Paper Topics and Opposing Viewpoints - Research Guides. ProCon.org - Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues. Debatabase: a world of great debates. Idea Generator. GCC Library's Contemporary Issues Databases (All Three Offer Issues/Topics Lists) Choosing a Topic. Choose a topic that interests you.Pick a topic that you can find enough information about.Use the topic to frame the structure of your paper. Teachers typically assign papers in two different ways: The teacher will give you one topic to write about.Or, they’ll give you a couple of options and have you choose one.
The topics will usually use trigger words like:Compare…the relative powers of the Ancient cultures of Rome and Egypt.Evaluate…the effectiveness of Napoleon’s military campaign.Describe…how Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is social and political commentary.Discuss…how Henry Ford’s innovations in the automotive industry revolutionized manufacturing. The key words–in these examples, compare, evaluate, describe, and discuss–give you information about the type of essay your teacher is expecting. Once you’ve zeroed in on your topic, think about what you want your paper to accomplish. If possible, have a follow up sentence–where you think your research is going:
Choose a Topic. Public Agenda Reports. Create a Concept Map. Once you've done some preliminary research, begin to "map out" significant ideas to create aconcept map. A concept map is simply a way to visually display the concepts and relationships among ideas. This will help you to further organize your ideas and define your topic. Let's look at how a concept map on "sustainable development" is developed.
First, write down the main idea in the center. Draw a circle around the idea. This will be the starting point for the concept map. Here, "sustainable development" is the central theme. Next, think of some issues related to the central theme. Only one of these possible sub-issues will be fully explored. For each issue, think of sub-concepts that relate to it and connect them to the appropriate issue. Here, each of the three issues have sub-ideas for possible research exploration. Continue to brainstorm possible ideas. Like this sample, your concept map will grow. At this point, select the issue that has the most potential for further research. Narrow Your Topic. Taking Sides - GCC Library Resources. Need Help? Ask a Librarian Chat.