Finding a Topic: Start with a Big Idea
Usually, your assignment has some parameters: write a paper on a topic related to this class: environmental problems, for example, or feminist concerns, or technology and society.
But those are still so big; whole libraries are devoted to environmental problems.
How do I get hold of a starting point?
We recommend looking in some of these places to get ideas of what people are talking about.
You will probably need to narrow your topic further as you go.
Some Sources for Topics in the Popular Press
Here are some places to go browsing for starter ideas:
- The New York Times Obviously.
- Discover Magazine or the weightier Scientific American
- PBS
- Huffington Post
- Story Corps
- This American Life
- Opposing Viewpoints
- Wall Street Journal
Another way into subtopics: Visuwords creates a mindmap of related terms related to the one you type in.
Two Databases That Cover Hot Topics
CQ Researcher
- Original reporting and analysis on issues in the news.
- Each report includes: intro, pro-con debates; background, chronology; tables and maps; and bibliography.
In Context: Opposing Viewpoints
- Searches hundreds of sources for current topics.
- Includes images, statistics, audio, and video files.
A Few More Current Issues Sources
- ProCon.org: Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues"Controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format."
- TOPICsearchMagazines, newspapers, opinion polls, government pamphlets on common topics.
- AllSidesProvides articles about current events from different viewpoints across the political spectrum. It assigns labels to each article, making it easier to identify the political bias of the source.