English 106/108: First-Year Composition

• Choose a topic that interests you. It will be much easier to research, analyze, and write about!
• Use your class discussions, current world events, or class texts for inspiration.
• Do some preliminary research, such as reading a newspaper or scanning an encyclopedia article.
• Find your voice: What is the point you ultimately want to make? Try writing your topic as a statement or question.

Sometimes choosing a topic can be the hardest part of a research paper. Using encyclopedias or online reference tools can help you get the big picture of a topic so you can then narrow your focus to what really interests you.