Dwight Haynes brainstormed in response to the questions above about a subject he was considering for his evaluative essay: binge drinking among college students. As he asked and answered questions, two promising focuses emerged: the costs and benefits that college students associate with drinking and the effectiveness of different approaches to reducing drinking on college campuses.

After reviewing the results of his brainstorming, Dwight decided that it would be difficult to evaluate the costs and benefits of drinking. Instead, he chose to focus on the effectiveness of approaches to reducing drinking on campus.