College Papers - Coming Up With A Great Topic

By Author: Wade Knoxville
Total Articles: 18
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Creating college papers is something that every student must do in the years they spend at college. Countless papers are written on a variety of subjects where the topic of the paper has been assigned by the instructor. One of the greatest stumbling blocks when the topic hasn't been assigned for a paper is trying to decide what topic to use. Selection of the proper topic can make the difference between an uninformed unimaginative paper and one that captures the imagination of the instructor and leads to better grades.

The selection of a topic is not to be taken lightly. The topic must support the purpose of the paper which should be assigned by the instructor. College papers often have the purpose of persuading the reader to believe in one cause or another and this may make the paper either controversial or mainstream. The purpose of the paper may also be simply educational, where the writer has facts regarding the subject that they would like to present to lead to a more informed populace. Examples of this are the use of seatbelts saving lives or the dangers of smoking.

Now, how does one go about selecting topics? ...
... To ensure interest in the topic the writer should select topics that are of interest to them. It is much more difficult to create good college papers when the subject is boring or of little interest to the writer, especially when they themselves can choose the topic. The simplest way to do this is to use a pad of paper and write down a list of topics that interest you. Start by listing the things that you like such as hobbies or activities or other topics where you feel a particular passion. These are the topics that provide the drive to finish your paper.

Once you have your list in hand, you must evaluate your selections and narrow the list of choices down. To do this properly, you must ensure that the topics that you choose support the purpose of any college papers you create. If the purpose of the paper is to educate, for example, you should choose a topic in which you are very knowledgeable. Drawing upon a wealth of knowledge will make the creation of your paper easier and will result in a much higher-quality product. If the purpose is to persuade, then you should pick a subject that you all are interested in as well as passionate about. The level of your passion will show through in your writing and will increase the pull on the emotional strings of the reader. This is very important for persuasive papers as this is how you grasp your reader and make them start to believe as you do. The second evaluation when selecting a subject is whether that subject is narrow enough to be covered adequately. Selecting a general subject such as baseball for a persuasive paper would be difficult to cover successfully. Narrowing the subject to a specific portion of baseball such as steroid use, would allow you to focus on the topic of your paper.
Wade Knoxville
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