Planning for Your Essay Topic Selection and Analysis

Topic Selection and Analysis Identify your general topic: precisely, concisely, clearly understand what you want your reader to know or to believe or to learn from or to feel from or whatever after reading your essay determine what your reader needs or wants to know or believe or learn, or at least what you can surmise that your reader wants to get from reading your essay limit the purpose to what can be accomplished in the space allotted to your essay Helps recognize divisions of topic Helps determine whether or not you need to research your topic and focus the research itself

Consider what these students from Yavapai College, a community college located in Yavapai County, Arizona (Prescott, AZ), offer as advice about selecting the topic for an essay.

Topic Selection and Analysis Most of the students in the video clip spoke about selecting a topic in which each had an interest or about which each had a curiosity. It was also clear that each student did not know all she or he needed to know, so there was an element of “research” required. The task of doing the research led to asking this series of questions: Who? What ? Why ? When ? Where ? How? and So?

But before a writer can fully develop the plan for research, much less for writing, the topic must be narrowed to a manageable “size” and scope. A possible topic might be The December, 2012 massacre of 20 young children and six educators in Newtown, CT.

Among the many questions related to this topic might be The December, 2012 massacre of 20 young children and six educators in Newtown, CT. Among the many questions related to this topic might be From where did Adam Lanza get the three semi-automatic weapons he had with him? Did Adam Lanza have a reputation as a troubled youth? Had he ever been “treated” for any emotional issues? If we consider some of the questions noted above, what might be the responses? Let’s ask those key questions which can guide our research.

Who? Adam Lanza, 20 year old Newtown resident, who lived with his mother in her home What ? Massacred 26 innocent persons (20 children aged 6 and 7 and 6 adult teachers and/or administrators); he also presumably murdered his mother earlier in the day Why ? No one knows for certain why he did it When ? December 15, 2012 Where ? Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT How? With an arsenal of automatic fire guns, including two 9mm hand guns (a Glock and a Sig Sauer) and an AR-15-Bushmaster rifle, all equipped with extra-load magazines in excess of the standard 10-12. So? That is what next needs to be answered, by narrowing the topic.

So? Editorial and opinion pieces, talk radio, news shows, debates, blogs, and so on suggest that there are multiple issues related to this topic. There are several Congressional proposals being prepared for January, 2013. Regulate gun show sales, create more stringent background checks, ban semi- automatic guns, regulate the size of magazines, and liability insurance for gun owners are among the “proposals.” Pres. Obama has created a special Task Force on the issue. The NRA condemns efforts to deprive citizens their 2nd Amendment rights with “unnecessary gun control” approaches. The NRA suggests armed guards in all schools to protect the children. This Is a mental health issue more than a gun control issue, argue many. There are those who “blame” violent video games and movies and television programming.

Topic Selection and Analysis Brainstorming Record any and all ideas that come to mind Think ‘out of the box’ – sentences, phrases, words Generate as many ideas as possible Underline, circle, box, gradually prioritize

Clustering Branch out related ideas Sick people Need time to study Need time for family Old people Poor people Takes too much time Need time to work Help the community Part of getting an education Branch out related ideas College should be for getting an education Need $ Need experience Personal Development Community service for college students Bad idea Good idea As you work from the center out, you will become more specific and focused Learn about different people Too Depressing Ideas for Careers Nursing Poor people Teaching Sick people Write your topic in the center of the page Old people Religion Help people of the world Social Work Use circles and lines to identify and link each new idea and its related issues Clustering

And now that we have Identified a general topic with some degree of precision, concisely and clearly, we can move forward with the preparation of your essay. Next: The Thesis Statement and then Organizing and Outlining

Planning for Your Essay Finis Topic Selection and Analysis