Writing a research paper....?

Question

For my honors english class we have to do a research paper on a book that made an impact on American culture from 1865-2007. It can be a biograpy or autobiograpy. It can't be a play, The Great Gatsby, or The Scarlet letter. I really have no idea what to do it on. My paper is going to have to talk about the "Cultural, Historical, and Literay impact on American culture." Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

The call of the Wild by Jack London

Answer 2

There should be a lot on Huckleberry Finn-- it's still controversial.

Sister Carrie by Dreiser might be a good choice, in part because it's not done as often-- or American Tragedy. Strong stuff for its time.

Or, very timely-- Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, written in the 60s I believe. She was the first person to say that pesticides and things were harming the environment, and to document what she was finding. It caused shock waves, people starting to look at pollution and what it was doing, and it was written not for scientists but for the general reader.

Answer 3

Do it on Angelas Ashes by Frank McCourt. He is an Irish immigrant who came here amongst the influx of Irish around the time of the Great Depression . The book brings a great perspective to the immigrant makes good story. He became a teacher in New York after overcoming crippling poverty and tragedy in Limerick Ireland. His story won a Pulitzer prize, and is both moving and seriously funny. If you have any Irish descendants at all, this is a must read story. It will make you appreciate their struggle, and give you some perspective on who you came from. It is one of my all time favorite books. He also wrote a sequel to Anglelas Ashes, called "Tis.

Answer 4

The Jungle by Uptain Sinclair was published in 1906. Its about an immigrant worker who comes to America, and essentially life is hell. Big business takes advantage of him and exploits him, his children get sick, his wife becomes a prostitute...
It was a very pro-socialist book. Investigating its impacts on America at the time would be a good research paper.

Answer 5

How about George Orwell's "1984", or Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle"?

Both deal with aspects of society.

1984 is about a "might be or might have been future" and Sinclair wrote the Jungle about the meat packing industry which changed the standards of business practices. (It's gross!)

Answer 6

what about mark twain's books? you can do it on a lot of different things. for example Al Gore's book about Global Warming would be a good topic. If you don't want to read the book itself then you should go to Sparknotes.com, because they will sum up the whole book and explain certian things like character analysis, plot, and hidden meanings.

Answer 7

Rachel Carson - "Silent Spring" (major initial work in the environmental movement)
George Orwell's "Animal Farm" or "1984"

Answer 8

I would look up famous American authors during that time period. If they were famous, they must have had an impact.