Topic for Research Paper (Helen)

Essential Research Question

Throughout the years, in what ways has adolescent literature teachers choose to assign affected the mental health of students and their desire to read?

Other questions

1) Who decides what to teach? (I'd assume it's the teachers, as that's how it's been in college, but I can't remember for high school if it's the teachers who created the curriculum, or other staff, or neither, or both, if it's different for certain schools, so I plan to check)

2) How are, and how should whoever is assigning the books make these decisions? Are they aware whether or not they're harboring any unintentional biased towards certain groups or topics?

3) If they are, in what ways can they resolve this issue?

4) Do most teachers consider how it might affect their students' mental health, or only how it will affect their learning literature? (In most cases I've experienced, teachers are more concerned about the latter. This class is one of the first ones I've experienced that does it right; there needs to be a balance between the two.)

5) How many teachers utilize trigger warnings for books that may include issues about mental health? (Even books that are older and the teachers use for literature purpose can include those triggering topics without teachers realizing it, and those books are already part of what makes some students not want to read.)

Preexisting knowledge

What I know about this topic, is that there is a lot to know, and that I can only describe my personal experience--which, in high school, consisted of classic books like Frankenstein, Of Mice and Men, several Greek plays and scripts, The Picture of Dorian Gray, things of that nature, and more. In college, there were similar but more complicated genres that addressed subjects that confused me. In all honesty, I do not remember a word of any of them, for some not even the general idea. What I remember is that it made me hate reading that type of literature, and that a couple of them, can't remember which ones, worsened my nightmares.

Why I chose it

I chose this topic because it is prevalent, relevant, and vital. I chose it because maybe if teachers chose appropriate and fun books with relevant topics in today's world, and warned them of the content, choosing said content with deep thought, the students would develop a love of reading instead of a hatred for it. They would also learn and grow more knowledgeable about important societal issues and how other people deal with them, and see some of themselves in the literature, too, to know that they're not alone.

Books I'll reference

I haven't planned out all the books that I'll reference, but there will likely be several from the list I've provided above that I've read in high school, possibly some books that we've read in this class, and there is an article I found that discusses Harry Potter, and students' reactions to important quotes and how they affect them. I was never assigned Harry Potter, though in middle school I did read most of the books on my own time (once.) I remember enough to know that the world Rowling creates is massive in addition to magical, and that her characters were relatable and loveable. I would have loved to be assigned to dissect not only the many aspects of the fictional world, but the deeper meanings of the characters' relationships, quotes, endeavors, and classroom dynamics, and how they relate to those in real life.

Resources and how I'll use them

I have several articles in mind, but there are different sub-topics that I'll be going into, so I'll need to find more. In large part it will involve accounts of teachers and students, but there will also likely be statistics on mental health and classroom literature. Once I know the information I need to in addition to my own experience, I'll add my thoughts on how things can be improved.

Preliminary claim/thesis statement

I believe that, if chosen correctly, adolescent literature can provide students with 'windows and mirrors,' encourage the idea of spreading knowledge and awareness, and teach today's youth to express their thoughts and feelings in an eloquent and empathetic way. I think that's an important life skill.

Challenges and obstacles

One thing I'm worried about is that each of the topics that I want to focus on are way too specific for putting into a search bar or finding actual sources on, and that I won't be able to find the things that I'd like to.

Another worry is that I'd spend too much time on less significant topics or statistics while researching--or that I'd change my mind on the topic I want or which I want to focus on more halfway through, and have to rewrite.

Another is that I have so many aspects of this to dig into that I'll go overboard, gathering so many quotes and sources and writing my own thoughts in response, that the paper will be far too long, and that will have taken up so much time that I won't have much time to edit.

Or it could go the other way; all this information that I have to look up will make me panic that there's so much and I don't know where to start, or what's the most vital for the paper, and I'll want to read every source I find all the way through, but won't be able to due to how slow of a reader I am...the end result of this worry is the same; that I'll end up not having it finished in time.