Possible Term Paper Topics

The first theme I would like to discuss is the benefits and consequences of Classic people and Romantic people. Throughout the part of the book when the Sutherlands are still a part of the trip, we can clearly see the juxtaposition of these two types of people and later, the idea of these two types of people is discussed at length. I think it will be interesting to discuss the good and bad of each type of person and possibly explore a new type of person created by balancing the two extremes.

The next theme that I believe would be interesting is discussing the importance of having and maintaining peace of mind. The narrator discusses this importance when he explains the gumption traps. Like the narrator I believe that having peace of mind will lead to high quality relationships with people and technology alike. This essay would go into depth discussing the extreme need for tranquility. It would focus of the narrator's nervous breakdown and the life of phaedrus before the breakdown.

Going on the idea of technology, it is important to mention that the acceptance or rejection of technology would also be a good theme for an essay. This theme would involve discussion of people like the Sutherlands who reject technology or people like the narrator who accept it and decide that they will control it to avoid letting it control them. Moreover I would talk about the speed and force with which technology is penetrating our lives and the importance of keeping up with the times to avoid being getting caught underwater so to speak.

The last theme is more prevalent towards the end of the book and this is the importance of having passion in life. This essay would discuss both the narrators love for motorcycles and the way this passion allows him to maintain not only peace of mind but peace of spirit as well. It would also discuss Phaedrus' love of learning and use this love to explain his unique style of teaching and the elimination of grades from his classes to develop in his students a love of learning rather than a love of the immediate reward.