The research topics that I have selected to be in in my final two are, Is New York City graffiti still booming like it was in the 70’s? and How did the Italian mafia impact the U.S. government? The reasons why I have selected these two topics is because one I find these topics to be quite interesting and two because both these topics had such an impact on this country that some people don’t even realize it. Now, I do know quite a bit on the history of graffiti but not in its entirety, I have a lot of questions for this topic but my main three are what do graffiti writers want others to see from their art pieces, how has graffiti changed over the past 20 years, and lastly has graffiti ever created positive opportunities for a writer? As for my topic on the Italian mafia, I don’t know as much information. But, I do however, know that Italian mafia families were well deep into organized crimes, being involved with crimes such as prostitution, drug dealing, money laundering, extortion and many more. A couple of questions I would like answers for are, is the Italian mafia still in existence, has the mob ever done something positive for the U.S., and does the mob still have ties to the American government?
I believe I can find my data regarding graffiti, maybe in some books that the library offers but I can also gain information from actual graffiti writers that I personally know. Gathering information on the mafia I think my best bet would be online sources, books from a library and if I’m lucky talking to someone who has connections to the mob. One last source that can be used are official documentaries that different networks or movie companies created.
These are both interesting topics, Damian! Of the questions you have about the topic of graffiti, I think the second will be the most manageable to research (how has graffiti changed) and depending on what scholarship you can find, you might want to consider a wider time frame (the last 30 years? 40?) and focusing on a specific city or region.
Your questions about the mafia are broad and will be difficult to answer in the space of this research paper. I think you’ll benefit from skimming and reading the existing scholarship to see what kinds of debates are out there, to find a research question for your own paper.
By the way: Have you seen the Netflix series, The Get Down? It’s a fictional series about the Bronx in the 1970s that focuses on music (disco and the birth of hip hop), but one storyline follows a couple of graffiti artists at the time.