{"id":443,"date":"2016-05-23T22:46:52","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T22:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level2-english\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=443"},"modified":"2016-07-25T14:10:06","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T14:10:06","slug":"text-strategies-for-narrowing-a-topic","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level2-english\/chapter\/text-strategies-for-narrowing-a-topic\/","title":{"raw":"Text: Strategies for Narrowing a Topic","rendered":"Text: Strategies for Narrowing a Topic"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-447\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2016\/05\/23224559\/4631844143_babd651ff0_z-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Triangle road sign for merging lanes\" width=\"186\" height=\"140\" \/>Once you've settled on a problem to address for a writing assignment, the next step is to narrow it down to an appropriate focus.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"s1\">Narrowing a topic can be done in various ways. Most of the time you will need to use two or more of the following strategies. However, the requirements and scope of your assignment will determine which ones you use.<\/span>\r\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">To narrow a topic, ask yourself the following questions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you focus your project on a specific aspect of the topic?<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Most issues or concepts can be subdivided into narrower issues or concepts. If you can't subdivide your topic, then, most of the time, your topic is as narrow as it can get. In addition, it is probably better suited to a short or small project than a long or substantial one.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn some cases, you might find you need to expand, rather than narrow, a topic selection.\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you narrow your topic to a specific time period?<\/h2>\r\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\r\n \t<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s2\">Restricting your topic to a specific time period can narrow most topics. Many activities or things exist through time. Restricting yourself to that activity or thing within a specific time period reduces the amount of material you have to cover.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">For example, armies and soldiers have existed from before recorded history. Restricting yourself to \"Army life during World War II\" or \"Army life in Ancient Egypt\" reduces the scope of what you need to cover.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><b>HINT:<\/b> there is likely to be a lot more primary and secondary material on army life in World War II than there is on army life in ancient Egypt simply because more information from recent centuries has survived than from ancient centuries.<\/div>\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you narrow your topic to a specific geographic area?<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Many topics can be limited to a specific region of the country or the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For example, \"Wolves\" can be limited to \"Arctic Wolves.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you narrow your topic to a specific event?<\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Restricting your topic to a specific event is another way to narrow a topic. However, the amount of information available on a specific event will depend upon the relative importance of that event.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For example, you will find more information on the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki than you will on the bomb used by robbers to blow up the safe of a bank.<\/span><\/p>","rendered":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-447\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2016\/05\/23224559\/4631844143_babd651ff0_z-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Triangle road sign for merging lanes\" width=\"186\" height=\"140\" \/>Once you&#8217;ve settled on a problem to address for a writing assignment, the next step is to narrow it down to an appropriate focus.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">Narrowing a topic can be done in various ways. Most of the time you will need to use two or more of the following strategies. However, the requirements and scope of your assignment will determine which ones you use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">To narrow a topic, ask yourself the following questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you focus your project on a specific aspect of the topic?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Most issues or concepts can be subdivided into narrower issues or concepts. If you can&#8217;t subdivide your topic, then, most of the time, your topic is as narrow as it can get. In addition, it is probably better suited to a short or small project than a long or substantial one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In some cases, you might find you need to expand, rather than narrow, a topic selection.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you narrow your topic to a specific time period?<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s2\">Restricting your topic to a specific time period can narrow most topics. Many activities or things exist through time. Restricting yourself to that activity or thing within a specific time period reduces the amount of material you have to cover.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">For example, armies and soldiers have existed from before recorded history. Restricting yourself to &#8220;Army life during World War II&#8221; or &#8220;Army life in Ancient Egypt&#8221; reduces the scope of what you need to cover.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><b>HINT:<\/b> there is likely to be a lot more primary and secondary material on army life in World War II than there is on army life in ancient Egypt simply because more information from recent centuries has survived than from ancient centuries.<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you narrow your topic to a specific geographic area?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Many topics can be limited to a specific region of the country or the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For example, &#8220;Wolves&#8221; can be limited to &#8220;Arctic Wolves.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\">Can you narrow your topic to a specific event?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Restricting your topic to a specific event is another way to narrow a topic. However, the amount of information available on a specific event will depend upon the relative importance of that event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For example, you will find more information on the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki than you will on the bomb used by robbers to blow up the safe of a bank.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-443\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Strategies for narrowing a topic. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Virginia Tech University Libraries. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/info-skills.lib.vt.edu\/choosing_focusing\/11.html\">http:\/\/info-skills.lib.vt.edu\/choosing_focusing\/11.html<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Information Skills Modules. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of road sign. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: BowBelle51. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/84ipTM\">https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/84ipTM<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":19,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Strategies for narrowing a topic\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Virginia Tech University Libraries\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/info-skills.lib.vt.edu\/choosing_focusing\/11.html\",\"project\":\"Information Skills Modules\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Image of road sign\",\"author\":\"BowBelle51\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/84ipTM\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"bb0852e8-d634-4c9c-ba0d-c651b2492a0b, 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