Paper Topics

Part of the process of writing a paper is writing a paper topic, a kind of plan for an essay. When you write a topic, you are writing a report about the essay you plan to write. This report will be 200-300 words and contain certain criteria to explain your approach and intention. You will eventually share this document with your classmates, so you must be finished writing your report by the beginning of class when we have a paper topic workshop.

For Paper 1, use this filename: LastName.FirstName.Paper.1.Topic.F19
For Paper 2, use this filename: LastName.FirstName.Paper.2.Topic.F19

For full credit on this assignment, follow these steps (times are guidelines, not requirements). If you find yourself writing quickly and finishing soon, chances are strong that you could think harder and produce better content. Please take this into consideration instead of assuming you cannot do any better:

1. In your shared folder in Google Drive, create a document and name it based on the examples above (2 mins)
2. Brainstorm in your document about incidents and experiences in your life that are relevant to an issue you want to spend time thinking and writing about (15 mins)
3. Write a paragraph in your own voice that follows the contents listed below (30 mins)
4. Proofread your work carefully after writing (10 mins)

When you write a paper topic, you need to be upfront about the following elements:

1. Introduce a recent experience or problem relevant to you that you want to explore (1-2 sentences).
2. State the specific idea you want to explain about this experience or problem (1-2 sentences).
3. Describe the stages that will logically develop your idea (5-6 sentences).
4. Write a thesis statement for the idea you want to explain (1 sentence).
5. Describe how reading your essay will help a particular audience (1-2 sentences).

So, your Paper Topic should include five components, in this order, all in one paragraph (200-300 words):

1. Introduce a recent experience or problem relevant to you that you want to explore.

Instead of starting with a general issue or a summary of your life, announce one particular experience or problem that bears explanation because it is complex and thought provoking.

2. State the specific idea you want to explain about this experience or problem.

Your essay should not cover a list of concerns. In order to analyze your first-hand experience, you need to look at one concern. For example, why is this problem happening, or what do you hope to achieve by overcoming or treating this problem? Focus on one particular concern.

3. Describe the stages that will logically develop your idea.

This step will take up the most of your report because you will describe each stage. The ultimate goal of your paper is to discuss an experience or problem that matters to you. Whatever your topic is, the discussion has to lead the reader through a sequence of stages. When each stage builds on the one before it, you can make a complex discussion.

4. Write a thesis statement for the idea you want to explain.

The thesis statement has to give a reason for some idea that you think is true and want to explain--just be sure that your thesis is about your particular experience or problem, NOT your opinion about how people should live in general.

5. Describe how reading your essay will help a particular audience.

This step allows you to state the relevance of your idea to an audience YOU define. Even if your topic is well-developed, its importance will not automatically be clear, so make sure you identify your audience and offer a reason they might benefit from reading your paper. The relevance of a topic needs to be openly stated in this report. In the actual paper you write, the relevance will NOT be openly stated.