After exploring ideas, you may have found a topic that interests you and would also be interesting to your audience. The topic, however, may be too large to be manageable. If this is the case, narrow your topic to focus on a more workable idea. You might consider your personal connections to the topic and why it interests you, or think about the most controversial or intriguing aspects of the topic. (For help crafting a thesis from your narrowed topic, see 3c.)

Emily Lesk’s work on narrowing her topic

Emily Lesk planned to discuss how advertising affects American identity, but she knew that her topic was far too broad. She began to think about possible types of advertising and then about products that are pitched as particularly “American” in their advertising. When she got stuck, she posted a Facebook status update asking her friends to “name products that seem super-American.” She quickly got seventeen responses with answers ranging from Hummer and Winchester rifles to “soft toilet paper,” Spam, Wheaties, and maple syrup. One friend identified Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, two products that Emily associated with many memorable and well-documented advertising campaigns.