Throw it fast to something or somewhere
The interrogative adjective in What topic is the scholar currently researching? is what. It is an adjective because it is modifying the noun topic. If there was not a noun in the sentence WHAT becomes an interrogative pronoun. For example
What is that? There is no noun to modify
anecdote
The text "1959: What is Apartheid?" is an essay. It is not a narrative story about Gordimer's time in Africa. The excerpt is a small story about an incident where whites and blacks quick to join sides. Anecdotes are small stories used to emphasize the author's point. This anecdote would be used to support the idea that the races were so divided they would defend someone of their own race without even considering what was truly right. Characterization is the way an author develops a character. Imagery is a detailed desription to paint a picture in the reader's mind. Symbolism is where a concrete noun represents an abstract idea.
An in depth study of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein would not be a short research paper. Ideally you would have to have a more specific research question/focus on one aspect of the novel. An in depth study is too broad.
An analysis of protagonists in Jane Austen's works once again would not be a short research paper, if it was limited to one or two of her books then yes but not all of them.
A comparison of Homers Illiad and Odyssey once again is too broad a topic and if you were to compare everything in both novels you would be looking at a rather lengthy research paper.
Moby D*ck is full of symbolism and if you could find a way to summarize effectively and succinctly the story and maybe just focus on the actual whale as the subject matter and what it represents in the book you could definitely make a good relatively short research paper out of it.
Alternatively would be an analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's narrative style in The Black Cat. The Black Cat is a short story and ideal for this type of research paper.
