Pick a topic that’s too obscure, and you may find that little or no
information has been written about it. In that case, you will have to
conduct your own experiments, interview your own research
subjects, and come up with your own original data. I’m guessing
that you have neither the time, desire, nor experience to take such
a start-from-scratch approach.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but make sure there’s some-
thingto gnaw on! And make sure that there are enough different
sources of material—different authors, different books, different
points of view—so you can get a well-rounded view of your subject
(and not be forced, for lack of other material, to find ways to make
somebody else’s points sound like your own).
Taking all of the above into consideration, do a little brainstorming
now about possible topics for your paper. Don’t stop with the first
idea—come up with several different possibilities. Put this book down
until you have a list of three or four potential topics.
How about trying to get papers for two or more classes out of the
same research? You may not be able to simply produce one paper for
two classes, but with a little extra research—notwhat you would
need to do for an entirely different paper—you may well utilize a good
portion of the first paper as the basis for a second. What a great way
to maximize your library time!
If you are having trouble choosing a topic for your next paper, here
are two books that will help:
10,000 Ideas for Term Papers, Projects, Reports and Speeches:
Intriguing, Original Research Topics for Every Student’s Need,
5 thEdition, by Kathryn Lamm (Arco, 1998).
1001 Ideas for English Papers: Term Papers, Projects, Reports, and
Speeches by Walter James Miller (Hungry Minds, Inc., 1994).Chapter 7 ■How to Write Terrific Papers 141