Depending on your topic, you may need to spend some time in the library with secondary sources OR you may have what you need in the course materials. In any case, some of the topics listed below may seem unfamiliar to you because we haven't covered the subject yet (although we will before the paper is due).
Also keep in mind that the work you do for this paper could overlap with your presentation. You can kill two birds with one stone by using the same topic--that's fine with me.
Possible Paper Topics:
1. What would Confucius think of Hosoi Heishu's sermons? Do they differ fundamentally from what we saw in the Analects?
2. What elements of Bushido are found in Confucianism? Which elements were added? What would Confucius think of the samurai?
3. Trace one of the six principles through Chinese and Japanese history and show its transformation.
4. What political motivations did Tokugawa period scholars have for interpreting Confucianism the way they did? Describe the underlying historical context and how it might have influenced people like Hosoi Heishu and Kaibara Ekken.
5. Why and when did National Learning scholars blend their ideas with Confucianism? Write a paper on the big figures in that history (such as Motoori Norinaga, Kamo Mabuchi, and Hirata Atsutane) and what they said about Confucian ideals.
7. How does Confucianism compare to the Western ethical systems you have studied so far? Why do they differ? What role do metaphysics play?