Age

I’m sure there is a lot of recent work on the confinements of the elderly to nursing homes, similarly the amount of literature produced by writers reminiscing a childhood where they were held as prisoners by their parents is astonishing. A famous example would be ‘a child called it’.

Gender

When discussing gender differences in you could explore the captivity of females in the home; I know that I once encountered a very interesting poem by an unmarried lady encouraging others not to marry for their husbands would enslave them.

Cultural

Cultural differences could explore the history of slavery; there are endless poems about slavery, for instance ‘Limbo’, that speaks of the transportation of black slaves to the West Indies an America.

Types of captivity

Also, there are varying types of captivity, for instance institutionalisation to assylums. A lady in a novel ‘yellow wallpaper’ was paranoid about the wallpaper and was confined to her room. I read an article called ‘Asylum’ which described the degrading and dehumanising process of sectioning those to be considered insane.

You could bring all the themes together by examining the changes in captivity and which ones occur now but didn’t previously. For instance, slavery is abolished now.

To cross-reference you could compare the way that captivity is presented, is the tone harsh or optimistic? Do the captives submit or rebel physically or mentally? What are the differing ways that people have approached this theme?

I feel that this topic would be the wisest choice as there are so many areas to explore and so many different angles to approach the topic from. This topic definitely gives you an excuse to show off your cross –referencing skills.

If you find the idea interesting, you’ll pay more attention, do better research and get a better grade.