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Sunday, May 1, 2016

Research Paper: Searching for a Topic



When I heard that I would be writing a research paper this quarter, I wanted to take the opportunity to  dive into a subject that I was interested in. I was considering several different mediums to do research on: books, paintings, and films. It took me quite a while to decide on what I would research.

It took me a couple of days to figure out what I wanted to write my research paper about. Would I do my project on some manuscript that came out of a war atmosphere? Would I analyze a painting that was held a great deal of impact for some people? Would I see how films produced in a wartime atmosphere held a great deal of meaning for people?

It became apparent to me that I would have to do more research before I made a decision on the topic I would write my research paper. To do my research, I went into the library and basically had a workout finding and carrying around the books I wanted to use.



After a few days of finding books on topics I was interesting in pursuing, I found a topic that interested me. My advice to people who are about to write a research paper for class is to chose a topic that you find interesting. Nothing is more motivating than having topic that is actually interesting.



So what topic did I end up doing my project on? I decided upon two films that were produced and released in the midst of World War II. In 1942, three years after the onslaught of WWII, the films Casablanca and In Which We Serve were released. These films had a great deal of influence for American and British society at the time of their premieres and they continue to remain iconic films even today. My research question is to what degree the war actually influenced these films and how these films were able to depicted the wartime society.


Casablanca is a film which I happened to stumble upon in one of my searches for things related to WWII. I think I recalled the name "Casablanca" from a magazine or it could have been mentioned in a book I read. Regardless of how I heard of the film, I had never seen it before. However, I did recognize the leading characters of the film, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. This classic film from Hollywood's Golden Age was just not something I could ignore if I was doing a research paper about influential films during WWII and what influenced them.





In Which We Serve was a film that I discovered as I was researching WWII. From the research I did, I expected to see a generous dose of British nationalism since the film was part of the official British government cinematic propaganda.




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