Question

In the box provided, please list which of the FOUR paper choices you picked from the instructions provided in the first lesson of the Unit (Option 1: the Film Interpretation of a British Literary Work, Option 2: the traditional British Literary Research Paper, Option 3: Research for Creative Purposes, or 4: Career Focused Research Topic). Then provide the specific topic/literary choice you have made, the research question you are asking about it, and your proposed tentative thesis/idea. Remember that a Good Research Question:
- Is clear, focused and specific, looking at in-depth analysis of some aspect of the literature or it's themes/context.
- Is not a 'fact' question or a yes/no question.
- Seeks to answer a question that is not immediately and easily answerable with a google search.
- Aims to focus on a topic and answer a question about which you are legitimately interested Your Thesis Should:
- Provide a statement that is the direct answer to your research question. (This can be tentative since you may find in your research that your question has more nuanced answers than you anticipated, or that the research disagrees with you and that needs to be addressed in the paper).
- Be in the third person

It should NOT:
- contain the words "in this paper" "this paper shall/will" "I will" or any phrase that is not the paper immediately addressing the subject, or in any way should the paper reference itself Notes on topic/thesis choice:
The focus here for the literature topics is on British literature (though you may request to do works or authors from Great Britain that are not covered in the course directly, but ask first).
If you love and wish to write about a work that is not specifically British, you must ask for permission along with the information above.

* Please note - Les Miserables is French (not English) - both the novel and the musical are translations of originally French texts
* You may not write about Pride and Prejudice (Sorry Austen fans. I've had too many fake papers submitted because people assume every English teacher loves Jane Austen). ***If you choose a literature topic please only choose written works you have actually read all the way through. If you choose novels, I will expect a demonstration of in-depth knowledge of the full book with examples from throughout the text.

These specific guidelines are to help you write a successful paper, and be able to find appropriate and enough academic sources. Please reach out with any questions!(10 points)

Answer 1

- Option chosen: Option 2 — Traditional British Literary Research Paper

- Specific topic / literary choice: Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (1925)

- Research question: How does Virginia Woolf use narrative technique (stream of consciousness, free indirect discourse, and temporal fragmentation) and parallel characterization to represent the psychological trauma of World War I and to critique social expectations in postwar British society?

- Tentative thesis (third person): In Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf employs stream-of-consciousness narration, free indirect discourse, temporal fragmentation, and the parallel lives of Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith to render the psychological effects of World War I and to expose the emotional costs and social fragmentation produced by postwar British conventions.