The research paper should discuss one poem or two poems from any of the required readings from the course. The paper should be at least five pages long and should include at least two good secondary sources. The literary work, the poem, is the primary source. Secondary sources are essays, articles, or books written by scholars or literary critics about a particular literary work, or about several literary works, or about the author.

The following are possible topics for your research paper: 1) the theme of love in one or two poems; 2) the importance of nature in one or two poems; 3) the theme of struggle and suffering in one or two poems; 4) the theme of death in one or two poems; 5) the theme of time and mortality in one or two poems; 6) the theme of hope in one or two poems. For your research paper, you may analyze one poem or you may do a comparison/contrast between two poems. Another possible topic for your research paper is to discuss the autobiographical aspects of a poem (that is, in what ways a poem reflects events, feelings, or thoughts in the life of the poet).