Original Critical Essay Topics Ideas

A critical essay is a type of academic paper that analyzes a piece of art or literature, cultural artifact, a movement, an event, etc. and interprets it based on the evidence from the object of investigation or other scholarly sources. “Critical” stands for critical thinking you apply for the deep analysis you perform, not for negativity. The essay usually focuses on themes, ideas, approaches used to explore them, and expressive means to convey them. In short, it examines how the original work handles the ideas it delves into.

A critical essay is a format that is often confusing for students, especially for college freshmen, even when instructors give a detailed prompt. However, an assignment as vague as “Pick a movie and write a critique on it” can render students completely at a loss. That is why we have hand-picked the best critical writing essay topics for this list. Before you pick your favorite and start writing, you may want to brush up your knowledge of how to write a critical essay.

Critical Essay Topic Ideas on Literature

1. The use of elision technique in Shakespeare’s Macbeth
2. Misogyny in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
3. The expressive use of landscape in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
4. Different moral codes in O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find
5. The role of the monster’s eloquence in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein
6. The role of modernity and technology in Walt Whitman’s poetry
7. Natasha’s character development in Tolstoy’s War and Peace
8. The narrator and the protagonist in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
9. A Tale of Two Cities as Dickens’ critique of English society
10. The use of colloquialism in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

Topics to Write a Critical Essay on Movies

1. Archetypes in James Cameron’s Titanic
2. The trope of high intelligence as a mental illness in movies
3. Stanley Kubrick adaptation decisions in 1971 Clockwork Orange
4. Visual storytelling in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
5. Pop sensibility in Buzz Luhrmann’s interpretation of The Great Gatsby
6. Intentional tedium in Sidney J. Furie espionage thriller Ipcress File
7. The balance between mass appeal and philosophy in the Wachowskis’ 1999 Matrix
8. The reimagining of movie monster trope in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water
9. The use of comedy in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
10. The use of tonal shifts in Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit

Find Your Topic for Critical Essay about Economics

1. Survivor’s bias in startup culture
2. International trade and sustainability
3. Use of protective tariffs in politics
4. Perspectives of cryptocurrency
5. Causes of the Great Recession
6. The effects of the student debt on the economy
7. The longrun effects of tax policies
8. The welfare state as a social dilemma
9. The effectiveness of unemployment solutions
10. The economic benefits of renewable energy

Critical Essay Topics about History

1. The foundations of society and economy in Roman Antiquity
2. The role of women in the French Revolution
3. The legacy of Enlightenment in US history
4. The consequences of Progressivism in the United States
5. The role of the generation gap in the emergence of the War Hawks
6. The Fort William Henry siege and its use in propaganda
7. The effect of the Compromise of 1877 on politics in the North and South
8. American Imperialism
9. Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy
10. The role of Italy in World War II

Good Topic for a Critical Essay about Environment

1. Urban environment and its impact on human health
2. The impact of genetically modified organisms on wildlife gene pools
3. The role of poaching activity in novel viruses’ transition to the human population
4. The level of efficiency in plastic recycling in the USA and globally
5. The effectiveness of animal sanctuaries for curbing anthropogenic influence on animal life
6. The controversy of unsustainable traditional practices
7. Solutions to global warming
8. Climate change and human biology
9. The burden of lead in modern cities
10. The solutions for safe and sustainable pest control

Topics for Critical Essay on Social Issues

1. The role of narrative in Critical Race Theory: strengths and weaknesses
2. The ethical dilemmas of affirmative action
3. Essentialism beliefs in transgender children
4. Race and ethnicity in TV shows
5. Raciolinguistics: race through the lens of language
6. Child marriages in the USA
7. The problems of the working poor
8. What can be learned from LGBTQ affirming religious groups
9. Challenges faced by the stayat-home fathers
10. The perspectives of accessible health care in America

Critique Essay Topics on Culture

1. The optimism of LinManuel Miranda's musical Hamilton
2. Psychedelics in Orson Welles’s 1973 adaptation of Plato’s “allegory of the cave”
3. The exploitation of racial ambiguity in pop culture
4. Misogynistic tendencies in R&B music
5. Gender stereotyping of female superheroes in comic books and movies
6. The transformative potential of Afrofuturism
7. Child beauty pageants and their influence on selfesteem
8. Fashion esthetics as successors of subcultures
9. Cultural appreciation and appropriation in a multicultural society
10. Dance and body positivity in modern culture

Need More Critical Essays Topics?

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