The HyperTextBooks Daniel Kies
Department of English
College of DuPage
Composition
English 1101		 Contact Form

Planning: Choosing a Topic

In academic or business settings, we are often given our writing topics. There are papers to write on the causes of the Crimean War. There are quarterly reports to prepare. Etc.

However, sometimes we are not given a specific writing assignment, simply a general area, with no guidance specifically about what we should prepare within that discipline. In such cases, you can begin an exploration for a specific topic by asking yourself questions. Your answers will bring your subject into focus and provide you with the material to develop your topic. Here are twenty questions, which present ways of observing or thinking about your topic. Each question generates the type of essay (what the classical rhetoricians called modes of discourse, our subject and reading for Unit 2) in parentheses after the question.

    

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  1. What does X mean? (Definition)
  2. How can X be described? (Definition)
  3. What are the component parts of X? (Simple Analysis)
  4. How is X made or done? (Process Analysis)
  5. How should X be made or done? (Directional Analysis)
  6. What is the essential function of X? (Functional Analysis)
  7. What are the causes of X? (Causal Analysis)
  8. What are the consequences of X? (Causal Analysis)
  9. What are the types of X? (Classification)
  10. How does X compare with Y? (Comparison)
  11. What is the present status of X? (Comparison)
  12. How can X be interpreted? (Interpretation)
  13. What are the facts about X? (Reportage)
  14. How did X happen? (Narration)
  15. What kind of person is X? (Characterization)
  16. What is my personal response to X? (Reflection)
  17. What is my memory of X? (Reminiscence)
  18. What is the value of X? (Evaluation)
  19. How can X be summarized? (Summary)
  20. What case can be made for or against X? (Argumentation)

(Adapted from Jacqueline Berke's Twenty Questions for the Writer)





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