Which of the following elements is characteristic of a strong essay topic? a. it is a popular topic in class. b. there are only a few books on the topic. c. it allows for both general and focused research. d. there are many opinions on the topic available on the internet. e. it involves extensive research on the playwright's biography.

The correct answer should be C. It allows for both general and focused research.

Popularity of a topic is not relevant when writing an academic paper. The more books there are the better and internet opinions are usually not counted as actual resources because anyone can have an opinion on the internet. A playwright's biography can be helpful but is usually not important for the topic itself since literature is usually observed without taking the writer's personal life into account.