The Story of an Hour illustrates the dual themes of confinement and freedom. Mrs. Mallard's story reveals the restricted roles of women in 19th-century society and the profound yearning for selfhood that lay beneath those constraints. The brief and intense exploration of freedom in Louise's mind highlights both the allure and the cost of autonomy in a world that does not yet recognize a woman's right to it.

Outlander and Inuyasha both feature a female protagonist who magically goes back in time and gets a huge culture shock but ultimately falls in love amidst serious violence and turmoil. It would be interesting to do a formal analysis of how these texts overlap and differ, and why this style of narrative seems to be so popular. What is the point of these stories? Do they have basically the same message, or not? Do they romanticize or demonize the past?

The symbolism movement, which was a continuation of the Romantic style and included mysticism and heightened sensitivity, originated in France in the 19th century. The world was expanding rapidly at the time, industrialization was making a spectacular debut, and immigration was bringing various cultures together. It also exposed materialism, and in response, symbolist writers and painters turned away from the outside world in favor of investigating the inner realities. Symbolists felt that art should capture more absolute facts that could only be reached indirectly, hence this movement was more of a psychological approach than a true art movement. Symbolists had an impact on Les Nabis, Art Nouveau, Surrealism, and Expressionism movements.

Discuss how Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), one of the greatest symbolists of the 19th century explained the theory of the symbolism movement.

The intent of the author is usually considered somewhat unknowable, however, every now and then, a problematic controversy surrounds the author that makes a more critical look at their works necessary. For example, H.P. Lovecraft's racism features heavily in his work. However, some works are slightly harder to catch as being problematic until the author is caught in a controversy, like JK Rowling's stance on trans people or the current accusations against Neil Gaiman. Suddenly, some of the problematic themes in the works come to light, such as the description of Rita Skeeter or the treatment of the house elves in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, for example.

While the controversy itself obviously does not create the problems found within the works, it is important to consider the author's intent at the time of the work's creation as well as the cultural influences that may have led to the problematic writing being present. For instance, JK Rowling being openly against trans people in the present day does not change the problematic writing she engaged in at the time of her writing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2000 with the descriptions of house elves or potentially racist naming conventions. That said, examining the British culture around the perception of such inclusions during 2000 could present a deeper understanding of how cultural acceptance of this kind of problematic writing shifted to what it is in the present day.

The topic taker should do their best to answer the questions "How much does the intent of the author change after a problematic controversy, and how much of their intent may be partially based in problematic beliefs about society?" and "Does the controversy in the present day perhaps recontextualize and potentially change the meaning of what the author originally intended at the time of creation?" The examples above provide a bit of a starting point for authors that can be examined for the topic, if they wish to use them, though, given the very graphic not safe for work nature of the accusations levelled against Neil Gaiman, it may be best to use discretion if his work is examined, bearing in mind that the accusations are alleged at this point.

Writing is a cognitive process that is influenced by the language a writer uses. For example, a writer taking part in the writing process through English may experience a different kind of writing process when writing in Japanese. The word choice or precision may vary, and the writer may have to figure out different strategies to engage with their writing process.

For this topic, the topic taker should consider some of these similarities and differences in writing processes through a cross-cultural lens. What cultural aspects of a language could influence the way that a person approaches their tone or how they convey their writing process? Is there a middle ground among cultures when it comes to partaking in the cognitive task of the writing process? For example, would Western authors have similar writing processes to each other more so than non-Western writers, or would Western and non-Western writers have more in common with their creative writing process? How might word choice influence the writer's process, particularly if the language is more limited in how descriptive it is? Finally, how would different cultural mythologies or other stories influence a writer in their process?

Links to get started:

Effective Strategies for writing in an L1 and an L2: (link) main aim of this,across languages and text types.

How words shape thoughts and emotions: (link) and other fields of,favour one decision or another.

How Culture Shapes Creativity: (link) is believed to indirectly,same creative process across cultures.

Non-human antagonists enrich storytelling by pushing the boundaries of imagination and challenging both characters and audiences to confront fears and truths beyond the human realm.

Interpret how earthquakes have been used as non-human antagonists in the movie 'San Andreas'

It turns out that a “Matilda cake” is an actual item on menus around the world. The Internet is full of recipes to recreate the decadent cake from the Danny DeVito movie (1996). There are also recipes to recreate the Cuban Pork Sandwich from “Chef” (2014) and hundreds of other meals. These are not anomalies. People love to recreate meals from movies in order to “feel” an experience. An analytical article about this phenomenon could explore not only the reasons behind it, but also the ways fiction shapes reality. The article could also evaluate the capitalistic tendencies to profit from these cravings.

Tragedy in cinema is a large genre (Forrest Gump, Marriage Story, Steel Magnolias, etc.) but why are we drawn to movies that make us cry? Is there a similarity to listening to sad music? Maybe a big, cathartic cry is just what's needed to make it through a tough week. But does tragedy in cinema help us to express our emotions or make us feel worse?

Discuss how tragedy relates to the ideas of romanticism, and why these themes are still prevalent in today's blockbusters.