Mission: Impossible! Topic selection Adapted from Arnaudet, M.L. & Barrett, M.E. (1984). Approaches to Academic Reading & Writing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Adapted from Mica Swyers Adapted from: Nyssa Bulkes

Your Mission: Brainstorm a list of 5 focused research-paper topics Select, limit, and propose a topic for your final research paper Generate appropriate questions to guide your research

Rules of Engagement ESL 501 paper is for general audience. Provide the reader with background information about the topic Explain key terms. Make sure it doesn’t require in-depth knowledge of topic pages.

Pick a General Subject Area If not specified, your subject can be almost anything! Not specifying your subject can make writing a comprehensive paper in 8-12 pages nearly an impossible task.

Preliminary Research Conduct preliminary research to familiarize yourself with the subject before choosing a specific aspect on which to focus. What’s the current state of the research? What has already been answered about your topic? What questions still remain about your topic?

Really? Anything? Some topics to avoid: Very new, extremely current theories may lack sufficient information of your paper. Controversial subjects: It may be difficult to find objective sources and to separate opinion from fact.

Pick something that interests you. If you aren’t interested in the topic, why should your reader be? Selecting a topic that interests you will motivate you to be as comprehensive and diligent as possible in researching.

Focus the topic A topic that is too broad is uninteresting. Consider length, purpose, and audience of the paper. Is your topic: – Too Broad? – Too familiar/obvious? – Too subjective? – Too Technical?

Focus the topic, cont’d. Restrict the scope of the subject. Be specific! Good questions for limiting the subject: Place? (The US, China, New York City, etc) Type: (In a certain field? Professional vs. Non- professional?) Time? (Current? Within the last decade? In the 18 th century?) Aspect?:(Origins? Causes? Consequences?)

Example: Subject: Leadership Place: …in the United States Type: in the business community Time: over the last decade Aspect: …factors determining effective leaders. …Aha! A topic! A great start to your thesis statement!

Pick FIVE of the following general subjects. For each subject, write THREE narrowed paper topics. – Clichés – TV violence – Music – Ethnic identity – Daydreaming – Valentine’s Day – The Internet – Self-improvement – Cost of Textbooks – Humor

Exercise: Narrow the topic Write a list of 5 potential research topics For each, what’s the question you’d like to answer? Narrow each of the 5 topics down to a specific facet of that area you’d like to look into. Be specific!

Generate research questions What’s my thesis statement? – Generate a tentative thesis statement. Revise it as your continue your research. You should be able to write an arguable thesis when you select a topic. If you can’t, you need to keep thinking. How will I support my thesis statement? – Does the information I find support my thesis statement? How can I revise it? Is the information available? – What are possible sub-topics that this information will develop in my paper? What are 2-3 sub-areas of your topic to focus on in the paper? How will these fit into the meaningful organization of my paper?

Research questions Don’t forget the journalist’s questions! Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Conclusion Brainstorm list of 5 research topics that interest you. Be specific! What aspects of those topics will you focus on? Pick the topic that most interests you Write a tentative thesis statement for your topic