Deciding on your Research Paper Topic

In order to decide on your research paper topic you need to brainstorm.  Read the handout, "Choosing a Topic for Your Research Paper.  

Your research paper is going to make up a substantial part of your work for this cycle in this class.  In order to decide on a topic, consider the following: 

Good topics are:

Interesting
Manageable
Available
Worthwhile
Original

Poor topics are:
Too broad
Too narrow
too technical
Too trivial
Too subjective

Here are some EXAMPLES OF GOOD AND BAD TOPICS FOR RESEARCH PAPERS:

General subject: Civil Rights
Unsuitable: Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s (too broad)
Unsuitable: My father’s activities in the Civil Rights movement (too subjective)
Suitable (Good) Topic: What leadership role did Martin Luther King take during the early civil rights

General Subject: artists
Unsuitable topic: Rembrandt (too broad)
Unsuitable topic: Michaelangelo as a child (too narrow)
Suitable (Good) Topic: How did Michaelangelo’s painting influence other Renaissance artists?

General Subject: The Poet Alfred Lort Tennyson
Unsuitable: Tennyson as an author (too broad)
Unsuitable: Tennyson’s education (too trivial)
Suitable (Good) Topic: What recurring symbols appear in Tennyson’s poetry, and what do they mean?

General subject: modern science
Unsuitable: protecting the environment (too broad)
Unsuitable: designing coal-fired generators that use high sulfur coal (too technical)
Suitable (Good) Topic: What environmental effects result from using gas-powered generators?

General Subject: historical causes of bankruptcy
Unsuitable: causes of bankruptcy (too broad)
Unsuitable: causes of personal bankruptcy during 1920 (too trivial)
Suitable (Good) Topic: What national, local and personal economic conditions caused the 1929 stock market crash in New York City banks?

Assignment:
BRAINSTORMING:  Choose a topic to think about.  Write down the general topic.  Then ask yourself as many questions as you can think about, regarding that topic.  On a separate piece of lined, notebook paper, write down your proposed topic and 5 to 7 questions about that topic. 

General Topic: Tatoos

Questions:

Where does the ink originate for tattoos?
Who gets tattooed?  What ages are they?
What cultures besides the US get tattooed?
What do certain tattoos symbolize?
Where did tattooing come from?
What’s the difference between tribal tattoos and modern tattoos from tattoo shops?
How many people get tattoos removed?
Why do people get tattooed?

The brainstorm must be in your folder before you begin the next step.  The next step is to use your brainstorming questions to decide on a researchable topic.  Once you have figured out which of your questions is truly researchable, circle it.  Then we will meet and review your choice.  The next step is to fill out your "Research Paper Planning Worksheet," in which you state your actual research question.  I will give you a copy of this sheet when I determine you are ready for it.  This sheet, and your choice of topic, must be approved by me in order for you to begin your research.