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Literature Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On June 7, 2024

A literature dissertation aims to contextualise themes, ideas, and interests that have grabbed a reader’s interest and attention, giving them a more profound meaning through the movement of time within and outside cultures.

Literature is a comprehensive knowledge of other writers’ views, and to understand them, a student must perform extensive reading and research. A writer coveys their thoughts and ideas through their literary works, including the views and opinions of writers ranging from topics on philosophy , religious preferences, sociology , academics, and psychology .

To help you get started with brainstorming for literature topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your literature dissertation.

These topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers in our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a brief research proposal from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an introduction to the topic, research question , aim and objectives , literature review along with the proposed methodology of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our dissertation examples to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of dissertation topics here .

List Of Free Dissertation Topics On Literature

How Has The Rise of Afropolitan Literature Reshaped Identity Discourse
Digital Storytelling and the Evolution of Narrative Form in the 21st Century
The Influence of Social Media on the Construction of Authorship and the Literary Sphere
An Analysis of The Growing Use of AI in Literature
The Representation of Mental Health in Contemporary Literature and How This Is Breaking Stigma and Fostering Empathy
Examining the Cultural Significance of Culinary Experiences
The Evolution of Male Characters in Literature
Challenges and Ethical Considerations in Bringing Literature Across Borders
A Comprehensive Analysis of the Role of Satire and Irony in Literature
The Convergence of Fantasy and Dystopian Literature

Literature Dissertation Topics To Help You Get Started

Topic 1: impact of the second language barrier on the social integration of immigrants- a case of chinese nationals migrating to the uk.

Research Aim: This research proposes an analysis to show the impact of the second language barrier on the social integration of Chinese immigrants in the UK. It will analyse how this barrier affects various segments of their lives by limiting their social interactions. Moreover, it will identify ways (language courses, communal support, financial support, etc.) through which government and civil society help these immigrants overcome this barrier to make them feel included in the UK and play a part in the economy.

Topic 2: The Power of the Writer’s Imagination- A Study Finding the Role of Writer Imagination in the Social Revolution in 19th-Century Europe

Research Aim: This study intends to identify the role of the writer’s imagination in the social revolution in 19 th century Europe. It will show how writers’ imagination is reflected in their writings and how it affects ordinary individuals’ mindsets. It will assess the writings of various authors during the 19 th -century social revolution when Europe replaced the monarchy with democracy. It will show the language used by the authors and its effect on the individuals’ will to achieve democracy.

Topic 3: How Does an Accent Develop? An Exploratory Analysis Finding Factors Shaped Various English Accents in the World- A Case of America, Australia, and India

Research Aim: This research will analyse how an accent develops when a language is imported from one region to the other. It will identify how various factors such as culture, norms, politics, religion, etc., affect accent development. And to show this effect, this research will show how the English accent changed when it came to America, Australia, and India. Moreover, it will indicate whether social resistance in these areas affected the accent or was readily accepted.

Topic 4: “Gender Pronouns and their Usage” a New Debate in the Social Linguistics Literature- A Systematic Review of the Past and Present Debates

Research Aim: This study sheds light on a relatively new debate in politics, sociology, and linguistics, which is how to correctly use gender pronouns in all of these contexts. Therefore, this study will explore these areas, but the main focus will be on linguistics. It will review various theories and frameworks in linguistics to show multiple old and new debates on the subject matter. Moreover, a systematic review will determine the correct usage of gender pronouns.

Topic 5: Are Men Portrayed Better in the English Literature? A Feminist Critique of the Old English Literature

Research Aim: This research will analyse whether men are portrayed better in English literature through a feminist lens. It will assess a different kind of English literature, such as poems, essays, novels, etc., to show whether men are portrayed better than women in various contexts. Moreover, it will analyse multiple classical and modern-day writers to see how they use different male and female characters in their literature. Lastly, it will add a feminist perspective on the subject matter by introducing the feminist theory and its portrayal of men and women.

COVID-19 Literature Research Topics

Topic 1: the scientific literature on the coronavirus pandemic.

Research Aim: This study will review the scientific literature on the Coronavirus pandemic

Topic 2: Literature and the future world after Coronavirus.

Research Aim: This study will reveal the world’s literature predictions after the pandemic.

Topic 3: Coronavirus is a trending topic among the media, writers, and publishers

Research Aim: COVID-19 has disrupted every sector’s health care system and economy. Apart from this, the topic of the Coronavirus has become trending everywhere. This study will highlight whether the information provided about COVID-19 by all the sources is authentic. What kind of misleading information is presented?

Topic 2: Whether or not the death penalty is effective in the current era?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify whether the death penalty is effective in the current era.

Topic 3: Fashion Industry and its impact on people's upward and downward social perception

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the impact on people’s upward and downward social perception

Topic 4: Communication gaps in families due to the emergence of social media

Research Aim: This research aims to address the communication gaps in families due to the emergence of social media and suggest possible ways to overcome them.

Topic 5: Employment and overtime working hours- a comparative study

Research Aim: This research aims to measure the disadvantages of overtime working hours of employees.

Topic 6: Machine translators Vs. human translators

Research Aim: This research aims to conduct a comparative study of machine translators and human translators

Topic 7: Freelancing Vs 9 to 5 jobs- a comparative study

Research Aim: This research aims to compare freelancing jobs with 9 to 5 jobs.

Topic 2: Critical analysis of the teenager protagonist in “The Room on the Roof” written by Ruskin Bond.

Research Aim: Many Indian writers and children’s book authors regard Ruskin Bond as an icon. This research will systematically study the alienated teenage protagonist in Ruskin’s “The Room on the Roof” and how Ruskin evolved the character gradually throughout the novel. The way Ruskin used this protagonist to reflect his feelings and convey them to the reader.

Topic 3: Promotion of women empowerment through mass media in Nepal.

Research Aim: The primary purpose of this study is to analyse the role of mass media, including audio, print, and audio-visual, in the empowerment of women in the Nepal region. It also discusses the development of mass media in Nepal and spreading awareness of women’s empowerment.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service , which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: eighteenth-century british literature..

Research Aim: This study aims to study the evolution of modern British literature compared to eighteenth-century literature. This research will focus on the genre of comedy only. The research will discuss the causes of laughter in the eighteenth century compared to things that cause laughter in modern times.

Topic 5: A systematic study of Chaucer’s Miller’s tale.

Research Aim: This research aims to take a closer look at Chaucer’s heavily censored story, “The Miller’s Tale.” It seeks to look at why “The Miller’s Tale” is criticised and categorised as obscene and unfit for a general read. The study will analyse the writer’s writing style, language, and method for the research paper.

Topic 3: Understanding 17th-century English culture using a model of Francis Bacon’s idea.

Research Aim: This research aims to take a more in-depth look into Francis Bacon’s idea of modern economic development. To conduct the study, machine learning processes will be implemented to examine Francis’s ideas and their implementations in contemporary times.

Topic 4: The relation between early 18th-century English plays and The emerging financial market.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the relationship between eighteenth-century plays and a flourishing financial market. Most theatrical plays were written and performed in the middle of the 1720s, but writing carried out contributed to the financial market.

Topic 5: Issues of climate change used in early English literature: Shakespeare’s View of the sky.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse climate change’s impact on early English writings. Climatic issues were faced even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, providing writers with another topic to add to their published work. This research will focus on the work of Shakespeare, in which he included the specifics of climate change.

Also Read: Medicine and Nursing Dissertation Topics Free

Nineteenth-Century Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: impact of nineteenth-century gothic vampire literature on female members of the gothic subculture..

Research Aim: This research will look at the introduction of gothic vampire literature and its impact on female members of the gothic subculture. It includes a complete analysis of writing style and the impression it left of the female readers’.

Topic 2: Women theatre managers and the theatre in the late nineteenth century.

Research Aim: This research aims to view the impact on theatres under the management of women theatre managers. The improvement to theatre shows, along with the hardships faced by some managers, is discussed. The proposed study analyses the categories of theatre plays.

Topic 3: The history of American literature.

Research Aim: This research aims to give a brief history of American literature’s development and evolution throughout the centuries. The timeline begins from the early 15th century to the late 19th century. Word variations, sentence structures, grammar, and written impressions will be analysed.

Topic 4: “New women” concept in the novels of Victorian age English writers.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse women’s position in the early nineteenth and how later Victorian writers used their work to give women a new identity. The method employed by these writers who wrote from a feminist point of view will also be discussed.

Topic 5: Discussing the role of the writer in their own story.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the form in which the writer reveals their presence to the reader. The methods can be achieved directly or use the characters to replace themselves in the narrative. The study observes the phrases, vocabulary, and situations the writer uses to narrate.

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Twentieth Century Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: effect of gender association in modern literature..

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the issue of gender association in twentieth-century literature. Currently, male characters are described in a more masculine term than before in comparison to female counterparts. This research will also explore the possible approach to the possible characterisation of the two genders.

Topic 2: Feminism and literature.

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the impacts of feminism on modern English literature quality. The study will look into the ideology of feminism and how feminist thoughts impact the readers’ views.

Topic 3: Modern literature based on climate change and eco-themes.

Research Aim: This research will study the various works of writers who tackled climate change and other eco-themes in their work. The study discusses the way they portrayed the item along with their views on preventing climate change. Modern work is compared to the work of previous writers who wrote about climate change.

Topic 4: How are fathers portrayed in modern literature?

Research Aim: This research will study the role of fathers in modern literature. The way the father character is portrayed in recent times has changed compared to writing in the early centuries. This research will look into the evolution of the father figure over time.

Topic 5: Literature for Asian American children.

Research Aim: This research will examine the fusion of classic American literature and Asian literature for children. The different genera’s that are produced and the style of writing will be analysed.

Children’s Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: the influence of the intersection of race and bullying in children’s books..

Research Aim: This research will analyse the literature made for children from 2015 to 2019 in which the intersection between race and bullying is made. The study will evaluate the impact of literature read by a child in which there is bullying. Various picture books are analysed to observe the influence of racism on bullying.

Topic 2: Diversity of culture in children’s literature.

Research Aim: This research will observe the influence of the various cultural aspects of children’s books. The study will analyse the impact of mixed cultures on literature in a community and how it affects children’s mindsets from a young age.

Topic 3: The use of literature to shape a child's mind.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the effects of literature on a child’s mind. Behaviour, intelligence, and interactions between children and their age fellows are to be observed. A child’s behaviour with adults will also be analysed.

Topic 4: Evolution of children's literature.

Research Aim: This research will explore the change in children’s literature trends. This research will compare the literary work from the mid-nineteen century with modern-day children’s books. Differences in vocabulary, sentence structure, and mode of storytelling will be examined.

Topic 5: Racial discrimination in “the cat in the hat” impacts children’s racial views.

Research Aim: This research will take an in-depth analysis of the children’s story, “The Cat in the Hat,” to observe if it has any racial remarks which cause an increase in racism among children. The words used and the pictures found on the page will be thoroughly analysed, and their impact on the children reading it.

Topic 6: Measuring the nature of a child’s early composing.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the development of a child’s writing skills based on the type of books they read. The book’s genera, vocabulary, and the writing style of the child’s preferred book will be considered.

Topic 7: Use of a classroom to incorporate multicultural children’s literature.

Research Aim: This research will reflect on the potential use of a school classroom to promote multicultural literature for children. Since a classroom is filled with children of different cultural backgrounds, it becomes easier to introduce multicultural literature. The difficulties and the advantages to society in the incorporation of multicultural literature in classrooms are discussed.

Important Notes:

As literature looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing literature theories – i.e., to add value and interest to your research topic.

The literature field is vast and interrelated to many other academic disciplines like linguistics , English literature and more. That is why creating a literature dissertation topic that is particular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field is imperative.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic based on your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation , as you may end up in a cycle of rejection at the initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best literature dissertation topics that fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalising your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please look at some of our sample literature dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure Your Literature Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

A Title Page
Acknowledgements
Declaration
Abstract: A summary of the research completed
Table of Contents
Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths whilst identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic and key terms that can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs, charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section of the paper is to link the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regard to the implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
References : Your University’s requirements should complete this
Bibliography
Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are some good literature dissertation topics.

Representation of war in classic literature
Gender roles in Shakespearean comedies
Role of women during wars in classic literature
Use of symbolism in romantic poetry

50 Dissertation Topic Ideas in English Literature

Young people who strive to obtain a master's degree face a need to write a dissertation in their chosen major. It's considered the most important paper they need to deliver during their academic career. Besides, it represents a wonderful chance to demonstrate advanced writing and analytical skills, critical thinking, and knowledge they've gained during the curriculum. Furthermore, such an assignment provides an opportunity to affect an academic environment positively and pamper your ego a bit. So, if you want to graduate with an outstanding result, you should do your best to deliver a high-grade-worthy paper. Your way to success will start with examining potentially suitable dissertation topic ideas, so it is not worth underestimating its importance. Therefore, we'll go deep down this question to make sure you have something to think about when it comes to working on your paper..

How to Work on Research Topics in English Literature

The very name of its assignment suggests that you will not do without proper research, so you should make enough room in your schedule for this stage. You will have to present a report about your findings and discuss the results provided. Bear in mind that writing a dissertation involves a completely different level of responsibility, diligence, and work than similar assignments you got in the past. It stands out from other academic papers with its complexity since it requires more reading, studying, and writing as well.

If you are new to this type of work, it is worth searching for guidelines on the internet, examining decent ready-made papers, and doing background research to understand what theme is more suitable for you. Allocate enough time to look through all thesis topics in English literature that seem appealing to you. It is a complex and multifaceted field of study, so you will hardly do everything properly if you proceed to write when the deadline is already around the corner. The best thing you can do is to choose a theme from your current field of interest. Thus, you will have enough motivation and inspiration to stay on track with research and writing. Pay attention to the following moments:

Your dissertation should be based on high-quality research, so you can show your understanding of the subject you work on.
You should demonstrate your analytical skills, choosing only relevant literature on your theme.
You should develop a research question and address it in your paper, ensuring your dissertation possesses a clear focus.

Research Proposal Ideas

You will have to write a dissertation proposal and present it to your professor or committee to ensure it is suitable and up to date. Don't postpone this task for too long since time is your biggest enemy when it comes to working on such an assignment. Your research process will spin around literary texts, so you will hardly do without visiting a library. A note-taking process is crucial for developing decent ideas and the research process itself. If you don't know what categories it would be interesting to try, pay attention to the following options:

cultural diversity;
translated texts;
genre studies;
historical development;
cinematography and literature.

How to Choose a Dissertation Topic in English Literature

If your professor hasn't provided you with a specific theme, it is up to you to decide what you want to write about. Your field of interest should become the main benchmark in picking up the right topic. Reflect on the books or literature aspects that you liked most of all while studying. The research process involves a lot of routine tasks, and if you are not interested in the subject, it will be much harder to stay focused. It is one of the reasons why experts suggest doing background research to ensure that you will not face issues with finding enough trustworthy information to back up your ideas. You can examine some critical literature to determine the most valuable perspectives to take as well as the gaps that you can potentially address in your dissertation. It will not be superfluous to create a well-crafted outline, so you have the required points in front of your eyes.

If you have selected a topic but are not sure about the exact title for your paper, you can come up with several working options. They may have a bit different focus but stay within one theme. In this case, you should keep both of them in mind when doing your research. Thus, it will be easy to make the right final choice. Even though there is no strict rule on how many primary texts a student must include in their dissertation, utilize at least two of them to make your arguments look more powerful. It is worth considering the cultural, historical, and theoretical background of a text to make sure it's reasonable and manageable for such a paper. Finally, you should develop a proper research question since it will guide the research and writing process. Keep it in mind all the time, so your paper can provide robust evidence of its significance.

Literature Topics for a Research Paper

Everyone who proceeds to work on a dissertation has tremendous experience under the belt in writing different papers. Thus, they know that choosing a broad theme is a road to nowhere since it's hard to devote enough attention to all key aspects and preserve the focus. It's worth resorting to special techniques aimed at helping you to narrow down the theme. Most of them suggest free writing within the subject, so you can define which one sounds the best. If you cannot opt for a theme, consider the following options:

Correlation between English literature of the 18th and 19th centuries.
How did the Renaissance affect English literature?
Key differences between English literature in the USA and the UK.
Fundamental writing methods of female writers of the 18th century.
What are the most popular writers in the detective genre nowadays?
What was the most important work of Jane Austen?
Impact of the digital revolution on English literature.
In-depth analysis of poetry from the Second World War.
Feminism's growth in twentieth-century literature.
Peculiarities of post-colonialism literature.
Female heroes in English Literature.
Correlation between famous Shakespeare's sonnets.
Gender roles in classic English literature.
Medieval traditions depicted in Geoffrey Chaucer's works.
Ambiguous issues presented in Thomas More's Utopia.
Development of suspense in famous English literary works.
John Donne: A comparison of sermons and metaphysical love poems.
Impact of Jane Austen's novels on modern women.
Key differences between books and film adaptations of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter.
How Elizabeth Gaskell depicted society and family in her works.
The most famous feminist works and their influence on modern society.
Peculiarities and depth of Thomas Hardy's poems 1913.
Religious doubts depicted by George Eliot.
Main inspiration sources of Shakespeare.
Peculiarities of rustic writing in the nineteenth century.
Role of costumes in Dickens's famous works.
Correlation between sex and violence in modern English literature.
How politics affected English literature in the nineteenth century.
The special role of water in Virginia Woolf's works.
Gender stereotyping and patriarchy in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Correlation between modernism and postmodernism.
The negative influence of postmodernism on the novel.
Travel writing in the twenty-first century.
The crucial role of philosophy in English literature of the twentieth century.
Depiction of architecture in Thomas Hardy's works.
The effect Milton's Paradise Lost had on seventeenth-century literature.
How science affected nineteenth-century novels.
Development of modern literature with the help of high technologies.
Psychological tools used in writing modern novels.
Self-searching with the help of literature works.
Poststructuralist views of language in contemporary poetry.
Popular literature genres among representatives of Z generation.
Why did Joanne Rowling choose a male alias for working in a detective genre?
Can a graphic novel be considered a literature work?
Most successful film adaptations of the last decade.
The accuracy of history presented in historical novels.
An analysis of homosexuality in modern English literature.
Influence of LGBT movement on the development of modern English literature.
The key appealing features of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Could literature do well without Shakespeare?

How to Structure Your Literature Dissertation

When you decide on the most appealing dissertation topic in English literature, you can proceed to create the first draft of an outline. The latter will help you keep in mind all the crucial moments you should consider when writing your paper. In addition, most professors pay special attention to the structure of dissertations provided by students, so if you want to get the highest grade for your paper, don't forget to involve the following things:

title page;
acknowledgments;
declaration;
list of contents;
introduction: you should present background information, project value, main research purposes and objectives, and the research question;
literature review : presentation of relevant theories and analysis of literary works within the chosen theme to address the research question;
methodology: presentation of data and analysis methods and tools utilized;
findings and analysis: presentation of the crucial research results in detail with the help of visual tools like charts, tables, graphs, etc.;
discussion and conclusion: presentation of personal interpretation of findings, demonstration of the connection between the results and arguments taken from the literature, highlighting of the research significance, and summarizing of the whole research, recommendations on the further development of the theme;
references;
bibliography;
appendices: presentation of some additional pieces of information, graphs, diagrams utilized to complete your paper that stay beyond its body paragraphs. The main aim of this part is to broaden some data and provide additional explanations.

In fact, your professor should specify all the requirements for your dissertation, but if they have skipped some moments, it is better to clarify everything that stays unclear to you beforehand. Don't leave such things unattended since the final grade will affect only your academic performance and further career development.

Department of English

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Gunaratne, Anjuli (May 2017) – "Tragic Resistance: Decolonization and Disappearance in Postcolonial Literature"

Glover, Eric (May 2017) – "By and About: An Antiracist History of the Musicals and the Antimusicals of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston"

Tuckman, Melissa (April 2017) – "Unnatural Feelings in Nineteenth-Century Poetry"

Eggan, Taylor (April 2017) – "The Ecological Uncanny: Estranging Literary Landscapes in Twentieth-Century Narrative Fiction"

Calver, Harriet (March 2017) – "Modern Fiction and Its Phantoms"

Gaubinger, Rachel (December 2016) – "Between Siblings: Form and Family in the Modern Novel"

Swartz, Kelly (December 2016) – "Maxims and the Mind: Sententiousness from Seventeenth-Century Science to the Eighteenth-Century Novel"

Robles, Francisco (June 2016) – “Migrant Modalities: Radical Democracy and Intersectional Praxis in American Literatures, 1923-1976”

Johnson, Daniel (June 2016) – “Visible Plots, Invisible Realms”

Bennett, Joshua (June 2016) – “Being Property Once Myself: In Pursuit of the Animal in 20th Century African American Literature”

Scranton, Roy (January 2016) – “The Trauma Hero and the Lost War: World War II, American Literature, and the Politics of Trauma, 1945-1975

Jacob, Priyanka (November 2015) – “Things That Linger: Secrets, Containers and Hoards in the Victorian Novel”

Evans, William (November 2015) – “The Fiction of Law in Shakespeare and Spenser”

Vasiliauskas, Emily (November 2015) – “Dead Letters: The Afterlife Before Religion”

Walker, Daniel (June 2015) – “Sociable Uncertainties: Literature and the Ethics of Indeterminacy in Eighteenth-Century Britain”

Reilly, Ariana (June 2015) – “Leave-Takings: Anti-Self-Consciousness and the Escapist Ends of the Victorian Marriage Plot”

Lerner, Ross (June 2015) – "Framing Fanaticism: Religion, Violence, and the Reformation Literature of Self-Annihilation”

Harrison, Matthew (June 2015) – "Tear Him for His Bad Verses: Poetic Value and Literary History in Early Modern England”

Krumholtz, Matthew (June 2015) – “Talking Points: American Dialogue in the Twentieth Century”

Dauber, Maayan (March 2015) – "The Pathos of Modernism: Henry James, Virginia Woolf, and Gertrude Stein (with a coda on J.M. Coetzee)”

Hostetter, Lyra (March 2015) – “Novel Errantry: An Annotated Edition of Horatio, of Holstein (1800)”

Sanford, Beatrice (January 2015) – “Love’s Perception: Nineteenth-Century Aesthetics of Attachment”

Chong, Kenneth (January 2015) – “Potential Theologies: Scholasticism and Middle English Literature”

Worsley, Amelia (September 2014) – “The Poetry of Loneliness from Romance to Romanticism”

Hurtado, Jules (June 2014) – “The Pornographer at the Crossroads: Sex, Realism and Experiment in the Contemporary English Novel”

Rutherford, James (June 2014) – "Irrational Actors: Literature and Logic in Early Modern England”

Wilde, Lisa (June 2014) – “English Numeracy and the Writing of New Worlds, 1543-1622”

Hyde, Emily (November 2013) – “A Way of Seeing: Modernism, Illustration, and Postcolonial Literature”

Ortiz, Ivan (September 2013) – “Romanticism and the Aesthetics of Modern Transport”

Aronowicz, Yaron (September 2013) – “Fascinated Moderns: The Attentions of Modern Fiction”

Wythoff, Grant (September 2013) – “Gadgetry: New Media and the Fictional Imagination”

Ramachandran, Anitha (September 2013) – "Recovering Global Women’s Travel Writings from the Modern Period: An Inquiry Into Genre and Narrative Agency”

Reuland, John (April 2013) – “The Self Unenclosed: A New Literary History of Pragmatism, 1890-1940”

Wasserman, Sarah (January 2013) – “Material Losses: Urban Ephemera in Contemporary American Literature and Culture”

Kastner, Tal (November 2012) – "The Boilerplate of Everything and the Ideal of Agreement in American Law and Literature"

Labella, John (October 2012) – "Lyric Hemisphere: Latin America in United States Poetry, 1927-1981"

Kindley, Evan (September 2012) – "Critics and Connoisseurs: Poet-Critics and the Administration of Modernism"

Smith, Ellen (September 2012) – "Writing Native: The Aboriginal in Australian Cultural Nationalism 1927-1945"

Werlin, Julianne (September 2012) – "The Impossible Probable: Modeling Utopia in Early Modern England"

Posmentier, Sonya (May 2012) – "Cultivation and Catastrophe: Forms of Nature in Twentieth-Century Poetry of the Black Diaspora"

Alfano, Veronica (September 2011) – “The Lyric in Victorian Memory”

Foltz, Jonathan (September 2011) – “Modernism and the Narrative Cultures of Film”

Coghlan, J. Michelle (September 2011) – “Revolution’s Afterlife; The Paris Commune in American Cultural Memory, 1871-1933”

Christoff, Alicia (September 2011) – “Novel Feeling”

Shin, Jacqueline (August 2011) – “Picturing Repose: Between the Acts of British Modernism”

Ebrahim, Parween (August 2011) – “Outcasts and Inheritors: The Ishmael Ethos in American Culture, 1776-1917”

Reckson, Lindsay (August 2011) – “Realist Ecstasy: Enthusiasm in American Literature 1886 - 1938"

Londe, Gregory (June 2011) – “Enduring Modernism: Forms of Surviving Location in the 20th Century Long Poem”

Brown, Adrienne (June 2011) – “Reading Between the Skylines: The Skyscraper in American Modernism”

Russell, David (June 2011) – “A Literary History of Tact: Sociability, Aesthetic Liberalism and the Essay Form in Nineteenth-Century Britain”

Hostetter, Aaron (December 2010) – "The Politics of Eating and Cooking in Medieval English Romance"

Moshenska, Joseph (November 2010) – " 'Feeling Pleasures': The Sense of Touch in Renaissance England"

Walker, Casey (September 2010) – "The City Inside: Intimacy and Urbanity in Henry James, Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf"

Rackin, Ethel (August 2010) – "Ornamentation and Essence in Modernist Poetry"

Noble, Mary (August 2010) – "Primitive Marriage: Anthropology and Nineteenth-Century Fiction"

Fox, Renee (August 2010) – "Necromantic Victorians: Reanimation, History and the Politics of Literary Innovation, 1868-1903"

Hopper, Briallen (June 2010) – “Feeling Right in American Reform Culture”

Lee, Wendy (June 2010) -- "Failures of Feeling in the British Novel from Richardson to Eliot"

Moyer, James (March 2010) – "The Passion of Abolitionism: How Slave Martyrdom Obscures Slave Labor”

Forbes, Erin (September 2009) – “Genius of Deep Crime: Literature, Enslavement and the American Criminal”

Crawforth, Hannah (September 2009) – “The Politics and Poetics of Etymology in Early Modern Literature”

Elliott, Danielle (April 2009) – "Sea of Bones: The Middle Passage in Contemporary Poetry of the Black Atlantic”

Yu, Wesley (April 2009) – “Romance Logic: The Argument of Vernacular Verse in the Scholastic Middle Ages”

Cervantes, Gabriel (April 2009) – "Genres of Correction: Anglophone Literature and the Colonial Turn in Penal Law 1722-1804”

Rosinberg, Erwin (January 2009) – "A Further Conjunction: The Couple and Its Worlds in Modern British Fiction”

Walsh, Keri (January 2009) – "Antigone in Modernism: Classicism, Feminism, and Theatres of Protest”

Heald, Abigail (January 2009) – “Tears for Dido: A Renaissance Poetics of Feeling”

Bellin, Roger (January 2009) – "Argument: The American Transcendentalists and Disputatious Reason”

Ellis, Nadia (November 2008) – "Colonial Affections: Formulations of Intimacy Between England and the Caribbean, 1930-1963”

Baskin, Jason (November 2008) – “Embodying Experience: Romanticism and Social Life in the Twentieth Century”

Barrett, Jennifer-Kate (September 2008) – “ ‘So Written to Aftertimes’: Renaissance England’s Poetics of Futurity”

Moss, Daniel (September 2008) – “Renaissance Ovids: The Metamorphosis of Allusion in Late Elizabethan England”

Rainof, Rebecca (September 2008) – “Purgatory and Fictions of Maturity: From Newman to Woolf”

Darznik, Jasmin (November 2007) – “Writing Outside the Veil: Literature by Women of the Iranian Diaspora”

Bugg, John (September 2007) – “Gagging Acts: The Trials of British Romanticism”

Matson, John (September 2007) – “Marking Twain: Mechanized Composition and Medial Subjectivity in the Twain Era”

Neel, Alexandra (September 2007) – “The Writing of Ice: The Literature and Photography of Polar Regions”

Smith-Browne, Stephanie (September 2007) – “Gothic and the Pacific Voyage: Patriotism, Romance and Savagery in South Seas Travels and the Utopia of the Terra Australis”

Bystrom, Kerry (June 2007) – “Orphans and Origins: Family, Memory, and Nation in Argentina and South Africa”

Ards, Angela (June 2007) – “Affirmative Acts: Political Piety in African American Women’s Contemporary Autobiography”

Cragwall, Jasper (June 2007) – “Lake Methodism”

Ball, David (June 2007) – “False Starts: The Rhetoric of Failure and the Making of American Modernism, 1850-1950”

Ramdass, Harold (June 2007) – “Miswriting Tragedy: Genealogy, History and Orthography in the Canterbury Tales, Fragment I”

Lilley, James (June 2007) – “Common Things: Transatlantic Romance and the Aesthetics of Belonging, 1764-1840”

Noble, Mary (March 2007) – “Primitive Marriage: Anthropology and Nineteenth-Century Fiction”

Passannante, Gerard (January 2007) – “The Lucretian Renaissance: Ancient Poetry and Humanism in an Age of Science”

Tessone, Natasha (November 2006) – “The Fiction of Inheritance: Familial, Cultural, and National Legacies in the Irish and Scottish Novel”

Horrocks, Ingrid (September 2006) – “Reluctant Wanderers, Mobile Feelings: Moving Figures in Eighteenth-Century Literature”

Bender, Abby (June 2006) – “Out of Egypt and into bondage: Exodus in the Irish National Imagination”

Johnson, Hannah (June 2006) – “The Medieval Limit: Historiography, Ethics, Culture”

Horowitz, Evan (January 2006) – “The Writing of Modern Life”

White, Gillian (November 2005) – “ ‘We Do Not Say Ourselves Like That in Poems’: The Poetics of Contingency in Wallace Stevens and Elizabeth Bishop

Baudot, Laura (September 2005) – “Looking at Nothing: Literary Vacuity in the Long Eighteenth Century”

Hicks, Kevin (September 2005) – “Acts of Recovery: American Antebellum Fictions”

Stern, Kimberly (September 2005) – “The Victorian Sibyl: Women Reviewers and the Reinvention of Critical Tradition”

Nardi, Steven (May 2005) – “Automatic Aesthetics: Race, Technology, and Poetics in the Harlem Renaissance and American New Poetry”

Sayeau, Michael (May 2005) – “Everyday: Literature, Modernity, and Time”

Cooper, Lawrence (April 2005) – “Gothic Realities: The Emergence of Cultural Forms Through Representations of the Unreal”

Betjemann, Peter (November 2004) – “Talking Shop: Craft and Design in Hawthorne, James, and Wharton”

Forbes, Aileen (November 2004) – “Passion Play: Theaters of Romantic Emotion”

Keeley, Howard (November 2004) – “Beyond Big House and Cabin: Dwelling Politically in Modern Irish Literature”

Machlan, Elizabeth (November 2004) – “Panic Rooms: Architecture and Anxiety in New York Stories from 1900 to 9/11”

McDowell, Demetrius (November 2004) – “Hawthorne, James, and the Pressures of the Literary Marketplace”

Waldron, Jennifer (November 2004) – “Eloquence of the Body: Aesthetics, Theology, and English Renaissance Theater”

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180 English Literature Dissertation Ideas To Try

The task of coming up with top-grade English dissertation ideas is no mean feat. Although most students underpin such studies, the fact remains that professional assistance is necessary to achieve the best out of such assignments.

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Creative British English Dissertation Ideas

Write about a cozy spot you enjoy at home
How to describe the physical appearance of a person in an essay
Interesting words to say ‘hello’ in a British paper
Discuss the impact of using informal contractions in a British English paper
What are some of the advisable internet slang and abbreviations to use in a paper?
How to introduce an essay on a horrible experience.’
Ways to say ‘I don’t like it’s in a British English paper
How to ask someone to repeat something in British English
Verbs and prepositions that make an English paper stand out
Other ways to say ‘you are so beautiful’ in British English
Why most students have a problem differentiating British and American English

Top-Notch Dissertation Topics In English Literature

A closer look at the poetry of William Shakespeare
The impact of the first literary explorers in shaping literary imagination
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Discuss the origins of the English novels and short plays
How and why did fiction stories develop over the centuries?
The impact of the renaissance period on the development of literature
Discuss the effects of secularization on the individual view of life
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The themes of love and loss in traditional literature
A study of the micro and macro literary themes of the ancient literary works

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Discuss the interplay between sex and violence in sensational fiction works
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Evaluate the emergence of realism among literature writers in the 19 th century
How romance shaped the growth of literature among British writers
The impact of science fiction on English literature
The emergence of postmodernism and the events that transformed literature
The relationship between psychology, philosophy, and literature
Evaluate visionary closure as seen in the 19 th -century novels
Comprehending water imagery in the works of Virginia Woolf
A study of time and space in ancient literary works

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Discuss the notion of being in the modern literary works
A study of character and identity the works of Leonardo da Vinci
What is the implication of magic and fantasy in ancient works?
Discuss the similarities and differences between modernism and postmodernism
How literary studies interrelate with other subjects
Interpreting the literature of the 21 st century
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What is the new relationship between poetry and painting?
The role of print culture and mass distribution in advancing literary works

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How authors use landscape as a source of literary inspiration
Describe how most authors portrayed the rural-urban divide
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Analyze the correlation between nature, narrative, and literature
How do the descriptions of Africa differ from those of the West?
The impact of globalization on promoting and inspiring literature
Who determines what literature is appropriate for society or not?
A discussion of the features that make an Epic
The use of imagery in communicating crime and violence
What is the function of animals in children’s literature?
The unmatchable role of humor in children’s literature

Top English Literature Dissertation Ideas

What is the critical role of names in any literary work?
Why storybooks are the most acceptable form of literature among children
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The effects of everyday use of social media on literacy levels
A critical analysis of the promotion of women empowerment through literary works
Discuss the evolution of modern literature compared to 18 th -century literature
A systematic study of ancient literature writers
The relationship between early 17 th century plays and emerging plays
How climate change has contributed to modern literature
The impact of feminist movements on contemporary literary works

Example Dissertation Titles on Gender

Discuss the history of British and American literature on gender
Discuss the ‘new women’ concept among modern literature writers
What role does the writer play in his/her own story?
Why gender affiliations affect the overall thought of a literary work
Discuss the characterization of the male and female genders
Evaluate the circulation of feministic literary works as compared to the patriarchal works
Explore the various myths and misconceptions associated with literature and gender
Analyze the issue of gender association in the 20 th -century literature
The impact of women theatre managers on literary works performed
Discuss the writing styles and impression of gender-based literary works
Look at the role of the female members of the Gothic subculture in literature

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Analyze the various 20 th -century representations of Black males
The globalizing nature of modern literary works
The emerging logic of the Public Sphere in writing
Discuss the poetics, rhetoric, and social struggle of select literary works
How the politics of feeling and belonging affects the effectiveness of literature
Discuss the colonial and postcolonial differences in American fiction
A critical analysis of the national and continental writing styles
Developing an interactive literature audience through the internet
How to write for social action: A case study of activism
Discuss the impact of racial discrimination on the development of literary works
How to register for the local and global audience at the same time

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The characterizations of womanhood in modern-day literature
A critical analysis of the characters in a play of your choice
The extent to which literary works shape the reality of today
Discuss the aspects of nationalism and regionalism within novels
Analyze various forms of historical fiction and their impact on today’s society
Compare and contrast romantic, historical fiction, and recessionary pressures
Techniques used to bring a sense of place in ancient literature
Changing approaches to imagery in modern literary works
The impact of living in a media-oriented world on the success of literature
The aspects of history and sociology in analyzing literary works
An analysis of the roles of blindness and nature Shakespeare’s classical works

Professional Examples of Dissertation Titles

A comparison of John Donne’s metaphysical love poems and sermons
Discuss the undisputed value of text speech in literature
Compare and contrast the literature in Marxists versus communist societies
The role of gender and patriarchy stereotyping in literature
A comparative study of the various themes displayed in Shakespeare’s works
An evaluation of the use of plot and characters in plays
The impact of discriminatory attitudes towards other marginalized sectors in literary works
Do literary works depict the contemporary reality of any society?
The role of literature in controversial issues such as homosexuality and abortion
The role of clowns in comic literary works
An exploration of the facets of evil in highly controlled societies

Dissertation Titles For ‘A’ Grade Students

Explore the various genres used in college literature
The reception of the 19 th -century novels by academicians and the public alike
How the understanding of literary works affects our modern-day perspective of life
An analysis of abortion in literature
Discuss the ever-changing role of women in modern literary works
Why some literary works are appealing to adults and children alike
The growth of feminism in the 21 st -century literature
How did Milton’s Paradise Lost affect 17 th -century literature?
The critical role of imagination in any work of literature
How accurate is history in various historical novels?
The role of J.K. Rowling to modern-day literature

Literature Based Dissertation Example Topics

A rhetorical analysis of American and British literature
How to achieve creative writing for college literature papers
The role of place and culture in novels and plays
Why dramatic memoirs are efficient in illustrating grief and love
The influence of other disciplines on the study of literature
Discuss the subject of love in medieval romance
A close textual analysis of modern-day authors
The role of pros poems centered around death in communicating loss
How to narrate colonialism and slavery in the expansion of capitalism
Critique the American literary naturalism and the aesthetic of integration
The role of short stories in communicating themes

Expert Thesis Topics in English Literature

Effects of representation of class and nation in women’s writing
Discuss the various multi-ethnic literature in the UK
A study of the medieval European romances
Evaluate some of the stories that queer kids tell themselves
Analyze multimodal composition and digital technology
An examination of the old English literature
How to expand the theoretical and instructional frameworks for literature
An investigation of American Yogi
An interrogation of death in literature
Explorations of the Bible
Why does there exist an intimate debate between the reader and the work?

Thesis Topics For English Literature Students

Explore the various essay writing styles
The impact of literature on life decisions
Confronting social issues using literature
How we can use literature to deal with grief and loss
The psychology of reading novels in the afternoon
Discuss the modalities of material culture in religious narratives
An examination of sexuality in modern literature
How different people respond to literary works
The role of poems in exploring culture and history
Dealing with racism and poverty using literary works
The media and proliferation of literature

British Lit Research Paper Topics

Is memory all that matters when composing a literary work?
A discourse of gender and race in British literature papers
Poetic and economic interpretations of the Great Revolt of 1381
Stigma and subjectivity in British works
Discuss politics, aesthetics, and the urban space in postcolonial British literature
The innovative perspective of British Literature
Discuss the similarities between British Literature and American literature
Survey the various perspectives of humanity contemporary British literature
The English imperial selfhood in British literature
Discuss female education and reading of the 18 th century British novels
Considering the sublime through the late 19 th century, British works
Reconfiguration of British literary works
Discuss female subjectivity in British literature
A case study of early books in the UK
Experimental narrative structures in Britain

First-Class English Literature Topics

Role of symbolism in literature
Love in literature
Traditions in literature
Melancholy as used in poetry
How each genre tells a story
Allusions in novels
Gender roles in literature
Historical background of plays
Religion and novels
Critiquing a novel
Psychological realism in literature

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English Literature Research Paper Topics

This guide, centered on English literature research paper topics , serves as a comprehensive resource for students seeking to delve deep into the diverse epochs, authors, and themes that have shaped English literary tradition. Navigating the intricate tapestry of English literature offers scholars a multitude of avenues for exploration. From the mystique of medieval tales to the introspective narratives of modernism, this guide not only provides a plethora of English literature research paper topics but also offers insights on choosing the ideal topic, structuring the research paper, and harnessing the unmatched writing services of iResearchNet. Dive in to unravel the rich heritage of English literature and discover the myriad opportunities it presents for academic exploration.

100 English Literature Research Paper Topics

Diving into English literature is like embarking on a journey through time and culture. From ancient ballads to modernist narratives, it offers a vast panorama of themes, styles, and societal reflections. Below is a comprehensive list of English literature research paper topics spanning across different eras and genres:

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Medieval Literature

The significance of chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight .
The Christian and Pagan elements in Beowulf .
Courtly love in The Knight’s Tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales .
Dream visions in Pearl and Piers Plowman .
The role of fate and providence in The Consolation of Philosophy .
The art of storytelling in The Decameron vs. The Canterbury Tales .
The Seven Deadly Sins in Everyman .
The evolution of the English language: Old English vs. Middle English.
Religious allegory in The Second Shepherd’s Play .
Women and femininity in the Lais of Marie de France .

Renaissance and Elizabethan Age

Shakespeare’s portrayal of power in Macbeth .
Love and beauty in Sonnet 18 .
The idea of the “New World” in The Tempest .
The virtues in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene .
Magic and science in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
The pastoral settings of As You Like It .
The politics of gender in Twelfth Night .
Revenge and madness in Hamlet .
John Donne’s metaphysical poetry and its innovation.
The darker side of the Renaissance: The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster.

The Restoration and the 18th Century

The satirical world of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels .
Class struggles in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders .
Alexander Pope’s critique of society in The Rape of the Lock .
Aphra Behn and the emergence of the woman writer.
The wit and wisdom of Samuel Johnson’s essays.
The rise of the novel: Richardson vs. Fielding.
Sentimentality and society in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy .
Politics and plays: John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera .
Women, education, and literature: Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas.
The mock-heroic in English literature.

Romantic Period

Nature and transcendence in Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey .
The Byronic hero in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage .
Shelley’s Ozymandias and the ephemeral nature of power.
The Gothic romance of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights .
George Gordon Lord Byron and the Romantic antihero.
The visionary world of William Blake’s poems.
The exotic and the familiar in Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Keats’s exploration of beauty and mortality.
The industrial revolution’s reflection in literature.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the dangers of ambition.

Victorian Era

Charles Dickens and his critique of Victorian society.
The challenges of morality in Thomas Hardy’s novels.
The bildungsroman in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre .
The plight of women in George Eliot’s Middlemarch .
Oscar Wilde’s wit and irony in The Importance of Being Earnest .
The debate on science and religion in In Memoriam A.H.H by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
The mystery and suspense of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
The “Woman Question” in Victorian literature.
The realism of Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire.
Gothic elements in Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The fragmented narrative of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse .
T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and the disillusionment of the post-war era.
The struggles of the working class in D.H. Lawrence’s novels.
The impact of World War I on English poetry.
James Joyce’s revolutionary narrative techniques in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man .
E.M. Forster’s exploration of social and racial themes.
The critique of colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness .
W.B. Yeats and the Irish literary revival.
The emergence of the stream-of-consciousness technique.
The Jazz Age and decadence in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Gothic Tradition

Origins of Gothic fiction: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto .
The supernatural and macabre in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Ann Radcliffe’s influence on the Gothic novel.
The role of the Byronic hero in The Vampyre by John Polidori.
Duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
The haunting atmospheres in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
Gender and sexuality in Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
Edgar Allan Poe’s influence on English Gothic literature.
Dracula by Bram Stoker: Themes of sexuality and fear of the unknown.
The Gothic novel as a reflection of societal fears and anxieties.

The Angry Young Men Era

Social criticism in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger .
Exploring masculinity in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe.
The disillusionment of post-war Britain in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner .
The class struggle in Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim .
Existential themes in John Wain’s Hurry on Down .
Feminine perspectives in the era: Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey .
The critique of academia in The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury.
The Angry Young Men and their influence on modern theater.
The transformation of British literature in the 1950s and 1960s.
The lasting legacy of the Angry Young Men movement in contemporary literature.

Postmodern British Literature

Metafiction in Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot .
The playfulness of language in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses .
Intertextuality in Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit .
The fragmented narrative in Graham Swift’s Waterland .
Reality and fiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement .
Gender and postcolonial themes in Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve .
The exploration of identity in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth .
The deconstruction of traditional narrative in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
Postmodern gothic in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
Magical realism in The Porcelain Doll by Julian Barnes.

Contemporary English Literature

The multicultural London in Brick Lane by Monica Ali.
Exploring family dynamics in On Beauty by Zadie Smith.
The concept of time in Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam .
The role of history in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall .
The exploration of love and loss in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending .
Postcolonial Britain in Andrea Levy’s Small Island .
The challenges of modern life in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity .
The evolution of the English detective novel: Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories .
The legacy of the British Empire in The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.
The digital age and its influence on literature: The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon.

English literature boasts a rich and varied tapestry of themes, periods, and genres. This comprehensive list is a testament to the dynamism and depth of the field, offering a myriad of research avenues for students. As they venture into each topic, they can appreciate the nuances and complexities that have shaped the literary tradition, making it an invaluable component of global culture and heritage.

English Literature and the Range of Topics It Offers

English literature, encompassing the vast historical, cultural, and artistic legacy of writings in the English language, boasts a rich tapestry of narratives, characters, and stylistic innovations. From the earliest Old English epic poems to the reflective and multifaceted postmodern novels, English literature offers an expansive array of topics for analysis, discussion, and research. The depth and breadth of this literary tradition are mirrored by the diverse range of English literature research paper topics it can inspire.

The Medieval Foundation

Diving into the early origins of English literature, we encounter works like Beowulf , an Old English epic poem of heroism, fate, and the struggle against malevolent forces. Medieval English literature, characterized by religious texts, chivalric romances, and philosophical treatises, sets the stage for the evolution of narrative styles and thematic explorations. The rich allegorical narratives, like Piers Plowman or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , present intricate societal and spiritual commentaries that still resonate with readers today. These works invite inquiries into the socio-religious dynamics of medieval England, the evolution of the English language, and the literary techniques employed.

Renaissance and Enlightenment: A Burst of Creativity

The Renaissance and Elizabethan Age saw the emergence of revered playwrights like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, whose dramas, whether tragedies, comedies, or histories, plumbed the depths of human emotion, politics, and existence. The genius of Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Othello , juxtaposed against Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus , provides a fertile ground for investigating themes of ambition, betrayal, love, and existential angst. Moreover, with poets like Edmund Spenser and his epic The Faerie Queene , English literature expanded its horizons, both thematically and stylistically.

The subsequent Restoration and the 18th century ushered in a period of social and literary change. With authors like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, satire became a powerful tool to critique society and politics. Furthermore, the emergence of the novel, as exemplified by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Samuel Richardson’s Pamela , offered researchers a chance to explore the evolving societal values, gender norms, and narrative techniques.

Romanticism, Victorian Era to Modernism: A Spectrum of Emotion and Thought

The Romantic period, marked by poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats, celebrated nature, emotion, and individualism. In contrast, the Victorian era, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and the Brontë sisters, addressed societal change, morality, and industrialization. Both periods are a goldmine for English literature research paper topics around the individual vs. society, the role of nature, and the exploration of the self.

Modernism in English literature, with heavyweights like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot, revolutionized narrative structure and thematic depth. Works from this era, such as To the Lighthouse or The Waste Land , demand analysis on fragmented narrative, stream of consciousness, and the introspective exploration of the human psyche.

Contemporary Reflections

Contemporary English literature, shaped by postcolonial, feminist, and postmodern influences, gives voice to a plethora of perspectives. Authors like Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, and Julian Barnes tackle issues of identity, multiculturalism, history, and reality versus fiction. Such works present a plethora of avenues for research, from analyzing the postcolonial identity in Rushdie’s narratives to the intricate tapestries of familial and societal dynamics in Smith’s novels.

Concluding Thoughts

In essence, English literature is an evolving entity, reflecting and shaping societal, cultural, and individual values and challenges over the centuries. For students and researchers, the wealth of English literature research paper topics it offers ranges from historical and linguistic analyses to deep dives into thematic cores and stylistic innovations. Whether one wishes to explore the chivalric codes of medieval romances, the biting satires of the 18th century, the emotional landscapes of Romanticism, or the fragmented realities of postmodern narratives, English literature provides an inexhaustible reservoir of research opportunities.

How to Choose an English Literature Topic

Choosing a research paper topic, especially within the expansive field of English literature, can be a challenging endeavor. The centuries-spanning literature offers a treasure trove of stories, themes, characters, and socio-political contexts that beckon exhaustive exploration. As such, students often find themselves at a crossroads, wondering where to begin and how to narrow down their choices to find that one compelling topic. Here’s a detailed guide to streamline this process:

Align with Your Interests: Dive into periods, genres, or authors that genuinely intrigue you. If Victorian novels captivate your imagination or if Shakespearean dramas resonate with you, use that as your starting point. Genuine interest ensures sustained motivation throughout your research journey.
Evaluate Academic Relevance: While personal interest is vital, ensure your chosen topic aligns with academic goals and curriculum requirements. Some English literature research paper topics, while intriguing, might not offer substantial academic value for a particular course or level of study.
Seek Familiar Ground (But Not Too Familiar): Leverage your previous readings and coursework. Familiarity offers a foundation, but challenge yourself to explore uncharted territories within that domain. If you enjoyed Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , maybe delve into its feminist interpretations or comparative studies with other contemporaneous works.
Embrace Complexity: Opt for English literature research paper topics that lend themselves to multifaceted exploration. Simple topics might not provide enough depth for comprehensive research papers. Instead of a general overview of Romantic poetry, explore the portrayal of nature in Wordsworth’s works versus Shelley’s.
Historical and Cultural Context: Literature isn’t created in a vacuum. Understand the historical and societal backdrop of a literary work. This context can offer a fresh perspective and can be an excellent lens for your research.
Contemporary Relevance: How does a particular work or literary period converse with today’s world? Exploring the modern implications or relevance of classic works can be both enlightening and academically rewarding.
Diverse Interpretations: Embrace English literature research paper topics open to various interpretations. Works like George Orwell’s 1984 or Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot can be analyzed from political, psychological, existential, or linguistic viewpoints.
Consult with Peers and Professors: Engage in discussions with classmates and seek advice from professors. Their feedback can provide new perspectives or refine your existing topic ideas.
Read Critiques and Literary Journals: Academic journals, critiques, and literary analyses offer insights into popular research areas and can help you identify gaps or lesser-explored aspects of a work or period.
Flexibility is Key: As you delve deeper into your research, be open to tweaking or even changing your topic. New findings or challenges might necessitate slight shifts in your research focus.

Choosing the right research topic in English literature requires a blend of personal passion, academic relevance, and the potential for in-depth exploration. By aligning your interests with academic goals, and being open to exploration and adaptation, you pave the way for a fulfilling and academically enriching research experience. Remember, the journey of researching and understanding literature can be as enlightening as the end result. Embrace the process, and let the vast ocean of English literature inspire and challenge you.

How to Write an English Literature Research Paper

Penning an English literature research paper is a task that demands meticulous planning, a deep understanding of the subject, and the ability to weave thoughts coherently. English literature, with its vast and rich tapestry, offers endless avenues for exploration, making it both an exciting and daunting endeavor. Below are step-by-step guidelines to craft a compelling research paper in this domain:

Understanding the Assignment: Before diving into the research phase, ensure you fully understand the assignment’s requirements. Is there a specific format? Are certain sources mandatory? What’s the word count? This foundational clarity sets the stage for efficient research and writing.
Preliminary Research: Start with a broad exploration of your topic. Read general articles, introductory chapters, or review papers. This will give you a general overview and can help narrow down your focus.
Thesis Statement Formulation: Your thesis is the backbone of your research paper. It should be clear, precise, and arguable. For instance, instead of writing “Shakespeare’s plays are influential,” you might specify, “ Macbeth illustrates the dire consequences of unchecked ambition.”
Diving Deeper – Detailed Research: With your thesis in hand, dive deeper into primary (original texts) and secondary sources (critiques, essays). Libraries, academic databases, and literary journals are treasure troves of valuable information.
Organize Your Findings: Use digital tools, index cards, or notebooks to categorize and annotate your findings. Grouping similar ideas together will make the writing process smoother.
Drafting an Outline: An organized structure is essential for clarity. Create an outline with clear headings and subheadings, ensuring a logical flow of ideas. This will serve as a roadmap as you write.
Introduction Crafting: Your introduction should be engaging, offering a glimpse of your thesis and the significance of your study. Remember, first impressions count!
Literary Analysis: Delve into the text’s intricacies – symbols, themes, character development, stylistic devices, and historical context.
Critiques and Counter-arguments: Discuss various interpretations of the text, and don’t shy away from addressing dissenting views. This lends credibility and depth to your paper.
Comparative Analysis (if applicable): Compare the chosen work with others, drawing parallels or highlighting contrasts.
Maintaining Coherence and Transition: Each paragraph should have a clear main idea and transition smoothly to the next, maintaining the paper’s flow and ensuring the reader’s engagement.
Conclusion Crafting: Reiterate your thesis and summarize your main findings. Discuss the broader implications of your study, potentially suggesting areas for further exploration.
Citing Your Sources: Always attribute ideas and quotations to their original authors. Depending on the assigned format (MLA, APA, etc.), ensure that in-text citations and the bibliography are correctly formatted.
Revision and Proofreading: Once your draft is complete, take a break before revisiting it. Read it aloud to catch awkward phrasings. Check for grammatical errors, consistency in argumentation, and clarity in presenting ideas. Consider seeking peer reviews or utilizing editing tools.
Seek Feedback: Before final submission, consider sharing your paper with a mentor, professor, or knowledgeable peer. Their insights can be invaluable in refining your research paper.

Writing an English literature research paper is as much an art as it is a science. While meticulous research and structured writing are crucial, allowing your passion for literature to shine through will elevate your paper. Remember, literature is about exploring the human experience, and as you dissect these masterpieces, you’re not just analyzing texts but delving into profound insights about life, society, and humanity. Embrace the journey, and let every step, from research to writing, be a process of discovery.

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topics for english literature dissertation

Literature Dissertation Topics

The opportunity for you to demonstrate your critical writing skills and ability to manage existing scholarship, a literature dissertation allows you to make your mark on the world of academia. Much longer than a typical essay, the extensive nature of a literature dissertation allows you to examine a specific text and explain its significance, and how it relates to broader literary movements.

The choice of texts that you engage with is up to you, but you should bear in mind that you’ll get higher grades for an original dissertation. As literature is influenced by and in discourse with other disciplines, a dissertation in this field will often mean that you’ll refer to ideas found in philosophy, religion, psychology and other art forms. To help you get started with your dissertation, this article will suggest possible topics in the areas of seventeenth century literature, eighteenth century literature, nineteenth century literature, twentieth century literature, and children’s literature.

Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Literature Dissertation Topics

Nineteenth century literature dissertation topics, twentieth century literature dissertation topics, interdisciplinary subjects dissertation topics, identity and place in the literature dissertation topics, children’s literature dissertation topics, postcolonialism and literature dissertation topics, eco literature dissertation topics.

From the shifting social and political climate of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries emerged a whole new kind of fiction. Indeed, with the birth of the novel came a host of writers who used the form to obliquely commentate on the world around them. Using established literary strategies such as plot and metaphor, writers also began to experiment with interior monologues and innovative dramatic devices to express their ideas to readers. For provoking and relevant subjects for your literature dissertation, consider the following topics:

Milton and the Bible.
Paradise Lost and the Fall from Grace: A closer look at the redemption poetry of the seventeenth century.
The Genesis Myth and popular literature of the seventeenth century.
Love, loss and the geographical imagination in the poetry of John Donne.
The first literary explorers: How new discoveries shaped the literary imagination of the seventeenth century.
Stendhal and the onset of consumerism.
Visions of nature: Wordsworth and the Eighteenth-Century poetical imagination.
Interiors and interiority in the Eighteenth-century novel.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the problem of the aesthetic.
The origins of the novel.
How Paradise Lost shaped the future of the novel.
The female voice: How girls became women in seventeenth century fiction.
How and why Laurence Sterne exposed the artifices of fiction.

Responding to the fall of the pastoral and the rise of industry, the English literature of the nineteenth century reflects the drastic changes Britain underwent around this time. Celebrating new ways of living whilst mourning the past, novels and poetry became distinctly national in nature. At the same time, writers examined the effects that secularisation had on the individual and their view of life. Indeed, whilst meaning was a fixed concept for people in centuries gone by, radical scientific advancement and an increased religious doubt caused Victorians to consider their place in the world from a wholly different perspective. For these reasons, the nineteenth century in literature is a period defined by alienation, doubt, and, overall, the question of what it means to live in an increasingly unfamiliar world. Nineteenth century literature provides many topics that you could study for a literature dissertation.

Love and loss in Thomas Hardy’s poems 1912-13.
Recovering the buried life: Visionary aspiration in the poetry of Matthew Arnold.
Love and communication in the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Bulwer-Lytton and the metaphysical tradition.
George Eliot and religious doubt.
Naturalist and mystic: Discovering the source of Richard Jefferies’ inspiration.
Searching for the simple life: Rustic writing in the nineteenth century.
A study of provincial life: Trollope writing after Austen.
The importance of costume in the work of Dickens.
Micro and macro: Understanding the power relations in The Old Curiosity Shop and Bleak House.
Sex and violence in sensation fiction.
The changing religious imagination of the nineteenth century.
How politics changed literature in the nineteenth century.
Gender representation in the gothic novel.
The changing meaning of the Victorian family in the work of Gaskell.
Ruskin and heritage.
How Realism emerged in nineteenth century literature.
Reading the romance: how the Bronte sisters redefined the novel.
How Frankenstein anticipated Science Fiction.

An era defined by significant aesthetic and philosophical shifts; the twentieth century produced some of the most remarkable literature. Indeed, with the boundaries between prose and poetry being disrupted, a whole new kind of expression became available to writers of fiction and verse. A century marked by two major traditions, the first fifty years was given over to modernism, whilst the latter half of the century saw the emergence of postmodernism. Whilst these two literary movements are seemingly opposed to one another, both attempted to express a range of ideas related to psychology, philosophy, and society. For this reason, you may consider the following topics for your literature dissertation:

“Heaving into Uncreated Space”: D.H Lawrence after Hardy.
Visionary closure in the twentieth century novel.
W.H Auden and poetic syntax.
Comprehending the War: Ivor Gurney and the new poetic form.
Water imagery in the work of Virginia Woolf.
‘Is there anything more to be Found?’: T.S Eliot and the Wasteland.
Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney: A study of similarity and contrast.
‘Daring to break convention’: The tragedy of Sylvia Plath.
Time and Space in The Time Machine and The Island of Dr Moreau.
Alduous Huxley and the search for the ‘Other’.
Discussing the notion of being in the work of Milan Kundara.
A study of character and identity in the work of Ian McEwan.
Freud and early modernism.
Circular narrative structure in the work of May Sinclair.
Experiments in Form: Joyce and the twentieth century.
Bernard Malumud and Jewish writing.
Magic and fantasy in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Kipling’s India.
Jack Kerouac and travel writing.
A study of the similarities and differences between modernism and postmodernism.
How postmodernism attempted to destroy the novel.
Lost in the Funhouse: How John Barth exposed the artifices of fiction.

Literature intersects with many areas of study, including philosophy, architecture, religion, sociology, art, history, and politics. Interdisciplinary study is more than placing literature within the context of another discipline – true interdisciplinary research yields insights into the techniques, themes and contexts of texts that can’t be fully understood using the disciplinary tools of literary study alone. Interdisciplinary dissertations use research from more than one subject and examine the benefits and limitations both of literary study and of the other discipline. The topics in the following list reflect these aims, and are possibilities for your language and literature dissertation:

Architecture in the work of Thomas Hardy.
Science and the nineteenth-century novel.
Interpreting the space age: Literature of the twenty first century.
Astronomy and the poetic imagination of the nineteenth century.
Why philosophy matters to literature.
Crossing the disciplinary boundaries: English literature and archaeology.
Changing political relations in novels since 1900.
The interrelation of science and the arts since 1900.
Psychology and the modern novel.
Memory and perspective in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day.
Seeking the self: Psychology in twenty first century literature.
Darwin and the evolutionary narrative.
The importance of history in deciphering the modern text.
Sister Arts: contemporary poetry and painting. Poststructuralist views of language and the postmodern text.
Print culture, mass distribution, and their effects on the literature of the Renaissance.
A sociolinguistic analysis of The Twilight series.

The themes of identity and place have been intertwined in many literary periods and genres. Apart from using landscape as a source of inspiration, authors often need landscapes to help contextualise and develop their characters. Narrative techniques associated with landscape are often used in novels to portray the inner lives of characters. Identity is closely related to, and often described as being a product, of place and its cultural associations. Therefore, a study in this subject can be useful in other areas of future research and offers an accessible, adaptable and relevant topic for your language and literature dissertation.

Changing landscapes: how the rural/urban divide has been represented since 1900.
Travel writing in the twentieth century.
What were the effects of ‘Enclosure’ on the poetry of the Romantics?
The importance of place to the Romantic poet.
The changing portrayal of city living since 1900.
Nature, narrative, and verse since 1940.
Thomas Hardy and Wessex.
Richard Jefferies’ Wiltshire.
The Lake District as setting in poems of the eighteenth century.
The Mountain as a symbol in the nineteenth century.
Landscape and identity in Lesley Glaister’s Honour Thy Father.
Writing in the desert: Narratives of Africa.
Identity, place, and narrative in postcolonial literature.
The importance of the sea in colonial exploration narratives.
Cornish landscapes in the work of Thomas Hardy.
D.H Lawrence and the Sussex Landscape.
Dylan Thomas and the Sea.
Ted Hughes and the Yorkshire Moors.
Of Bawn and Bog: the Irish troubles and the North in Seamus Heaney’s poetry.
John Fowles at Lyme Regis.
Charles Kingsley and ‘Westward Ho! ‘.
Representations of the Wealden Forest in Literature since 1800.
The beach as a site for change in literature since 1900.
Citizens of nowhere: dislocation and globalisation in post-9/11 fiction.
Wilderness and settler nationhood in North American fiction and poetry.

Writing for children involves the effective use of imagination, humour and often, the sensitive and dynamic use of tradition. As a result, children’s literature is often imbued with complex themes and imagery, which speaks to adults and children on separate yet complementary and intersecting levels. When choosing a topic to write about on children’s literature it can be useful to target a specific age range to avoid making generalisations and to help recognise the differing levels of academic competence associated with different children’s ages. It’s also helpful to understand what is at stake in society’s understanding of what makes for appropriate children’s literature, which goes to the heart of what – and how – we teach our children. Children’s literature addresses universal themes that concern all readers – not just children. The challenge in pursuing a dissertation in children’s literature is therefore to address both the universality of the themes and the specificity of the audience. The following are some ideas that you could use for your language and literature dissertation:

What makes an Epic?: A discussion of favourite children’s novels since 1900.
Fabulous Beasts: Imagery in J.K. Rowling and Tolkien.
Discovering Wonderland: Narrative technique and visionary insight in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
The search for Utopia in Island Stories for children.
Beatrix Potter and the significance of illustration.
Animals and their function in children’s literature since 1900.
Hans Christian Anderson and the meaning of the fairytale.
Why humour matters in children’s literature.
Lucy Maud Montgomery and the development of the young artist.
Roald Dahl, the ridiculous and the sublime.
Enid Blyton and the popular adventure story.
A historical analysis of the origins of children’s literature.
The importance of names in children’s literature.
Reading to the under-fives: developing imaginations and relationships.
Helping children to learn through storybooks.
What the Victorians read to their children.
Think of the children! What banning books for the young tells us about the importance and social contexts of reading.
Representations of disability in young adult literature.

Postcolonialism is one of the most influential theories in academia. If you are interested in critical perspectives that touch upon issues of race, belonging, power, politics, and emancipation, then you might want to bring postcolonial perspectives into your dissertation. Here are some titles to consider:

Exploring the ‘Other’ in Victorian fiction.
Postcolonialism in Naipaul’s The Enigma of Arrival.
How has the Black Lives Matter movement influenced contemporary black literature?
A postcolonial reading of contemporary refugee literature.
Postcolonialism and climate change literature.
A postcolonial reading of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
Postcolonial narratives in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things.

‘Ecocriticism’ studies the relationship between literature and the natural world. It is a fast-growing area of study, fuelled mainly by the increased concern over climate-change and environmental protectionism. If you are interested in the natural world, you might feel inspired to write a dissertation in this area. You could choose to do a close-reading of a book that deals with the themes of nature. Or you might analyse if/how ecocritical books have inspired real-life environmental activism. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Exploring the intersection between eco and spiritual narratives in Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard.
An eco-critical reading of poetry from the Romantics.
Vegan narratives in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy.
Ecocriticism as vegan/climate change activism?
Exploring the relevance of Thoreau’s Walden in 2021.
Exploring the effect of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring on US activism.
Covid-19, eco-criticism and the contemporary novel.

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Introduction

A career in literature has opened new avenues of opportunities in the recent times. Gone are the days, when the stream of career opportunity in literature was limited to teaching only. Now, a degree in literature can unlock career paths in media and journalism, publishing houses, advertisement and public relations, Internet and social media marketing agencies, theater and acting. A degree in literature from a prestigious university can mark as the first step towards the dream job in any one or more of these streams.

And indeed, one of the smartest ways to excel in the degree course is to take professional assignment help from a reputed literature assignment writing agency. Now, here the assistance for assignment writing is not confined to the assignment writing services only. Sometimes, helping students save time and energy by recommending them the right topic for literature assignment is also the duty that we occasionally perform on behest of the interests of our students. The recommendation of top 50 literature topics for dissertation and other assignment writing formats is one such altruistic step to guide our students with the best interests at heart.

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Must read: the answer to- best source where i can pay someone to do my assignment, the scope of literature to boost our career prospects.

Literature is widely regarded as a unique medium of human expression. Things that are not even expressed, organized, or written down in terms of words do fall in the category of literature. Certain classifications of literature could be acclaimed as an art if they can pass certain artistic merits. It can be attained by a writer or an artist even if he or she is not intended to pursue the same.

The purest form of literature is classified in terms of lyric poem, subsequently followed by epic, elegiac, narrative, dramatic and expository verse. The simple rule is that a poetry that fails as a literature cannot be classified as poetry, but rather verse. The same principle is applicable to the novels and dramas. Only a few of them are hailed as literature, and thousands of them are not.
There are certain historians who consider history as a form of literary art. Especially, the ones with a Greek inclination of thought. But the matter of the fact is that most of the historical works were not written with an intention of being classified as literary excellence later. Even if a few of them possess that finesse, it is purely by accident.
The essay writing is widely regarded as an integral part of literature. Yet, when we speak in terms of the contemporary era, then most of the essays are written in an expository, informative journalism pattern. Yes, there are essayists of the twentieth century who still consider themselves to be a part of a great tradition and wish to be sorted in the leagues of artists. Most of them are functioning as the critics of the contemporary literature, art, and drama.
It is noteworthy that some of the personal documents of the individuals, such as diaries, letters, memoirs, and autobiographies are treasured among the greatest pieces of literary works. Some of these works were penned down with posterity in mind, while others with no thought of them being read by anybody else but the writer. Few of these works are engraved in texts in a refined literary style, while others couched in a privately acquired language. Still, they secure their presence in a pivotal league of literature due to their cogency, depth, insight, and historical validity.
There are several works in the field of philosophy that are termed as literature. It can be the dialogues of Plato inscribed during the 4 th Century BC or the collection of the random thoughts of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius during the 2 nd century. It is primarily because they are prosed with great narrative skills.
Oratory is an art of persuasion and widely regarded as a great literary art. Right from Cicero, the great orator of Rome to the popular Gettysburg Address delivered by Abraham Lincoln, our history is filled with the greatest examples of oration for the generations to follow. There are people who prefer to believe oratory to be more of a craft than an art. But there are many contemporary literary critics who think otherwise. There are indeed courses in oratory offered to the students who wish to pursue a career in politics, journalism, and public relations.

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Must read: how to write critical essay on literature.

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Now with that, let us look at the top 50 dissertation assignment topics that have been selected for the running year by our expert researchers and editors. Indeed, we have bifurcated the dissertation topics into further literary categories for the ease of selection. Let us look at them one after the other, as listed below –

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Literature Topics for Dissertation
The Bible and John Milton
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Issue with Aesthetic
Poetry of John Donne: the Love, the Loss, and Geographical Imagination
Stendhal on onset of Consumerism
The Accuracy of Historical Events in the Historical Novels
The Influence of Literature During the Renaissance Era
Nineteenth Century Literature Topics for Dissertation
Loss of Love in 1912-13 Poems of Thomas Hardy
George Eliot and His Religious Doubt
Edward Bulwer-Lytton and His Approach Towards Metaphysical Tradition
The Significance of Costume in the Works of Charles Dickens
George Ruskin and the Heritage
The Representation of Gender in the Gothic Novels
Twentieth Century Literature Topics for Dissertation
The Use of Water Imagery in the Works of Virginia Woolf
Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes: A Study About Contrast and Similarity
‘Daring to Break the Convention’- The Tragedy by Sylvia Plath
Freud and the Early Modernism
The Travel Writings of Jack Kerouac
Circular Narrative Structure Used by May Sinclair
Interdisciplinary Subjects Topics for Dissertation
The Role of Science in the Nineteenth Century Novel
Astronomy and Poetic Imagination of Nineteenth Century
What is the Role and Significance of Philosophy in Literature
Archaeology and English Literature: Crossing Over the Disciplinary Boundaries
‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro: Memories and Perception
The Twilight Series: A Sociolinguistic Analysis
Identity and Place Literature Topics for Dissertation
The Changing Landscapes: The Representation of Urban/ Rural Divide Since 1900
The Influence of the ‘Enclosure’ on Poetry of the Romantics
The Change in the Portrayal of the City Living Ever Since 1900
Post-Colonial Literature: Place, Identity and Narrative
The Depiction of Settler Nationhood and Wilderness in the Fiction and Poetry of North America
The Depiction of the Sussex Landscape by D. H. Lawrence
Children’s Literature Topics for Dissertation
Where Would the Modern Readers be with No J. K. Rowling?
Fabulous Beasts: The Imagery of Tolkien and J. K Rowling
Animals and Their Role in the Literature of Children Since 1900
Roald Dahl, the Sublime and the Ridiculous
How to Help Children Learn Through Their Storybooks?
A Historical Analysis of the Origins of Literature for Children
Post-colonialism and Literature Topics for Dissertation
How British and French Colonialism Influenced the Literature of the Natives?
How the Contemporary Black Literature Influenced the Recent Black Lives Matter Movement?
How the Politics in Fiction Presented Post-Colonial Indian Subcontinent?
How the Roles of Genders Changed in the Literature of the Post-Colonial Africa?
Criticism vs Symbolism: Differences Between Post-Colonial Literature Works
How Religion and Politics Influenced the Literary Works of Post-Colonial India?
Eco Literature Topics for Dissertation
Female Masculinity in Literature Safeguarding the Environment
‘The Snow Leopard’ by Peter Matthiessen: An Intersection Between Spiritual and Eco Narratives
Climate Change/ Vegan Activism: Eco-criticism by Some of the Renowned Personalities
Eco-criticism of China in Literary Factions Amid Covid-19 Pandemic
‘Night of the Leopard’ by Ruskin Bond: A Relationship Between Humans and Animals
How Lab-grown Meat is a Suitable Weapon to Combat the Climate Crisis?
How Environmental Literature can Make Children More Sensitive Towards Their Environment?
‘The World Without Us’ by Alan Weisman: A Nightmare Scenario or A Promising Start?

While formulating the literature topics, we have ensured to give a comprehensive cover to all the areas that are covered in the mainstream literature. Besides, we have taken the due diligence to incorporate the topics that can not only be used for dissertation help requirements, but also in case of essay help , case study help , research paper writing help or thesis help required for the most suited topic selection. The selection of titles has been done in a prudent way to get them easily customized as per the assignment writing format requirements.

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100+ English Literature Dissertation Topics in 2024

Vandana Thakur ,

Mar 4, 2024

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Dissertation Topics in English Literature include research topics from poems, stories, literature study etc. It contains topics like Milton & the Bible, The Origins of the Novel, George Eliot and Religious Doubt, Ruskin and Heritage, etc.

100+ English Literature Dissertation Topics in 2024

Dissertation topics in English literature consist of academic topics in literature that allow students to present their creativity and imagination through writing. It allows students to examine a topic, analyse its significance and portray their views after research in their dissertation.

The dissertation topics in English literature contain topics like Freud and early modernism, Bernard Malumud and Jewish writing, Kipling's India, Psychology and the modern novel etc.

List of 100+ Dissertation Topics in English Literature

There are a wide range of dissertation topics in English literature that students can choose from, research and create their dissertation. Below are the category-wise Dissertation Topics in English Literature.

17th and 18th Century Dissertation Topics in English Literature

19th century dissertation topics in english literature, 20th century dissertation topics in english literature, interdisciplinary subjects dissertation topics, identity and place dissertation topics in english literature, children's dissertation topics in english literature, postcolonialism and dissertation topics in english literature, eco literature dissertation topics in english literature.

The 17th & 18th centuries witnessed the emergence of the novel script, permitting writers to crossways comment on the world utilising plot, metaphor, interior monologues & innovative dramatic devices. Below are some of the dissertation topics in English Literature for students to choose from.

Milton & the Bible.
Paradise Lost & the Fall from Grace: The nearest look at the redemption poetry of the 17th century.
The Genesis Myth & famous literature of the 17th century.
Love, loss & the geographical vision in the poetry of John Donne.
The foremost literary explorers: How findings shaped the literary vision of the 17th century.
Stendhal & the onset of consumerism.
Visions of nature: Wordsworth & the Eighteenth-Century poetical vision.
Interiors & interiority in the 18th novel.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge & the issue of the aesthetic.
The roots of the novel.
How Paradise Lost formed the future of the novels.
The Female Voice: How Girls Become Ladies in 17th Century Fiction.
How & why Laurence Sterne revealed the artefacts of fiction.

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The nineteenth-century English literature reflects Britain's transformations due to industrialisation and the fall of religious life. It marks new ways of living while grieving the past, exploring the effects of secularisation on individuals. Below are some of the dissertation topics in English Literature for candidates to research.

Love & loss in Thomas Hardy's poems (1912-1913)
Retrieving the buried life: Imaginative aspiration in the poetry of Matthew Arnold.
Love & transmission in the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Bulwer-Lytton and the magical tradition.
George Eliot and holy doubt.
Naturalist & mystic: Discovering the origin of Richard Jefferies' inspiration.
Digging for the simple life: Rustic paper in the nineteenth century.
An analysis of provincial life: Trollope writing after Austen.
The extent of costume in the work of Dickens.
Micro & macro: Comprehending the power relations in The Old Curiosity Shop & Bleak House.
The changing spiritual imagination of the 19th century.
How did politics alter literature in the 19th century?
Gender expression in the gothic novel.
The changing sense of the Victorian family in the creation of Gaskell.
Ruskin & heritage.
How did Realism emerge in 19th-century literature?
How did Frankenstein expect Science Fiction?

The twentieth century noticed significant aesthetic & philosophical shifts that disrupted the boundaries between prose & poetry in English literature. Below are some of the unique dissertation topics in English literature for students to pick for their dissertation:

Imaginative closure in the 20th novel.
W.H. Auden & poetic syntax.
Understanding the War: Ivor Gurney & the new poetic format.
Water imagery in the creation of Virginia Woolf.
'Is there anything better to be Found?': T.S Eliot & the Wasteland.
Ted Hughes & Seamus Heaney: An analysis of similarity and difference.
'Daring to break convention': The catastrophe of Sylvia Plath.
Time, Space in The Time Machine & The Island of Dr Moreau.
Aldous Huxley & the quest for the 'Other.'
Concerning the idea of being in the position of Milan Kundara.
A breakdown of character & identity in the creation of Ian McEwan.
Freud & before modernism.
Circular narrative form in the work of May Sinclair.
Investigations in Form: Joyce & the Twentieth Century.
Bernard Malumud & Jewish writing.
Magic & fantasy in the innovation of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Kipling's India and its impact on the readers.
Jack Kerouac & travel script.
An analysis of the similarities & distinctions between modernism & postmodernism.
How did postmodernism try to kill the novel?
Lost in the Amusing House: How John Barth revealed the artefacts of fiction?

Also Check: 100+ Dissertation Topics in Education in 2024

Interdisciplinary study concerns combining literature with various disciplines like philosophy, architecture, religion, sociology, art, history, etc. It helps students to gain knowledge regarding techniques, themes, and contexts. Below are the dissertation topics of English literature regarding interdisciplinary subjects.

Describe architecture in the work of Thomas Hardy.
Science & the 19th-century novel.
Solving the space age: Publications of the twenty-first century.
Astronomy and the poetic fantasy of the 19th century.
Why philosophy counts as literature.
Travelling the disciplinary boundaries: English writings & archaeology.
Transforming political relations in novels since 1900.
The interrelation of science & the arts since the 19th century.
Psychology & modern fiction.
Memory & view in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the day.
Pursuing the self: Psychology in twenty-first-century publications.
Darwin & the Evolutionary Chronology.
The significance of history in interpreting the modern text.
Sister Arts: modern poetry & painting. Poststructuralist theories of language & the postmodern reader.
Print culture, mass diffusion, and their effects on the publications of the Renaissance.
A sociolinguistic study of The Twilight series.

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Landscapes serve as inspiration and character development tools for writers of different literary genres. Novels use narrative techniques to portray inner lives, and identity is closely related to place and culture. Students can find dissertation topics in English literature given below regarding identity and place.

Transforming landscapes: How urban or rural partition was represented in the 19th century.
Travel documenting in the 20th century.
What were the consequences of 'Enclosure' on the poetry of the Romantics?
The significance of place to the Romantic poet.
The changing depiction of city living since the 19th century.
Nature, narrative, and poem since 1940.
Thomas Hardy & Wessex.
Richard Jefferies' Wiltshire.
The Lake District is placed in poems of the 18th century.
The Mountain was a character in the 19th century.
Landscape & uniqueness in Lesley Glaister's Honour Thy Father.
Reporting in the desert: Narratives of Africa.
Identity, place, and history in postcolonial literature.
The essence of the sea in colonial exploration narratives.
Cornish terrains in the work of Thomas Hardy.
Charles Kingsley & ‘Westward Ho! ‘.
Terms of the Wealden Forest in Literature since 1800.
The beach has been a site for transformation in literature since the 19th century.
Post-9/11 fiction: dislocation and globalisation.
Wilderness and immigrant nationhood in North American fiction and verse.

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Children's literature utilises imagination, humour, and tradition to create complex themes and imagery. When writing a dissertation on children's literature, consider the age range and societal expectations for appropriate content. Below are some of the children's dissertation topics in English literature.

What creates an Epic?: A dialogue of favourite children's novels from 1900.
Fabulous Beasts: Imagery in J.K. Rowling & Tolkien.
Finding Wonderland: Narrative method and visionary understanding in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
The quest for Utopia in island stories for children.
Beatrix Potter & the importance of illustration.
Animals & their role in children's literature since the 19th century
Hans Christian Anderson & the essence of the fairytale.
Why humour counts in children's literature.
Lucy Maud Montgomery & the story of the young artist.
Roald Dahl, the absurd and the sublime.
Enid Blyton and the famous adventure story.
A historical study of the origins of children's literature.
The significance of names in children's literature.
Reading to the under-fives: growing imaginations & relationships.
Enabling children to learn through storybooks.
What did the Victorians read to their kids?
Replicas of disability in young literature.

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The subject matter of postcolonialism, an influential academic theory, provides critical perspectives on race, belonging, power, politics, and emancipation. Below are some of the specific dissertation topics in English literature regarding postcolonialism.

Exploring the 'Other' in Victorian novels.
Postcolonialism in Naipaul's The Enigma of Incoming.
How has the Black Lives Matter campaign impacted contemporary black literature?
A postcolonial lesson of contemporary refugee publications.
Postcolonialism & climate adaptation literature.
The postcolonial reading of Things Fall Apart by Achebe.
Postcolonial information in Toni Morrison's Beloved & Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.

Ecocriticism is a rapidly evolving field that examines the connection between literature and the natural world. It inspires dissertations, close readings, & real-life environmental activism. Below given are some of the dissertation topics in English literature regarding ecocriticism.

Exploring the corner between eco and spiritual histories in Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard.
An ecocritical reading of verse from the Romantics.
Vegan reports in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy.
Ecocriticism as vegan/climate modification activism?
Exploring the applicability of Thoreau's Walden in 2021.
Exploring the influence of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring on US activism.
Covid-19, ecocriticism & the modern novel.

Important Points for Dissertation Topics in English Literature

There are certain pointers that students must acknowledge while working on their dissertation topics in English literature. The topics must meet the following criteria in the initial stage for a better dissertation copy. The important pointers are stated below.

Students should select a topic that is logically valid and allows them to research practically.
Students must seek genuine advice from their mentors and peers before creating their dissertation.
Students must select a trending dissertation topic in English literature to identify gaps and create a winning dissertation.
Candidates must acknowledge that their dissertation topic must address the problem, be unique and be practically useful.

Also Check: 100+ Psychology Dissertation Topics in 2024

How to Structure Dissertation Topics in English Literature?

A well-structured dissertation topic helps students to get better scores and excel in their studies. Students must follow the below-mentioned dissertation structure to create a winning dissertation copy.

A Title Page
Acknowledgments
Declaration
Table of Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Findings & Analysis
Discussion & Conclusion
Bibliography

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Andrew Kraebel: “English Traditions of Biblical Criticism and Translation in the Later Middle Ages” directed by Alastair Minnis, Jessica Brantley, and Ian Cornelius

Tessie Prakas: “The Office of the Poet: Ministry and Verse Practice in the Seventeenth Century” directed by John Rogers, David Kastan, and Catherine Nicholson

Nienke Christine Venderbosch: “‘Tha Com of More under Misthleothum Grendel Gongan’: The Scholarly and Popular Reception of Beowulf ’s Grendel from 1805 to the Present Day” directed by Roberta Frank and Paul Fry

Eric Weiskott: “The Durable Alliterative Tradition” directed by Roberta Frank, Alastair Minnis, Ian Cornelius

December 2013

Anthony Domestico: “Theologies of Crisis in British Literature of the Interwar Period” directed by Amy Hungerford and Pericles Lewis

Glyn Salton-Cox: “Cobbett and the Comintern: Transnational Provincialism and Revolutionary Desire from the Popular Front to the New Left” directed by Katie Trumpener, Katerina Clark, and Joe Cleary

Samuel Alexander: “Demographic Modernism: Character and Quantification in Twentieth Century Fiction” directed by Professors Pericles Lewis and Barry McCrea

Andrew Karas: “Versions of Modern Poetry” directed by Professors Paul Fry and Langdon Hammer

James Ross Macdonald: “Popular Religious Belief and Literature in Early Modern England” directed by Professors David Kastan and John Rogers

December 2012

Michael Komorowski: “The Arts of Interest: Private Property and the English Literary Imagination in the Age of Milton” directed by Professors David Quint and John Rogers

Fiona Robinson: “Raising the Dead: Writing Lives and Writing Wars in Britain, 1914-1941” directed by Professors Katie Trumpener, Margaret Homans, and Sam See

Nathalie Wolfram: “Novel Play: Gothic Performance and the Making of Eighteenth Century Fiction” directed by Professors Joseph Roach and Katie Trumpener

Michaela Bronstein: “Imperishable Consciousness: The Rescue of Meaning in the Modernist Novel” directed by Professors Ruth Yeazell and Pericles Lewis

David Currell: “Epic Satire: Structures of Heroic Mockery in Early Modern English Literature” directed by Professor David Quint

Andrew Heisel: “Reading in Darkness: Sacred Text and Aesthetics in the Long Eighteenth Century” directed by Professors Jill Campbell and Elliott Visconsi

Hilary Menges: “Authorship before Copyright: The Monumental Book, 1649-1743” directed by Professors Jill Campbell and John Rogers

Nathan Suhr-Sytsma: “Poetry and the Making of the Anglophone Literary World, 1950-1975” directed by Professors Wai Chee Dimock and Langdon Hammer

December 2011

Patrick Gray: “The Passionate Stoic: Subjectivity in Shakespeare’s Rome” directed by Professors Lawrence Manley and David Quint

Christopher Grobe: “Performing Confession: American Poetry, Performance, and New Media 1959” directed by Professors Amy Hungerford and Joseph Roach

Sebastian LeCourt: “Culture and Secularity: Religion in the Victorian Anthropological Imagination” directed by Professors Linda Peterson and Katie Trumpener

Laura Saetveit Miles: “Mary’s Book: The Annunciation in Middle England” directed by Jessica Brantley and Alastair Minnis

Stephen Tedeschi: “Urbanization in English Romantic Poetry” directed by Professors Paul Fry and Christopher R. Miller

Julia Fawcett: “Over-Expressing the Self: Celebrity, Shandeism, and Autobiographical Performance, 1696-1801” directed by Professors Jill Campbell and Joseph Roach

Daniel Gustafson: “Stuart Restorations: History, Memory, Performance” directed by Professor Joseph Roach and Elliott Visconsi

Sarah Mahurin: “American Exodus: Migration and Oscillation in the Modern American Novel” directed by Professors Wai Chee Dimock and Robert Stepto

Erica Levy McAlpine: “Lyric Elsewhere: Strategies of Poetic Remove” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Langdon Hammer

Sarah Novacich: “Ark and Archive: Narrative Enclosures in Medieval and Early Modern Texts” directed by Professors Roberta Frank and Alastair Minnis

Jesse Schotter: “The Hieroglyphic Imagination: Language and Visuality in Modern Fiction and Film” directed by Professors Peter Brooks and Pericles Lewis

Matthew Vernon: “Strangers in a Familiar Land: The Medieval and African-American Literary Tradition” directed by Professor Alastair Minnis

Chia-Je Weng: “Natural Religion and Its Discontents: Critiques and Revisions in Blake and Coleridge” directed by Professors Leslie Brisman and Paul Fry

Nicole Wright: “‘A contractile power’: Boundaries of Character and the Culpable Self in the British Novel, 1750-1830” directed by Professors Jill Campbell and Katie Trumpener

December 2010

Molly Farrell: “Counting Bodies: Imagining Population in the New World” directed by Professor Wai Chee Dimock

John Muse: “Short Attention Span Theaters: Modernist Shorts Since 1880” directed by Professors Joseph Roach and Marc Robinson

Denis Ferhatović: “An Early English Poetics of the Artifact” directed by Professor Roberta Frank

Colin Gillis: “Forming the Normal: Sexology and the Modern British Novel, 1890-1939” directed by Professors Laura Frost and Pericles Lewis

Katherine Harrison: “Tales Twice Told: Sound Technology and American Fiction after 1940” directed by Professor Amy Hungerford

Jean Otsuki: “British Modernism in the Country” directed by Professors Paul Fry and Margaret Homans

Erin Peterson: “On Intrusion and Interruption: An Exploration of an Early Modern Literary Mode” directed by Professor John Rogers

Patrick Redding: “A Distinctive Equality: The Democratic Imagination in Modern American Poetry” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Langdon Hammer

Emily Setina: “Modernism’s Darkrooms: Photography and Literary Process” directed by Professors Langdon Hammer and Pericles Lewis

Jordan Zweck: “Letters from Heaven in the British Isles, 800-1500” directed by Professor Roberta Frank

December 2009

Elizabeth Twitchell Antrim: “Relief Work: Aid to Africa in the American Novel Since 1960” directed by Professor Wai Chee Dimock

Emily Coit: “The Trial of Abundance: Consumption and Morality in the Anglo-American Novel, 1871-1907” directed by Professors Catherine Labio and Ruth Bernard Yeazell

Andrew Goldstone: “Modernist Fictions of Aesthetic Autonomy” directed by Professors Langdon Hammer and Amy Hungerford

Matthew Mutter: “Poetry Against Religion, Poetry As Religion: Secularism and its Discontents in Literary Modernism” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Pericles Lewis

Anna Chen: “Kinship Lessons: The Cultural Uses of Childhood in Late Medieval England” directed by Professors Jessica Brantley and Lee Patterson

Anne DeWitt: “The Uses of Scientific Thinking and the Realist Novel” directed by Professor Linda Peterson

Irina Dumitrescu: “The Instructional Moment in Anglo-Saxon Literature” directed by Professor Roberta Frank

Susannah Hollister: “Poetries of Geography in Postwar America” directed by Professors Paul Fry and Langdon Hammer

James Horowitz: “Rebellious Hearts and Loyal Passions: Imagining Civic Consciousness in Ovidian Writing on Women, 1680-1819” directed by Professors Jill Campbell and Elliott Visconsi

Ben LaBreche: “The Rule of Friendship: Literary Culture and Early Modern Liberty” directed by Professors David Quint and John Rogers

December 2008

Sarah Van der Laan: “What Virtue and Wisdom Can Do: Homer’s Odyssey in the Renaissance Imagination” directed by Professor David Quint

Annmarie Drury: “Literary Translators and Victorian Poetry” directed by Professor Linda Peterson

Jeffrey Glover: “People of the Word: Puritans, Algonquians, and the Politics of Print in Early New England” directed by Professors Elizabeth Dillon and Wai Chee Dimock

Dana Goldblatt: “From Contract to Social Contract: Fortescue’s Governance and Malory’s Morte ” directed by Professors David Quint and Alastair Minnis

Kamran Javadizadeh: “Bedlam and Parnassus: Madness and Poetry in Postwar America” directed by Professor Langdon Hammer

Ayesha Ramachandran: “Worldmaking in Early Modern Europe: Global Imaginations from Montaigne to Milton” directed by Professors Annabel Patterson and David Quint

Jennifer Sisk: “Forms of Speculation: Religious Genres and Religious Inquiry in Late Medieval England” directed by Professor Lee Patterson

Ariel Watson: “The Anxious Triangle: Modern Metatheatres of the Playwright, Performer, and Spectator” directed by Professor Joseph Roach

Jesse Zuba: “The Shape of Life: First Books and the Twentieth-Century Poetic Career” directed by Professors Langdon Hammer and Amy Hungerford

December 2007

Rebecca Boggs: “The Gem-Like Flame: the Aesthetics of Intensity in Hopkins, Crane, and H.D.” directed by Professor Langdon Hammer

Maria Fackler: “A Portrait of the Artist Manqué : Form and Failure in the British Novel Since 1945” directed by Professors Pericles Lewis and Ruth Bernard Yeazell

Melissa Ganz: “Fictions of Contract: Women, Consent, and the English Novel, 1722-1814” directed by Professor Jill Campbell

Siobhan Phillips: “The Poetics of Everyday Time in Frost, Stevens, Bishop, and Merrill” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Langdon Hammer

Morgan Swan: “The Literary Construction of a Capital City: Late-Medieval London and the Difficulty of Self-Definition” directed by Professor Lee Patterson

Andrea Walkden: “Lives, Letters and History: Walton to Defoe” directed by Professors David Quint and John Rogers

Rebecca Berne: “Regionalism, Modernism and the American Short Story Cycle” directed by Professors Wai Chee Dimock and Vera Kutzinski

Leslie Eckel: “Transatlantic Professionalism: Nineteenth-Century American Writers at Work in the World” directed by Professors Wai Chee Dimock and Jennifer Baker

December 2006

Gregory Byala: “Samuel Beckett and the Problem of Beginning” directed by Professors Paul Fry and Pericles Lewis

Eric Lindstrom: “Romantic Fiat” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Paul H. Fry

Megan Quigley: “Modernist Fiction and the Re-instatement of the Vague” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Pericles Lewis

Randi Saloman: “Where Truth is Important: The Modern Novel and the Essayistic Mode” directed by Professors David Bromwich and Laura Frost

Michael Wenthe: “Arthurian Outsiders: Heterogeneity and the Cultural Politics of Medieval Arthurian Literature” directed by Professor Lee Patterson

Christopher Bond: “Exemplary Heroism and Christian Redemption in the Epic Poetry of Spenser and Milton” directed by Professors David Quint and John Rogers

Lara Cohen: “Counterfeit Presentments: Fraud and the Production of Nineteenth-Century American Literature” directed by Professors Elizabeth Dillon and Wai Chee Dimock

Nicholas Salvato: “Uncloseting Drama: Modernism’s Queer Theaters” directed by Professors Joseph Roach and Michael Trask

Anthony Welch: “Songs of Dido: Epic Poetry and Opera in Seventeenth-Century England” directed by Professor David Quint

December 2005

Brooke Conti: “Anxious Acts: Religion and Autobiography in Early Modern England” directed by Professor Annabel Patterson

Brett Foster: “The Metropolis of Popery: Writing of Rome in the English Renaissance” directed by Professors Lawrence Manley and David Quint

Curtis Perrin: “Langland’s Comic Vision” directed by Professor Traugott Lawler

English Literature: researching your dissertation: Getting an overview of your topic

Getting an overview of your topic.

Finding primary sources
Finding relevant books
Finding journals/journal articles
Key subject-specific e-resources
Searching effectively
Citing references

Getting an overview of Library resources

Researching your dissertation provides you with the opportunity to engage with a wide range of resources. This can seem overwhelming to begin with, but getting an overview of what resources the Library can provide to support your research is a good way to start.

There may be key databases, e-journals or reference works that you are unaware of that are directly relevant to your subject area. The online English Literature subject guide provides a summary of relevant Library resources including subject specific databases and full-text print and online books and journals.

So take some time to familiarise yourself with all the resources on offer to you - both in the Library itself, and online via our e-subscriptions, by consulting the English Literature subject guide .

Whether the subject of your dissertation research is author or genre-specific, or relating to another area of study within the discipline of English and American Literature, getting an overview of your topic will help provide context.

Encyclopedias, dictionaries and reference works are a good place to start this initial research as they provide concise summaries about a particular subject and you can often obtain relevant references/bibliographies.

Top tip: Following references cited in one work can be a really useful way of finding new research, so always look at the bibliography of a book or article.

Encyclopedias and reference works

Use encyclopedias:

for summaries
for lists of further reading
when starting a project

There are two key online resources which give access to hundreds of dictionaries and encyclopedias:

It also contains a wide range of English dictionaries; bilingual dictionaries of French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Latin; thesauri; and guides to English grammar and usage. Timelines link over 2,000 key events in 20th century history in the areas of Art and Architecture; Performing Arts; Literature; Politics and Government; Society; Science, Technology and Medicine; and War. Individual titles are listed on the Library catalogue. Help and guidance Tour of Oxford Reference

Also includes conversion tables for area, distance, energy, fuel consumption, power, speed, temperature and weight - just click on the 'Gadgets' link. Most titles are listed on the Enterprise catalogue. Help and guidance A Help Tour and Research Quick Tips are available by clicking the button at the top right of the page. Research Quick Tips are short videos to assist learners during the research process. Credo supports Boolean searching and truncation using an asterisk (*).

Some useful titles, like the ODNB - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (for biographies of British men and women), are also listed on this page. There is a short video tutorial of how to use the ODNB at the bottom of this page.

Find more on the catalogue by searching for "English Literature encyclopedias". Many are available in full-text online, and some also provide thematic essays on specific authors and subject areas.

Handbooks and histories

The Oxford Handbooks and Cambridge Histories series can also provide very useful overviews of authors, topics and themes. These are generally organised as a series of essays. We have many of these titles available in print and online. You can view some of these using the following links:

The new Cambridge History of English LIterature series
The new Cambridge HIstory of American LIterature series
The Oxford Handbook series

There is a short video tutorial of how to use Oxford Handbooks Online the bottom of this page.

Useful reference works: selected titles

These are just some of the reference works available to you:

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See here for a full list of dissertations since 1904 .

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Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Ph.D. Graduates!

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Dissertation

What Is a Dissertation? | Guide, Examples, & Template

A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program.

Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you’ve ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating to know where to begin.

Your department likely has guidelines related to how your dissertation should be structured. When in doubt, consult with your supervisor.

You can also download our full dissertation template in the format of your choice below. The template includes a ready-made table of contents with notes on what to include in each chapter, easily adaptable to your department’s requirements.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

In the US, a dissertation generally refers to the collection of research you conducted to obtain a PhD.
In other countries (such as the UK), a dissertation often refers to the research you conduct to obtain your bachelor’s or master’s degree.

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Dissertation committee and prospectus process, how to write and structure a dissertation, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your dissertation, free checklist and lecture slides.

When you’ve finished your coursework, as well as any comprehensive exams or other requirements, you advance to “ABD” (All But Dissertation) status. This means you’ve completed everything except your dissertation.

Prior to starting to write, you must form your committee and write your prospectus or proposal . Your committee comprises your adviser and a few other faculty members. They can be from your own department, or, if your work is more interdisciplinary, from other departments. Your committee will guide you through the dissertation process, and ultimately decide whether you pass your dissertation defense and receive your PhD.

Your prospectus is a formal document presented to your committee, usually orally in a defense, outlining your research aims and objectives and showing why your topic is relevant . After passing your prospectus defense, you’re ready to start your research and writing.

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The structure of your dissertation depends on a variety of factors, such as your discipline, topic, and approach. Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an overall argument to support a central thesis , with chapters organized around different themes or case studies.

However, hard science and social science dissertations typically include a review of existing works, a methodology section, an analysis of your original research, and a presentation of your results , presented in different chapters.

Dissertation examples

We’ve compiled a list of dissertation examples to help you get started.

Example dissertation #1: Heat, Wildfire and Energy Demand: An Examination of Residential Buildings and Community Equity (a dissertation by C. A. Antonopoulos about the impact of extreme heat and wildfire on residential buildings and occupant exposure risks).
Example dissertation #2: Exploring Income Volatility and Financial Health Among Middle-Income Households (a dissertation by M. Addo about income volatility and declining economic security among middle-income households).
Example dissertation #3: The Use of Mindfulness Meditation to Increase the Efficacy of Mirror Visual Feedback for Reducing Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees (a dissertation by N. S. Mills about the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on the relationship between mirror visual feedback and the pain level in amputees with phantom limb pain).

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo.

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The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150 to 300 words long. Though this may seem very short, it’s one of the most important parts of your dissertation, because it introduces your work to your audience.

Your abstract should:

State your main topic and the aims of your research
Describe your methods
Summarize your main results
State your conclusions

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework. Here, you define and analyze the key theories, concepts, and models that frame your research.

Checklist: Dissertation

My title page includes all information required by my university.

I have included acknowledgements thanking those who helped me.

My abstract provides a concise summary of the dissertation, giving the reader a clear idea of my key results or arguments.

I have created a table of contents to help the reader navigate my dissertation. It includes all chapter titles, but excludes the title page, acknowledgements, and abstract.

My introduction leads into my topic in an engaging way and shows the relevance of my research.

My introduction clearly defines the focus of my research, stating my research questions and research objectives .

My introduction includes an overview of the dissertation’s structure (reading guide).

I have conducted a literature review in which I (1) critically engage with sources, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of existing research, (2) discuss patterns, themes, and debates in the literature, and (3) address a gap or show how my research contributes to existing research.

I have clearly outlined the theoretical framework of my research, explaining the theories and models that support my approach.

I have thoroughly described my methodology , explaining how I collected data and analyzed data.

I have concisely and objectively reported all relevant results .

I have (1) evaluated and interpreted the meaning of the results and (2) acknowledged any important limitations of the results in my discussion .

I have clearly stated the answer to my main research question in the conclusion .

I have clearly explained the implications of my conclusion, emphasizing what new insight my research has contributed.

I have provided relevant recommendations for further research or practice.

If relevant, I have included appendices with supplemental information.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

I have listed every source in a reference list at the end of my dissertation.

I have consistently followed the rules of my chosen citation style .

I have followed all formatting guidelines provided by my university.

Congratulations!

The end is in sight—your dissertation is nearly ready to submit! Make sure it's perfectly polished with the help of a Scribbr editor.

If you’re an educator, feel free to download and adapt these slides to teach your students about structuring a dissertation.

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > English > Theses and Dissertations

English Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Of Mētis and Cuttlefish: Employing Collective Mētis as a Theoretical Framework for Marginalized Communities , Justiss Wilder Burry

What on earth are we doing (?): A Field-Wide Exploration of Design Courses in TPC , Jessica L. Griffith

Organizations Ensuring Resilience: A Case Study of Cortez, Florida , Karla Ariel Maddox

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Using Movie Clips to Understand Vivid-Phrasal Idioms’ Meanings , Rasha Salem S. Alghamdi

An Exercise in Exceptions: Personhood, Divergency, and Ableism in the STAR TREK Franchise , Jessica A. Blackman

Vulnerable Resistance in Victorian Women’s Writing , Stephanie A. Harper

Curricular Assemblages: Understanding Student Writing Knowledge (Re)circulation Across Genres , Adam Phillips

PAD Beyond the Classroom: Integrating PAD in the Scrum Workplace , Jade S. Weiss

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Social Cues in Animated Pedagogical Agents for Second Language Learners: the Application of The Embodiment Principle in Video Design , Sahar M. Alyahya

A Field-Wide Examination of Cross-Listed Courses in Technical Professional Communication , Carolyn M. Gubala

Labor-Based Grading Contracts in the Multilingual FYC Classroom: Unpacking the Variables , Kara Kristina Larson

Land Goddesses, Divine Pigs, and Royal Tricksters: Subversive Mythologies and Imperialist Land Ownership Dispossession in Twentieth Century Irish and American Literature , Elizabeth Ricketts

Oppression, Resistance, and Empowerment: The Power Dynamics of Naming and Un-naming in African American Literature, 1794 to 2019 , Melissa "Maggie" Romigh

Generic Expectations in First Year Writing: Teaching Metadiscoursal Reflection and Revision Strategies for Increased Generic Uptake of Academic Writing , Kaelah Rose Scheff

Reframing the Gothic: Race, Gender, & Disability in Multiethnic Literature , Ashely B. Tisdale

Intersections of Race and Place in Short Fiction by New Orleans Gens de Couleur Libres , Adrienne D. Vivian

Mental Illness Diagnosis and the Construction of Stigma , Katie Lynn Walkup

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Rhetorical Roundhouse Kicks: Tae Kwon Do Pumsae Practice and Non-Western Embodied Topoi , Spencer Todd Bennington

9/11 Then and Now: How the Performance of Memorial Rhetoric by Presidents Changes to Construct Heroes , Kristen M. Grafton

Kinesthetically Speaking: Human and Animal Communication in British Literature of the Long Eighteenth Century , Dana Jolene Laitinen

Exploring Refugee Students’ Second Language (L2) Motivational Selves through Digital Visual Representations , Nhu Le

Glamour in Contemporary American Cinema , Shauna A. Maragh

Instrumentalization Theory: An Analytical Heuristic for a Heightened Social Awareness of Machine Learning Algorithms in Social Media , Andrew R. Miller

Intercessory Power: A Literary Analysis of Ethics and Care in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon , Alice Walker’s Meridian , and Toni Cade Bambara’s Those Bones Are Not My Child , Kelly Mills

The Power of Non-Compliant Logos: A New Materialist Approach to Comic Studies , Stephanie N. Phillips

Female Identity and Sexuality in Contemporary Indonesian Novels , Zita Rarastesa

"The Fiery Furnaces of Hell": Rhetorical Dynamism in Youngstown, OH , Joshua M. Rea

“We developed solidarity”: Family, Race, Identity, and Space-Time in Recent Multiethnic U.S. American Fiction , Kimber L. Wiggs

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Remembrance of a Wound: Ethical Mourning in the Works of Ana Menéndez, Elías Miguel Muñoz, and Junot Díaz , José Aparicio

Taking an “Ecological Turn” in the Evaluation of Rhetorical Interventions , Peter Cannon

New GTA’s and the Pre-Semester Orientation: The Need for Informed Refinement , Jessica L. Griffith

Reading Rape and Answering with Empathy: A New Approach to Sexual Assault Education for College Students , Brianna Jerman

The Karoo , The Veld , and the Co-Op: The Farm as Microcosm and Place for Change in Schreiner, Lessing, and Head , Elana D. Karshmer

"The weak are meat, and the strong do eat"; Representations of the Slaughterhouse in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature , Stephanie Lance

Language of Carnival: How Language and the Carnivalesque Challenge Hegemony , Yulia O. Nekrashevich

Queer Authority in Old and Middle English Literature , Elan J. Pavlinich

Because My Garmin Told Me To: A New Materialist Study of Agency and Wearable Technology , Michael Repici

No One Wants to Read What You Write: A Contextualized Analysis of Service Course Assignments , Tanya P. Zarlengo

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Beauty and the Beasts: Making Places with Literary Animals of Florida , Haili A. Alcorn

The Medievalizing Process: Religious Medievalism in Romantic and Victorian Literature , Timothy M. Curran

Seeing Trauma: The Known and the Hidden in Nineteenth-Century Literature , Alisa M. DeBorde

Analysis of User Interfaces in the Sharing Economy , Taylor B. Johnson

Border-Crossing Travels Across Literary Worlds: My Shamanic Conscientization , Scott Neumeister

The Spectacle of The Bomb: Rhetorical Analysis of Risk of The Nevada Test Site in Technical Communication, Popular Press, and Pop Culture , Tiffany Wilgar

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Traveling Women and Consuming Place in Eighteenth-Century Travel Letters and Journals , Cassie Patricia Childs

“The Nations of the Field and Wood”: The Uncertain Ontology of Animals in Eighteenth-Century British Literature , J. Kevin Jordan

Modern Mythologies: The Epic Imagination in Contemporary Indian Literature , Sucheta Kanjilal

Science in the Sun: How Science is Performed as a Spatial Practice , Natalie Kass

Body as Text: Physiognomy on the Early English Stage , Curtis Le Van

Tensions Between Democracy and Expertise in the Florida Keys , Elizabeth A. Loyer

Institutional Review Boards and Writing Studies Research: A Justice-Oriented Study , Johanna Phelps-Hillen

The Spirit of Friendship: Girlfriends in Contemporary African American Literature , Tangela La'Chelle Serls

Aphra Behn on the Contemporary Stage: Behn's Feminist Legacy and Woman-Directed Revivals of The Rover , Nicole Elizabeth Stodard

(Age)ncy in Composition Studies , Alaina Tackitt

Constructing Health Narratives: Patient Feedback in Online Communities , Katie Lynn Walkup

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Rupturing the World of Elite Athletics: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of the Suspension of the 2011 IAAF Regulations on Hyperandrogenism , Ella Browning

Shaping Climate Citizenship: The Ethics of Inclusion in Climate Change Communication and Policy , Lauren E. Cagle

Drop, Cover, and Hold On: Analyzing FEMA's Risk Communication through Visual Rhetoric , Samantha Jo Cosgrove

Material Expertise: Applying Object-oriented Rhetoric in Marine Policy , Zachary Parke Dixon

The Non-Identical Anglophone Bildungsroman : From the Categorical to the De-Centering Literary Subject in the Black Atlantic , Jarad Heath Fennell

Instattack: Instagram and Visual Ad Hominem Political Arguments , Sophia Evangeline Gourgiotis

Hospitable Climates: Representations of the West Indies in Eighteenth-Century British Literature , Marisa Carmen Iglesias

Chosen Champions: Medieval and Early Modern Heroes as Postcolonial Reactions to Tensions between England and Europe , Jessica Trant Labossiere

Science, Policy, and Decision Making: A Case Study of Deliberative Rhetoric and Policymaking for Coastal Adaptation in Southeast Florida , Karen Patricia Langbehn

A New Materialist Approach to Visual Rhetoric in PhotoShopBattles , Jonathan Paul Ray

Tracing the Material: Spaces and Objects in British and Irish Modernist Novels , Mary Allison Wise

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Representations of Gatsby: Ninety Years of Retrospective , Christine Anne Auger

Robust, Low Power, Discrete Gate Sizing , Anthony Joseph Casagrande

Wrestling with Angels: Postsecular Contemporary American Poetry , Paul T. Corrigan

#networkedglobe: Making the Connection between Social Media and Intercultural Technical Communication , Laura Anne Ewing

Evidence of Things Not Seen: A Semi-Automated Descriptive Phrase and Frame Analysis of Texts about the Herbicide Agent Orange , Sarah Beth Hopton

'She Shall Not Be Moved': Black Women's Spiritual Practice in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Paradise, and Home , Rondrea Danielle Mathis

Relational Agency, Networked Technology, and the Social Media Aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing , Megan M. Mcintyre

Now, We Hear Through a Voice Darkly: New Media and Narratology in Cinematic Art , James Anthony Ricci

Navigating Collective Activity Systems: An Approach Towards Rhetorical Inquiry , Katherine Jesse Royce

Women's Narratives of Confinement: Domestic Chores as Threads of Resistance and Healing , Jacqueline Marie Smith

Domestic Spaces in Transition: Modern Representations of Dwelling in the Texts of Elizabeth Bowen , Shannon Tivnan

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Paradise Always Already Lost: Myth, Memory, and Matter in English Literature , Elizabeth Stuart Angello

Overcoming the 5th-Century BCE Epistemological Tragedy: A Productive Reading of Protagoras of Abdera , Ryan Alan Blank

Acts of Rebellion: The Rhetoric of Rogue Cinema , Adam Breckenridge

Material and Textual Spaces in the Poetry of Montagu, Leapor, Barbauld, and Robinson , Jessica Lauren Cook

Decolonizing Shakespeare: Race, Gender, and Colonialism in Three Adaptations of Three Plays by William Shakespeare , Angela Eward-Mangione

Risk of Compliance: Tracing Safety and Efficacy in Mef-Lariam's Licensure , Julie Marie Gerdes

Beyond Performance: Rhetoric, Collective Memory, and the Motive of Imprinting Identity , Brenda M. Grau

Subversive Beauty - Victorian Bodies of Expression , Lisa Michelle Hoffman-Reyes

Integrating Reading and Writing For Florida's ESOL Program , George Douglas Mcarthur

Responsibility and Responsiveness in the Novels of Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley , Katherine Marie McGee

Ghosts, Orphans, and Outlaws: History, Family, and the Law in Toni Morrison's Fiction , Jessica Mckee

The "Defective" Generation: Disability in Modernist Literature , Deborah Susan Mcleod

Science Fiction/Fantasy and the Representation of Ethnic Futurity , Joy Ann Sanchez-Taylor

Hermes, Technical Communicator of the Gods: The Theory, Design, and Creation of a Persuasive Game for Technical Communication , Eric Walsh

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Rhetorical Spirits: Spirituality as Rhetorical Device in New Age Womanist of Color Texts , Ronisha Witlee Browdy

Disciplinarity, Crisis, and Opportunity in Technical Communication , Jason Robert Carabelli

The Terror of Possibility: A Re-evaluation and Reconception of the Sublime Aesthetic , Kurt Fawver

Unbearable Weight, Unbearable Witness: The (Im)possibility of Witnessing Eating Disorders in Cyberspace , Kristen Nicole Gay

the post- 9/11 aesthetic: repositioning the zombie film in the horror genre , Alan Edward Green, Jr.

An(other) Rhetoric: Rhetoric, Ethics, and the Rhetorical Tradition , Kathleen Sandell Hardesty

Mapping Dissertation Genre Ecology , Kate Lisbeth Pantelides

Dead Man's Switch: Disaster Rhetorics in a Posthuman Age , Daniel Patrick Richards

"Of That Transfigured World" : Realism and Fantasy in Victorian Literature , Benjamin Jude Wright

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Home > ACADEMIC-UNITS > College of Arts and Sciences > Department of English Language and Literature > ENGLISH_ETD

MA in English Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2018 2018.

Implementing Critical Analysis in the Classroom to Negate Southern Stereotypes in Multi-Media , Julie Broyhill

Fan Fiction in the English Language Arts Classroom , Kristen Finucan

Transferring the Mantle: The Voice of the Poet Prophet in the Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson , Heidi Brown Hyde

The Effects of Social Media as Low-Stakes Writing Tasks , Roxanne Loving

Student and Teacher Perceptions of Multiliterate Assignments Utilizing 21st Century Skills , Jessica Kennedy Miller

The Storytellers’ Trauma: A Place to Call Home in Caribbean Literature , Ilari Pass

Post Title IX Representations of Professional Female Athletes , Emily Shaw

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

“Not as She is” but as She is Expected to Be: Representations, Limitations, and Implications of the “Woman” and Womanhood in Selected Victorian Literature and Contemporary Chick Lit. , Amanda Ellen Bridgers

The Intrinsic Factors that Influence Successful College Writing , Kenneth Dean Carlstrom

"Where nature was most plain and pure": The Sacred Locus Amoenus and its Profane Threat in Andrew Marvell's Pastoral Poetry , James Brent King

Colorblind: How Cable News and the “Cult of Objectivity” Normalized Racism in Donald Trump’s Presidential Campaign , Amanda Leeann Shoaf

Gaming The Comic Book: Turning The Page on How Comics and Videogames Intersect as Interactive, Digital Experiences , Joseph Austin Thurmond

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Nature, Function, and Value of Emojis as Contemporary Tools of Digital Interpersonal Communication , Nicole L. Bliss-Carroll

Exile and Identity: Chaim Potok's Contribution to Jewish-American Literature , Sarah Anne Hamner

A Woman's Voice and Identity: Narrative Métissage as a Solution to Voicelessness in American Literature , Kali Lauren Oldacre

Pop, Hip Hop, and Empire, Study of a New Pedagogical Approach in a Developmental Reading and English Class , Karen Denise Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Abandoning the Shadows and Seizing the Stage: A Perspective on a Feminine Discourse of Resistance Theatre as Informed by the Work of Susanna Centlivre, Eliza Haywood, Frances Sheridan, Hannah Cowley, and the Sistren Theatre Collective , Brianna A. Bleymaier

Mexican Immigrants as "Other": An Interdisciplinary Analysis of U.S. Immigration Legislation and Political Cartoons , Olivia Teague Morgan

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

"I Am a Living Enigma - And You Want To Know the Right Reading of Me": Gender Anxiety in Wilkie Collins's The Haunted Hotel and The Guilty River , Hannah Allford

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Gender Performance and the Reclamation of Masculinity in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , John William Salyers Jr.

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

"That's a Lotta Faith We're Putting in a Word": Language, Religion, and Heteroglossia as Oppression and Resistance in Comtemporary British Dystopian Fiction , Haley Cassandra Gambrell

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Mirroring the Madness: Caribbean Female Development in the Works of Elizabeth Nunez , Lauren Delli Santi

"Atlas Shrugged" and third-wave feminism: An unlikely alliance , Paul McMahan

"Sit back down where you belong, in the corner of my bar with your high heels on": The use of cross-dressing in order to achieve female agency in Shakespeare's transvestite comedies , Heather Lynn Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Between the Way to the Cross and Emmaus: Deconstructing Identity in the 325 CE Council of Nicaea and "The Shack" , Trevar Simmons

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180 English Literature Dissertation Ideas For You
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Literature Dissertation Topics and Titles
A literature dissertation aims to contextualise themes, ideas, and interests that have grabbed a reader's interest and attention, giving them a more profound meaning through the movement of time within and outside cultures. Literature is a comprehensive knowledge of other writers' views, and to understand them, a student must perform ...
1000 Literature Thesis Topics and Ideas
This page provides a comprehensive list of literature thesis topics, offering a valuable resource for students tasked with writing a thesis in the field of literature.Designed to cater to a wide array of literary interests and academic inquiries, the topics are organized into 25 diverse categories, ranging from African American Literature to Young Adult Literature.
50 Dissertation Topic Ideas in English Literature
Your dissertation should be based on high-quality research, so you can show your understanding of the subject you work on. You should demonstrate your analytical skills, choosing only relevant literature on your theme. You should develop a research question and address it in your paper, ensuring your dissertation possesses a clear focus.
Recent PhD Dissertations
Clayton, J.Thomas (September 2021) - "The Reformation of Indifference: Adiaphora, Toleration, and English Literature in the Seventeenth Century". Goldberg, Reuven L. (May 2021) - "I Changed My Sex! Pedagogy and the Trans Narrative". Soong, Jennifer (May 2021) - "Poetic Forgetting".
180 English Literature Dissertation Ideas For You
Top-Notch Dissertation Topics In English Literature. A closer look at the poetry of William Shakespeare. The impact of the first literary explorers in shaping literary imagination. The role of visions of nature in the 17 th century poetical works. Discuss the origins of the English novels and short plays.
English Literature Research Paper Topics
This guide, centered on English literature research paper topics, serves as a comprehensive resource for students seeking to delve deep into the diverse epochs, authors, and themes that have shaped English literary tradition.Navigating the intricate tapestry of English literature offers scholars a multitude of avenues for exploration.
Research Topics in English Literature
Ideas for Writing English Papers. Research topics on English literature initially start off broad and then narrow down and you come up with your thesis. Using any of the research topics listed (gender, comparisons, historical background, politics, and religion) can take you almost anywhere. Choose your general topic based on the literature ...
Literature Dissertation Topics
Nineteenth century literature provides many topics that you could study for a literature dissertation. Love and loss in Thomas Hardy's poems 1912-13. Recovering the buried life: Visionary aspiration in the poetry of Matthew Arnold. Love and communication in the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
PDF English Literature Dissertation Handbook 2021-22
How to Write Essays and Dissertations: A Guide for English Literature Students, 2nd edition (Longman, 2005). 1.3 Supervision and Support. 1.3.1 The role of supervisors. Though the dissertation is fundamentally an independent piece of work, students are supported by a member of academic faculty who acts as supervisor.
Top 50 Literature Dissertation Topics Prevalent in the Year 2021
Nineteenth Century Literature Topics for Dissertation. Loss of Love in 1912-13 Poems of Thomas Hardy. George Eliot and His Religious Doubt. Edward Bulwer-Lytton and His Approach Towards Metaphysical Tradition. The Significance of Costume in the Works of Charles Dickens. George Ruskin and the Heritage.
100+ English Literature Dissertation Topics in 2024
Eco Literature Dissertation Topics in English Literature. Ecocriticism is a rapidly evolving field that examines the connection between literature and the natural world. It inspires dissertations, close readings, & real-life environmental activism. Below given are some of the dissertation topics in English literature regarding ecocriticism.
Dissertations
Margaret McGowan: "A Natural History of the Novel: Species, Sense, Atmosphere" directed by Jonathan Kramnick, Katie Trumpener, Marta Figlerowicz. Benjamin Pokross: "Writing History in the Nineteenth-Century Great Lakes" directed by Caleb Smith, Greta LaFleur, Michael Warner.
How to Choose a Dissertation Topic
Step 1: Check the requirements. Step 2: Choose a broad field of research. Step 3: Look for books and articles. Step 4: Find a niche. Step 5: Consider the type of research. Step 6: Determine the relevance. Step 7: Make sure it's plausible. Step 8: Get your topic approved. Other interesting articles.
Getting an overview of your topic
English Literature: researching your dissertation: Getting an overview of your topic This guide gives an overview of the range of resources available to you when researching your dissertation topic. Topics covered include developing effective search strategies and finding scholarly primary and secondary source material.
Dissertations
Dissertations. Author, Title, or Publisher ... Stitching Time: Transtemporal Labor and Middle English Literature. 2022. University of Washington, PhD dissertation. Graduate, ... Department of English University of Washington A101 Padelford Hall Box 354330 Seattle, WA 98195-4330. Phone: (206) 543-2690.
The Dissertation
A typical dissertation runs between 250 and 300 pages, divided into four or five chapters, often with a short conclusion following the final full-scale chapter.There is no set minimum or maximum length, but anything below about 225 pages will likely look insubstantial in comparison to others, while anything over 350 pages may suggest a lack of proportion and control of the topic, and would ...
PDF English Literature Dissertation Handbook 2018-19
English Literature Dissertation Handbook Page 4 DATE SEMESTER 2, 2019 Week 1 Submit an updated plan/outline of your topic and a draft Introduction to your Supervisor by 5pm on Friday 18 January 2019 (via LEARN). Around 500 words for the outline, and 1000 for the Introduction: 1500
Recent PhD Dissertations
Recent PhD Dissertations. 2023-2024. Postdramatic African Theater and Critique of Representation. Oluwakanyinsola Ajayi. Troubling Diaspora: Literature Across the Arabic Atlantic. Phoebe Carter. The Contrafacta of Thomas Watson and Simon Goulart: Resignifying the Polyphonic Song in 16th-century England and France. Joseph Gauvreau.
What Is a Dissertation?
A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program. Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you've ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating ...
Literature Topics and Research
A comparison/contrast of the choices different authors or characters make in a work. A reading of a work based on an outside philosophical perspective (Ex. how would a Freudian read Hamlet ?) A study of the sources or historical events that occasioned a particular work (Ex. comparing G.B. Shaw's Pygmalion with the original Greek myth of ...
English Theses and Dissertations
Theses/Dissertations from 2018. Beauty and the Beasts: Making Places with Literary Animals of Florida, Haili A. Alcorn. The Medievalizing Process: Religious Medievalism in Romantic and Victorian Literature, Timothy M. Curran. Seeing Trauma: The Known and the Hidden in Nineteenth-Century Literature, Alisa M. DeBorde.
English Literature Dissertation Topics for Students
Introduction Embarking on the journey of writing a dissertation is a pivotal moment in any student's academic career. As an English literature enthusiast, the choice of the dissertation topic ...
MA in English Theses
A Woman's Voice and Identity: Narrative Métissage as a Solution to Voicelessness in American Literature, Kali Lauren Oldacre. PDF. Pop, Hip Hop, and Empire, Study of a New Pedagogical Approach in a Developmental Reading and English Class, Karen Denise Taylor. Theses/Dissertations from 2015 PDF
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Literature Dissertation Topics

List Of Free Dissertation Topics On Literature

Literature Dissertation Topics To Help You Get Started

Topic 2: The Power of the Writer’s Imagination- A Study Finding the Role of Writer Imagination in the Social Revolution in 19th-Century Europe

Topic 3: How Does an Accent Develop? An Exploratory Analysis Finding Factors Shaped Various English Accents in the World- A Case of America, Australia, and India

Topic 4: “Gender Pronouns and their Usage” a New Debate in the Social Linguistics Literature- A Systematic Review of the Past and Present Debates

Topic 5: Are Men Portrayed Better in the English Literature? A Feminist Critique of the Old English Literature

COVID-19 Literature Research Topics

Topic 2: Literature and the future world after Coronavirus.

Topic 3: Coronavirus is a trending topic among the media, writers, and publishers

Trending Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 2: Whether or not the death penalty is effective in the current era?

Topic 3: Fashion Industry and its impact on people's upward and downward social perception

Topic 4: Communication gaps in families due to the emergence of social media

Topic 5: Employment and overtime working hours- a comparative study

Topic 6: Machine translators Vs. human translators

Topic 7: Freelancing Vs 9 to 5 jobs- a comparative study

More Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 2: Critical analysis of the teenager protagonist in “The Room on the Roof” written by Ruskin Bond.

Topic 3: Promotion of women empowerment through mass media in Nepal.

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Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 5: A systematic study of Chaucer’s Miller’s tale.

Topic 3: Understanding 17th-century English culture using a model of Francis Bacon’s idea.

Topic 4: The relation between early 18th-century English plays and The emerging financial market.

Topic 5: Issues of climate change used in early English literature: Shakespeare’s View of the sky.

Nineteenth-Century Dissertation Topics

Topic 2: Women theatre managers and the theatre in the late nineteenth century.

Topic 3: The history of American literature.

Topic 4: “New women” concept in the novels of Victorian age English writers.

Topic 5: Discussing the role of the writer in their own story.

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Twentieth Century Dissertation Topics

Topic 2: Feminism and literature.

Topic 3: Modern literature based on climate change and eco-themes.

Topic 4: How are fathers portrayed in modern literature?

Topic 5: Literature for Asian American children.

Children’s Literature Dissertation Topics

Topic 2: Diversity of culture in children’s literature.

Topic 3: The use of literature to shape a child's mind.

Topic 4: Evolution of children's literature.

Topic 5: Racial discrimination in “the cat in the hat” impacts children’s racial views.

Topic 6: Measuring the nature of a child’s early composing.

Topic 7: Use of a classroom to incorporate multicultural children’s literature.

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