Finding a topic
Narrowing a general subject into a
scholarly topic
• Examine one narrowed issue, not a broad
subject
• Address knowledgeable readers and carry
them to another plateau of knowledge
• Have a serious purpose—one that demands
analysis of the issues, argues from a position,
and explains complex details
• Meet the expectations of the instructor and
conform to the course requirements
Relating your personal ideas to a
scholarly problem
• Connecting personal experience to scholarly
topics
• Speculating about your subject to discover
ideas and to focus on the issues, for example,
free writing, listing keywords, arranging
keywords into a preliminary outline,
narrowing by comparison, asking questions,
Talking with others to refine the topic
• Personal interviews (instructors, potential
advisors, classmates, listening to the concerns
of others)
• Online discussion groups
Using online searches to refine your
topic
• Using an online subject directory
• Using an Internet keyword search
• Using the library’s electronic databases to find
an narrow a topic
Using the library’s electronic book
catalog to find a topic
Developing a thesis statement,
enthymeme, or hypothesis
• Statement:
• Chat room and online mating services enable
people to meet only after a prearranged
engagement by e-mail.
• Hamlet’s character is shaped, in part, by
Shakespeare’s manipulation of the stage
setting for Hamlet’s soliloquies.
• Enthymeme:
• Hyperactive children need medication
because ADHD is a medical disorder, not a
behavioral problem.
• Because people are dying all around the globe
from water shortages, the countries with an
abundance of water have an ethical obligation
to share it.
• Hypothesis: proposing a theory or suggests an
explanation for something.
• Discrimination against young women in the
classroom, known as “shortchanging,” harms
the women academically, socially, and
psychologically.
• Class size affects the number of written
assignments by writing instructors.
Drafting a research proposal
• The specific topic
• The purpose of this paper (explain, analyze, or
argue)
• The intended audience
• Your voice as the writer (informer, advocate)
• The preliminary thesis statement or opening
hypothesis