2. • You have a good topic if:
• You are able to find enough material
• You find it interesting
• Your topic is objective
• Your topic is limited, not too broad
Choosing a good topic
3. • Your topic is workable if you can find at least 5 reliable
resources
• If you a lot more than 5 resources, your topic may be too
broad
Finding enough material
4. • You should find your topic interesting.
• You should also find a topic that will be interesting to
others!
You are interested in it
5. • Objective-not biased or based on judgments. Subjective
topics are based on opinions and judgments.
• Here are some examples of objective and subjective
topics:
• Subj: my uncle’s car accident
• Obj: evidence for and against side airbags
• Subj: my voting experiences
• Obj: the evolution of voting rights in the U.S.
Your topic is objective
6. • Your topic should be focused…too broad a topic will be
hard to write about due to too much to cover and too
much info.
• For example it would be impossible to choose the history
of China because you would be writing for hundreds of
pages. A better choice might be the causes of the
Communist takeover in China or the building of the great
wall.
My topic is limited
7. Fire Ant What
Too Just Too
Broad Ants right invasion Narrow fire ants
of U.S. look like
Limiting your topic
8. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
1. A. The population of the United States
B. Information from the latest U.S. census
C. Some problems in collecting accurate census info
D. The number of Vietnamese people livning in San
Francisco
9. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
1. A. The population of the United States
B. Information from the latest U.S. census
C. Some problems in collecting accurate census info
D. The number of Vietnamese people livning in San
Francisco
A and D would just be numbers,
you can’t write a whole paper on
that. B would be way too broad!
10. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
A. Symbolism in Frost’s poem “Stopping by the
Woods on a Snowy Evening”
B. Robert Frost’s poetry
C. Symbolism in contemporary poetry
D. the origin of the word wall
11. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
A. Symbolism in Frost’s poem “Stopping by the
Woods on a Snowy Evening”
B. Robert Frost’s poetry
C. Symbolism in contemporary poetry
D. the origin of the word wall
B. Frost has written hundreds of poems, way
too much to analyze. C. You can’t cover all
contemporary poetry, too broad. D. This
would only take about a paragraph or two,
too narrow!
12. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
A. Harriet Tubman’s accomplishments on the
Underground Railroad
B. History of slavery in the Americas
C. Fugitive slave laws
D. Roots by Alex Haley---tracing the writer’s origins
back to Africa
13. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
A. Harriet Tubman’s accomplishments on the
Underground Railroad
B. History of slavery in the Americas
C. Fugitive slave laws
D. Roots by Alex Haley---tracing the writer’s origins
back to Africa
Both topics are good, D is a little vague.
14. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
A. Careers in medicine
B. Pros and cons of being a nurse in an ER
C. The history of medicine in Europe in the 20th Century
D. Medical research today
15. • Which topic is the most appropriate topic?
A. Careers in medicine
B. Pros and cons of being a nurse in an ER
C. The history of medicine in Europe in the 20th Century
D. Medical research today
A, C and D are all too broad. There are so
many medical careers and so much research
going on, your paper could be thousands of
pages. The history of medicine dates back to
the beginnings of history; way too much to
cover!
16. • Why are these topics inappropriate for a research paper?
How could we alter them to make them more
appropriate?
1) My favorite Mexican foods
2) Space exploration in 2050
3) Airport security
4) Native American art
5) Hurricanes
6) William Shakespeare's plays
17. • Why are these topics inappropriate for a research paper?
How could we alter them to make them more
appropriate?
1)My favorite Mexican foods not objective
2)Space exploration in 2050 no sources since it is future
3)Airport security too broad
4)Native American art too broad
5)Hurricanes too broad
6)William Shakespeare's plays too broad
