If your instructor assigns a general topic, it may at first seem uninteresting, unfamiliar, or too general. It is up to you to find a good, specific topic based on the general one. Whether the topic is your own or assigned, you next need to narrow and explore it. To narrow a general topic, focus on the smaller parts of it until you find one that is interesting and specific.
Here are some ways to narrow a general topic.
DIVIDE IT INTO SMALLER CATEGORIES
| GENERAL TOPIC | A personal goal |
| Lose weight | |
| Get a degree | |
| Make more money |
THINK OF SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM YOUR LIFE
| GENERAL TOPIC | Social media |
| Twitter (which feeds do I follow regularly? what do I get from them?) | |
| Facebook (what features are fun or useful? what feels like a waste of time?) | |
| Google+ (is it just another Facebook, or is it truly different?) |
THINK OF SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM CURRENT EVENTS
| GENERAL TOPIC | Heroism |
| The guy who pulled a stranger from a burning car | |
| The people who stopped a robbery downtown |
QUESTION YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
Questioning assumptions — an important part of critical thinking (see “Critical Thinking” in Chapter 1) — can be a good way to narrow a topic. First, identify any assumptions you have about your topic. Then, question them, playing “devil’s advocate”; in other words, imagine what someone with a different point of view might say.
| GENERAL TOPIC: | Video Games |
| POSSIBLE ASSUMPTIONS | QUESTIONS |
|---|---|
| Video game pros: | |
|
Does staying focused on a video game mean that a kid will stay focused on homework or in class? |
|
Like what? How am I defining some “useful”? |
| Video game cons: | |
|
Is there really any proof for that? What do experts say? |
|
Didn’t my niece say that some video game helped her learn to read? |
Next, ask yourself what assumptions and questions interest you the most. Then, focus on those interests.
When you have found a promising topic for a paragraph or essay, be sure to test it by using the Questions for Finding a Good Topic (see “Finding, Narrowing, and Exploring Your Topic”). You may need to narrow and test your ideas several times before you find a topic that will work for the assignment.
A topic for an essay can be a little broader than one for a paragraph because essays are longer than paragraphs and allow you to develop more ideas. But be careful: Most of the extra length in an essay should come from developing ideas in more depth (giving more examples and details, explaining what you mean), not from covering a broader topic.
Read the following examples of how a general topic was narrowed to a more specific topic for an essay and an even more specific topic for a paragraph.
| GENERAL TOPIC | NARROWED ESSAY TOPIC | NARROWED PARAGRAPH TOPIC |
|---|---|---|
| Internships | How internships can help you get a job | One or two important things you can learn from an internship |
| Public service opportunities | Volunteering at a homeless shelter | My first impression of the homeless shelter |