For background reading, the most helpful option would be to research Option A: reading the various theories for why doughnuts are called "doughnuts."
Explanation:
The history of the doughnut is contested because many cultures have a food that involves a practice of frying some version of sweetened dough as a dessert or a snack. For example, in Spain (and many Latin American countries) there is the churro, and the tradition of making sufganiyot goes back centuries in the Mizrahi Jewish culture. With the focus on doughnuts from the start you would gain some valuable background information to start researching your paper. Many doughnut aficionados believe the American doughnut was adapted from Dutch immigrants in New York who made their traditional oliebollen.
