1. Planning for Your Essay
Topic Selection and Analysis

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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
So? That is what next needs to be answered, by narrowing the topic.

8. 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.

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Planning for Your Essay Finis
Topic Selection and Analysis