the Cain
and Abel theme, or death in the poems or plays of Federico García Lorca.
Analyze the narrative voice in a
work/s. Is it first, second third person? Does it change? Are their other
voices? How does the writer use them?
Analysis of temporal or structural
aspects. How is time marked in the work/s? Is it chronological? Circular? How
does this contribute to the work?
What is the role of nature in a
work/s? How does nature contribute to the meaning of the work?
Aspects of the work’s historical or
cultural background and influence (Mexican Revolution, Spanish Civil War, the
Dirty War, machismo, beliefs about life and death, immortality, etc.)
Character analysis. How does death
and dying relate to the characters in a work/s? The relationships between
characters? How do they express grief? Remorse? Guilt? Face death?
Other broader themes:
Love and death
The individual and society
Honor
The function/role of memory and/or
forgetting
History and fiction. How does a
writer blend real experience with fictional material?
Role and attitudes toward women
Family relationships