At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
- Identify their audience and assignment requirements in order to choose an appropriate topic
- Use brainstorming, lists, or personal experiences to find topics
- Refer to course materials or reference books to learn more about a topic
- Broaden a topic that is too specific
- Narrow a topic that is too general
In college, students are given topics for writing and research assignments, while at other times they will have to choose their own. Choosing a topic is an important first step because it provides focus to any writing or research assignment.
How to Choose A Topic
- Consider your audience, purpose, and requirements of your writing assignment.
Doing this allows you to choose a topic that is appropriate for your assignment and audience. Identify your audience, or who will be reading your paper. Think about your purpose of your assignment; do you need to compare and contrast, inform, or persuade?
In addition, review the requirements of your assignment. How many pages does it need to be? When is it due? How many sources are needed? Refer to your class notes or syllabus for this information, and ask your instructor if needed.
- Use your experiences.
If you are given a very broad topic, referring to your knowledge, experiences and interests may help you pick one with more focus. Think about any personal interest or skill that may have a connection with your assigned topic. Choosing something that interests or excites you can provide a very good start for your assignment.
- Explore your topic.
Sometimes you can choose a topic by brainstorming, making lists, or asking yourself questions about it. Mapping can also be helpul in exploring at topic (for more information on mapping, visit our Mapping tutorial). You may also try to explore your topic from different angles or perspectives, perhaps framing it like a debate where you can take a side. Try talking about topics with others; they may have good ideas or suggestions.
- Look at information in encyclopedias, almanacs, or materials from class.
If you feel stuck on choosing a topic or don't know a lot about it, look at class materials such as textbooks, notes, or discussions. Consult with encyclopedias, almanacs, or guides to a subject. Referring to these could also help with finding a topic that interests you.
Broad and Narrow Topics: How To Fix Them
Once you choose a topic, you should be ready to start your assignment. However, a good topic is one that is not too broad or too narrow.
- Broad Topics.
Sometimes a topic is too general and does not focus on anything specific. When you try to find information on a broad topic, you might find too many books, articles, or other sources of information! When this happens, look at "subdivisions" or smaller areas within a broad topic.
- Narrow Topics.
Topics can be narrow if they are too specific. Often there is very little, if any, information available about them. When this happens, broaden your topic by using less-specific words and descriptions. You might also want to make a list of synonyms, or words similiar in meaning to your topic.
How to Choose A Topic
Consider your audience, purpose, and requirements of your writing assignment
Example:
Kelly's assignment is to write a paper where she has to compare the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, with the movie. Her paper must be 3 to 5 pages long and is due on October 15. The paper also needs to be written in Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Identify her audience, the purpose of this paper, and its requirements.
Example:Tom has to write a paper on a battle of the Civil War. He recalled his recent trip to Vicksburg, Mississippi where he got to tour its battlegrounds. He chose to write about the Battle of Vicksburg because of the interest he had from that visit.
Example:Jen has to write a paper about social development in adolescents. She decided to make a grocery list of possible topics and included some discussed by her professor in class:
By making this list, Jen remembered her interest in school sports and after-school activities, so she decided focus her paper on extracurricular activities and adolescents.
Look at information in encyclopedias, almanacs, or materials from class.
Example: Marcus has been assigned to write a paper on a lung disease. He wasn't familiar with lung diseases, so he looked in a health encyclopedia called Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior to find one. He read a section about emphysema, so after reading he thought it would be a good topic for his paper.
Broad and Narrow Topics: How to Fix Them
Example:Terry has to do a project on water pollution for his Environmental Science course. After finding hundreds of books and articles on the topic, "water pollution," he decided to look at other areas within that broad topic:
Terry explored subdivisions in the broad topic of water pollution. He chose water pollution and its effects on fish for his project.
Narrow Topics.
Example:Misty chose the topic, "Anorexia in 16-year old boys", for an annotated bibliography but was not able to find any articles. She then listed broader words with similar meanings to the main ideas in her topic:
By using words with broader meanings, Misty was able to change her narrow topic to "Eating Disorders in Adolescent Males". She was able to find articles for her annotated bibliography.
Now it’s time to test what you’ve learned. Click here to test your knowledge. Be sure to print out your score or e-mail it to yourself or your instructor as proof that you have completed this tutorial.
Hodge, John C., et al. (1990). Harbrace College Handbook, 11th Ed.. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Troyka, Lynn Quitman (1993). Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, 3rd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kristy Padron
kpadron@uwf.edu
September 20, 2005