Enlightenment research paper?

What should I write about? I was thinking maybe writing about the roots of the Enlightenment. From the Renaissance to the Scientific Revolution, then branch out into the Age of Enlightenment. Also, the effects after wards.

Is this a good research paper? Or does anybody else have a better idea?
If you think this is a good research paper, please include some good rescources that wold help aid me in writing the paper. :D

Oh god don't do that. You'd literally be writing about the entire Enlightenment from start to finish. That's like 300 years of history.

I wrote the wikipedia article on Science in the Age of Enlightenment. Most of the sources are good for topics beyond the history of science. Start there (since the wiki article on the Age of Enlightenment is a joke).

There's a section in that article on English coffeehouses. Check the source for that and read the book, it's awesome. You could write a paper on what everyday people thought about the enlightenment/how it effected them with sources like that.

I'm begging you not to write a paper on Voltaire, Diderot, d'Alembert, etc. because they're atrocious to read/mark after you've read their entire body of work and have someone who has read one of their books acting like an expert.

If you demand to write about something popular, write about the salons. Mostly, read Dena Goodman's Republic of Letters and then bash the hell out of it. There are literally points where she cites pages in books that do not exist. This book was popular in the 90s. Yes, people actually thought this book was good.

Whatever you do, be more specific than "the Enlightenment." At the VERY LEAST, pick a country.

I think you would find it more interesting to comment about the reactions of non-enlightened people as they read the enlightenment ideas. How did the nobles really feel about Voltaire?

Or, what was the reaction to Mary Wollstonecraft's ideas about educating women?

How did Catherine the Great of Russia really feel about Denis Diderot? Why didn't she use more of his ideas in her government?

Might get you started..

Are you just writing a background paper, or do you need to prove something- have a thesis?