Choose a concept to write about.

Come up with a list of possible concepts you might write about. For the best results, your concept should be one that

• you understand well or feel eager to learn more about;
• you think is important and will interest your readers;
• you can research sufficiently in the allotted time;
• you can explain clearly in the length prescribed by your instructor.

• Literature and cultural studies: irony, semiotics, dystopia, canon, postmodernism, realism, genre, connotation
• Psychology and sociology: assimilation/accommodation, social cognition, emotional intelligence, the Stroop effect, trauma, theory of mind, deviance, ethnocentrism, social stratification, acculturation, cultural relativism, patriarchy
• Biology, nursing, and the physical sciences: morphogenesis, electron transport, phagocytosis, homozygosity, diffusion, mass, energy, gravity, entropy, communicable diseases, epidemiology, toxicology, holistic medicine, pathogen

• Identity and community: multiculturalism, racism, social contract, community policing, social Darwinism, identity politics, public space
• Environment: fracking, toxic waste, endangered species, sustainability

• Work: private and public sector, minimum wage, affirmative action, glass ceiling, downsizing, collective bargaining, robotics
• Management and finance: risk management, leveraged buyout, deregulation, branding, economy of scale, monopoly capitalism, socially conscious investing