What you’ll learn to do: describe topic selection activities

If you’ve ever struggled to start a paper, you’re not alone. One way to make the process easier is to look for a problem—something that needs analysis, explanation, or debate. In academic writing, strong arguments often stem from identifying and exploring complex issues.

When selecting a topic, consider:

• Assignment requirements – What does the prompt ask you to do?
• Brainstorming – What ideas or questions interest you?
• Personal connection – What topics engage you?
• Focus & refinement – Can you narrow your topic to make it manageable?

Sometimes, your assignment will directly ask you to explore a problem:

Example Prompt: Identify and examine a human rights issue. Describe its scope, identify the violation, explore its causes, and analyze contributing factors. Critically assess biases in your sources.

Even when a prompt doesn’t mention a problem explicitly, focusing on one can strengthen your argument. For example:

Example Prompt: Analyze the role of food in The Age of Innocence. Consider who eats, what they eat, and how Wharton uses these details to create narrative effects.

Though the assignment doesn’t ask you to find a problem, investigating contradictions, patterns, or deeper meanings will help shape your argument.

You might be thinking, What about the thesis? A strong thesis doesn’t appear out of nowhere—it emerges from engaging with a meaningful problem. Identifying a compelling issue is a key step toward developing a persuasive argument.