Your @u.northwestern.edu username and password will only work with the services that have been deployed within the Northwestern domain. To access other Google services, you will need to apply for a "non University" account through Google. More.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.