"what Should I Write About" How to Select Your Topic

"What Should I Write About" How to Select Youror the complex politics of the Balkans in the
Topicmid-1990s.Â
ÂÂ
At the beginning of this process, you may feel as ifIf your textbooks do not provide a topic of interest,
you have entered a strange territory without a map.investigate the reference section of any bookstore or
You need guanidine for choosing your topic if youlibrary. You are likely to find books that list hundred of
must select your own or for narrowing a general topicterm paper or report topic under all subject
assigned to you. This section shows you how to getareas-history, literature, art social science, political
ideas for topics and what subjects are best to avoid.science, and psychology. One of these topics may
Âappeal to you.
Three Criteria for a TopicÂ
ÂTeachers and librarians are also good sources for
Whether you write a literary, argumentative, position, orideas. They can help you to pinpoint an area of interest
description paper, the subject you select must meetor can suggest topics that you haven't considered. It is
three important criteria.a good idea to get to know your reference librarian,
Âand this can be one way to introduce you. Good
- The topic should interest you.reference librarians are invaluable guides through the
- It should be written your abilities.maze of research and reference sources. Their
- There should be enough information available on it toexpertise can save you hours of effort. Â
complete a paper.Â
ÂÂ
ÂIf none of these sources yields any result, you can fall
The first criterion is the most important. Somethingback on yourself or on your friend. Think about the
besides fear of failure has to sustain you through allmovies, magazine, books, or activities that interest you:
the hours it takes to research, write and revise ascience fiction, sports, the war on drugs, international
report of term paper. Make the paper a process ofrelations, music, the environment, psychic phenomena.
discovery for yourself, something you want to knowÂ
or say about a topic. That desire will help to see youWhat would you like to know about these topics?
through to the end of the project.What opinion do you have about them? Do you think
Âdrugs should be legalized? Do you feel that the
The second criterion is also essential. You may begovernment should do more or less to help protect the
interested in a topic, but not have the background ofenvironment? In your opinion, have science fiction
ability to handle it in a paper. Say, for example, you aremovies or TV series had any impact on shaping our
interested in the flights or voyagers 1 and 2. You wantcurrent world? Should professional athletes be allowed
to do a report on some of the computer programsto play in the Olympic Games? Are psychic
that send commands to the small spacecrafts. Thephenomena real or imaginary?
scientific journals are filled with complex diagrams andÂ
explanations, but you find none of it makes any senseOne of these four sources-textbooks, reference
to you. You have no background in computerbooks, teachers and librarians, your own or your friend'
programming and no ability to translate technicalinterest-will give you a general topic area for your
information into plain English.paper.
ÂÂ
You will either have to find a book or an article thatSubject Areas to Avoid
translates the material for you or find anotherÂ
topic-perhaps what voyager 2 revealed about thePart of the process of choosing a topic knows which
rings of Uranus or the surprises the spacecraftsubjects not to use. In your search for a topic, keep in
uncovered as it passed by the outer planets. Althoughmind these guidelines for subjects to avoid.
the topic about the computer programs fulfills two ofÂ
the three criteria-it interests you and there is plenty of·    Â
information-if it is beyond your abilities, you will not be  Subjects that is too recent. IfÂ
able to complete a paper successfully. a new law has just been passed, for example,
Finally, make sure enough information is readilythere will not be enough information about its impact to
available for you to develop your paper. For instance,serve as the subject of paper.
you may have heard about rock-and-roll bands·    Â
springing up in Tibet. The subject intrigues you, and you  Subjects that is too sensitive or
feel you have enough musical background to writecontroversial. Some issues, such as the firing of a
about it. But your preliminary research turns up only apopular principal or a recent racial incident in school, are
half-page article in a weekly news magazine.highly emotional and likely to provoke strong reaction
Obviously, you are not going to be able to build a ten-on all sides. It is often difficult to find objective
or fifteen- page report on one short article. A betterinformation to present a fair treatment of the topic.
topic may be the rise of rock bands in China and·    Â
Japan, a phenomenon covered in the U.S. and   Subjects that is hard to
international press. Âinvestigate. This can include subjects that are too
Ânarrow or specialized to have much information, too
Âtechnical for your own and the readers' background, or
Âfor which information is too difficult to acquire. For
Âexample, the information may be in specialized libraries
Âclosed to the public, in international institutions, or written
Âin a language you can not read.
Finding a General Area of Interest·    Â
Suppose your must choose the topic of a paper  Subject that are distasteful or
yourself. Although this task might seem somewhatuninteresting to you. You may be tempted to accept
overwhelming at first, it can be broken down intoany topic just to have something to write about.
manageable steps. The first step knows where to goHowever, material that is unappealing to you at the
for ideas about general of broad subject areas.beginning will tend to become more so as you would
There are several major sources for topic ideas;on it. If you dislike the subject of your paper, it's a good
textbooks; reference books that list term paper orbet your readers won't like the way you write about it.
report topics; teachers and librarians; your own or yourYour own distaste or boredom will come across in
friends' interests and experiences; and on-lineyour writing.
databases, Internet, and Web sites. If you must do aÂ
term paper for a history course, for example, skimRemember the three criteria mentioned previously as
through your history textbook to find a broad subjectyou search for a usable topic: It must interest you, it
area that interests you. Perhaps you find the Europeanmust be within your abilities, and there must be enough
voyages of discovery appealing. Or your interest mayinformation readily available on the topic to complete a
be piqued by the medical practices of the Middle Agepaper.