My Research Paper Topic

My Research Paper TopicMy children were disappointed when I did not give them the homework assignment for their research paper on Pinocchio. They told me they were bored with the story and asked if I could write about it in a different way. The idea of writing about a cartoon character in a modern science fiction setting appealed to me.In their story they asked me to explore the theme of being both human and in touch with the emotions of the imagination through a story about a boy who dreamed he was a real boy but was afraid of the way he looked. The title of the story, 'Pinocchio' comes from the word for 'child' as in 'child hood' and the use of the English word 'Pinocchio' means 'to be of an age that is above the usual age'. This theme fits well with my research paper topic.Pinocchio, like the adults who wished to be like him, could see more than he could see, hear, or touch, yet he could not feel. His childhood memories are hidden from him, his experiences were never fully explore d, and his feelings for the world and others were unspoken.For some people the battle between childhood and adult natures is very hard to manage. As we grow older, our childhoods fade away and we forget what it was like to be so young. My children and I shared the same frustration when our stories became too complex, too complicated, or when we had to create characters with complicated emotional lives.I could have used the kids research paper project to create a story about a boy who was scarred by a nightmare while on vacation and started believing that he was someone else. This is an idea I can relate to because my first memory is of being an 8-year-old in a dream. I used the memory of Pinocchio to think about the ways that an adult can become someone else, of how a child can remember what it was like to be a child. Children will always remember their childhood and they will always be able to relate to a situation as a child experienced it.My research paper assignment also called for exploring the impact of changing one's sexual orientation. In their story, the adult became a man and the boy remained a boy. With the help of their sister, they created an adult man and a boy who fell in love.In teaching my own children, I found a variety of ways to make stories about Pinocchio appealing to children. In each case, I had to make the character more real. My goal was to create a more complex story with more depth than a book on 'Bubble Bobble'.