How should I approach an essay title that I find particularly challenging.

The first thing to remember with essay titles is that the question will most likely make a statement and ask you to what extent you agree or disagree with it. For example; "the ideals of freedom and opportunity are central to American Literature". If you find this question challenging the first thing to remmber is that you don't necessarily have to agree with the statement being made. Often, the best essays will be those that counter the statement made in the question. If you don't compleetly understand the theme of "freedom and opportunity", or believe that a different theme is central to American Literature/ you are much stronegr on a particular theme, you can angle your answer to enable you to demonstarte your understanding of the text. This is how you would perhaps phrase it:"Although much American literature explores freedom and opportunity within 'The Great Gatsby', it is Gatsby's lack of freedom as a result of his unattainable desires that Fitzgerald explores. In this way it can be argued that freedom and opportunity are not central to American literature." This would allow you to create an essay about a theme which you have more knwoledge about such as Hedonism rather than focusing on freedom and opportunity whilst still remaining relevant to the quetsion.