ESL 099/100: Developing a Topic

Write What You Know

A topic familiar to you will be easier and more fun, but a topic that you have interest in discovering more about can be rewarding as well. Here are some suggestions to help you think of a topic:

• What are you interested in?
• Think about your personal and work experience
• Look at the table of contents of professional journals, newspapers and textbooks
• Check out Wikipedia
• Flip through an encyclopedia from our Reference Collection
• Browse the Internet
• Talk to your friends, classmates, instructor or librarian
• Develop a conceptual mind map...Brainstorm!

For our persuasive papers, see the blue link below titled "101 Persuasive Essay Topics." 

Choose Three Potential Topics

Choose your topics and fill out this table.