A book on the human experience…

I have an exam where we pick a text and then have to relate it to questions about the human experience exploring things like: whether it is individual or collective; human behavior and motivations; how it challenges assumptions and ignites thought; the power of storytelling; connecting it with personal context; the reflection of it's own context; the use of technique or form to achieve these things.

And I want something niche, really interesting, academic and can answer these but I can't figure one out.