Suggested Topics for Research
Prepare for the research paper by choosing a person who has contributed significantly
to society and positively impacted society. Please start selecting a topic now. The person
chosen for the topic may be of national or international stature. Start utilizing search
engines and other reference sources that may give enough information to help you make an
intelligent choice. Choose from the list below.
Before going to the media center, each student must develop a thesis statement; thus' the
need to find some information on a tentative topic. (See back of this sheet for examples of
thesis statements.) Approximately two weeks before going to the media center to begin
research, the class will receive instruction on MLA (Modern Language Association)
format. Classes will go to the media center on Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29,
2011. We will go to Computer Lab 601 on Monday, May 2 and Tuesday, May 3. Topics are
due on Monday, April 25 and thesis statements are due at the start of class on Tuesday,
April 26, 2011. Thesis statement counts as a quiz grade.
Susan B. Anthony
Lech Walesa
Jane Addams
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Helen Caldicott
Alfred Nobel
Michail Gorbachev
Mahatmas Gandhi
Mother Teresa
Jesse Jackson
Chief Seattle
Dr. Maria Montessori
Rosa Parks
Ella Baker
Albert Schweitzer
Charles Yeager
Christopher Columbus
Madeleine Albright
Marian Anderson
Alexander Graham Bell
Elizabeth Blackwell
Bessie Coleman
Charles Darwin
Thomas Edison
Albert Einstein
Althea Gibson
Lorraine Hansberry
Helen Keller
Charles Lindberg
Continued on the back
Andrei Sakharov
Linus Pauling
Cesar Chavez
Eleanor Roosevelt
Jimmy Carter
Emma Goldman
Medgar Evers
Dalai Lama
Dorothy Day
Rachel Carson
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Thich Nhat Hanh
Benazir Bhutto
Bono
John Glenn
Guglielmo Marconi
Mozart
Isaac Newton
Sandra Day O’Connor
Thurgood Marshall
Jesse Owens
Jackie Robinson
Arthur Ashe
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Wilma Rudolph
The Wright Brothers
Leo Tolstoy
Nelson Mandela
Margaret Thatcher
Dr. Jane Goodall
Ameila Earhart
Sean Combs
Michael Eisner
Oprah Winfrey
Walt Disney
Clara Barton
Winston Churchill
Marie Curie
Langston Hughes
Margaret Thatcher
Corazon Aquino
Jenny Shipley
Ariel Sharon
Indira Gandhi
Neil Armstrong
Sally Ride
Arnold Palmer
Muhamed Ali
Roberto Clemente
Wilma Mankiller
Malcolm X
Barbara Jordan
Rocky Marciano
General George Patton
Louis Pasteur
Ronald Reagan
Booker T. Washington
Sigmund Freud
Benjamin Franklin
John F. Kennedy
Edward Rickenbacker
General Douglas McArthur
Ralph Bunche
Dwight Eisenhower
Theodore Roosevelt
Ideas for Thesis Statements for Research Papers
1. _____________________ influenced and had a major impact on society through
his/her __________________, ____________________, and ______________.
2. __________________ affected society in a positive manner because of his/her
contributions in ________________, __________________, and
____________________.
3. The world is a better place because of ______________________’s
accomplishments in _________________, _______________, and
_____________ .
4. __________________ made a difference in the world because of his /her efforts
in ________________, ________________, and _____________.
5. __________________ contributed greatly to the world because of his/her
______________, ________________, and ________________.
6. Society benefits greatly because of ______________’s endeavors in
______________, __________, and _____________.
7. __________________ impacted society significantly because of his/her
accomplishments in ____________________.
Continued on the back