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Tips for Finding a Topic
To find a topic to write about you may want to:
- Think about what you already know about the topic.
- Ask yourself what you don't know, or what would you like to know.
- Look at your course readings or textbook for broad ideas.
- Read newspapers and magazines to see if anything interests you.
- Browse databases, such as CQ Researcher, for controversial issues and current events.
- Brainstorm and discuss potential topics with a librarian, professor or friend.
- Stay flexible: you may change your topic several times while going through the research process.
- Choose a topic that interests you: this will make the research process much more fun.
- Think about your topic as a question and your thesis (statement) as the answer.
- Be open to discovering new ideas as you research.
Tips for Narrowing a Topic
When you have a topic but now you need to NARROW it:
- Ask yourself the following questions about your topic:
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- The answers to the above questions can guide you into a more specific subtopic that could be easier to write about.
- Do a search for your general topic, then peruse the range and variety of document titles to see what each item is actually focused on.
- Run a general topic search but focus on books, then look at their chapter titles
