Mansfield Library Subject Guides
printable pdf version
Successful Researching and Writing:
Choosing a Topic
- Use freeform writing to discover different topics. Often
brainstorming, webbing, clustering and other forms of freewriting
can provide new ideas that wouldn’t have developed in more censured
writing methods. Check Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab
for some tips on different types of freeform writing at: Research
Papers: Invention Techniques
- Browse current newspapers, magazines and journals for timely
topics. Perusing can also give you an idea of the availability of
resources on particular topics.
- Search the web to find topic idea searches on credible websites.
Look for websites hosted by universities and colleges and their libraries.
For example: Old Dominion University’s Idea Generator
- Entertain yourself by choosing a topic that you are interested
in learning about. You will not only feel more comfortable studying
your topic, but writing your paper should be somewhat less of a drudgery.
- Entertain others by finding a way to intrigue and pull readers
into your paper. Your reader should know that your paper is worth
her or his time.
- Be realistic by choosing something manageable. Don’t
make your topic too broad (The Fall of the Roman Empire in 5 pages)
or narrow ( ) for the length of the paper. When you begin researching
for your paper, if you are overwhelmed with or desperate for resources,
you will know whether you need to narrow or broaden you topic.
Further help: How to Narrow or Broaden your Topic from UCLA college library
Refining a Topic from Duke Libraries
- Follow directions by making sure you understand your assignment. Your topic should fit any pre-set subject areas either implied by the class (European Literature) or specified in the assignment (Modern Russian fiction). Your topic should also fit the purpose of the paper (whether it is to inform, describe, persuade, etc.).
Further help:
Topic
from Purdue University’s Online Writing Center
Choosing
and Narrowing a Topic from Iowa State University
Back to Successful Researching and Writing
8 July 2004