Once you have chosen a topic, narrow it to make it manageable within the required length of your essay. For example, if you are assigned a two- to four-page essay, a broad topic such as divorce is too large. However, you might write about one specific cause of divorce or its effects on children. Skipping this step is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. You can waste a great deal of time working on an essay only to discover later that the topic is too broad.

To narrow a topic, limit it to a specific part or aspect. Two techniques — branching and questioning — will help you. The idea-generating techniques covered later in the chapter may also be used to narrow a broad topic.

Start by writing your broad topic at the far left side of your paper or computer screen. Then subdivide the topic into three or more subcategories or aspects. Here is an example for the broad topic of wild-game hunting.

Then choose one subcategory and subdivide it further, as shown here.

Continue narrowing the topic in this way until you feel you have found one that is interesting, appropriate to your assignment, and manageable. The following example shows narrowed topics that would be workable for a two- to four-page essay on the effects of sport hunting on the environment.

Note: Did you notice that as the narrowing progressed, the topics changed from words and phrases to statements of ideas?

Once you begin planning, researching, and drafting your essay, you may need to narrow your topic even further.

Use questions that begin with who, what, where, when, why, and how to narrow your topic. Questioning will lead you to consider and focus your attention on specific aspects of the topic. Here is an example of questioning for the broad topic of divorce:

Sometimes you may need to ask additional questions to limit the topic sufficiently. The topic “emotional effects of divorce on children,” for example, is still too broad for an essay. Asking questions such as “What are the most common emotional effects?” and “How can divorcing parents prevent emotional problems in their children?” can lead to more specific topics.