This document discusses finding appropriate topics to write about. It identifies several techniques for generating topic ideas such as free writing, brainstorming, using journalistic questions, and using the pentad method. These techniques can help writers identify specific areas of research and narrow topics. The document also stresses the importance of finding an arguable issue to focus a topic. Issues are questions that lead to disagreement within a community. Examples of focusing topics through narration, description, process, cause and effect, comparison, classification, and definition are also provided.

1. WEEK 6: FINDING APPROPRIATE SUBJECTS TO WRITE ON
Introduction
This part will deal with identifying areas of research, by using aspects like free writing,
Brainstorming, use of journalistic questions and the pentad.
Hodges et al (2004, p.417) point out that “writers find appropriate subjects and decide how to
focus on them”: Whether you are assigned a subject or you are free to choose one, you must
consider what you already know or what you would like to learn and what is likely to interest your
audience. You must also decide how to narrow your general subject into a more specific topic so
that you can develop that topic adequately within the time and page limit that you have been given.
There are several aspects you can engage in to generate ideas to write on. The ones we are going
to consider here are: free writing, brainstorming, questioning and The Pentad. You must also find
an arguable issue.
Learner Outcomes
By the end of this section, the student should be able to:
i. Identify specific areas of research and to narrow them
ii .Describe and use free writing
iii.Use Brainstorming
iv.Use journalistic questions
v.Use the pentad
Finding An Arguable Issue
At the heart of any argument is an issue, which we can define as a question that leads to perplexity
or disagreement.. This requirement excludes disagreements based on personal tastes, where no
shared criteria can be developed. I t also excludes purely private questions because issues arise out
of disagreements in communities. When you are thinking of issues, ask what questions are
currently being contested or argued about in one of the communities to which you belong such as,
your family, your neighbourhood, religious or social group, workplace, classroom, dormitory,
campus, hometown, country, etc. After identifying the issue consider how you are going to make
it significant for your audience. For example, if you are dealing with the issue of how to solve the
problem of having either street children and street families or the issue of removing hawkers from
the central business centre in the city, show how this is significant to your audience For instance,.
How will they benefit? Will the city be safer and cleaner?
Issue questions are often framed as yes/no choices, especially when they appear on ballots or in
courtrooms. E.g. should we legalise abortion? Is the accused guilty of the crime of armed robbery?
Although citizens may vote yes or no, they can support or oppose their view for a variety of
reasons. To argue effectively, you need to appreciate the wide range of perspectives from which
people approach the yes / no question.

2. 4.3. Free Writing
In free writing, people write down whatever occurs to them without stopping, often for not more
than ten minutes. They do not worry whether they are repeating themselves or getting off-track.
This is good way to generate ideas for writing. Related to this is directed free writing. Here you
begin with a general subject and write down whatever occurs to you about it using about ten
minutes. Some writers use coloured marking pens or change the font in their word processing
programme to identify different topics generated by this activity.
4.4. Brainstorming
Brainstorming or listing is to make an informal list. The advantage of informal listing is that it
lets you see individual items at a glance rather than having to pick them out from a block of writing
as in free writing. Hodges et al (2004, p.421) say that,” it also encourages the establishment of
relationships. Just jot down any idea that comes to you while you are thinking about your subject.
Devote as much time as necessary while you are making your list, perhaps ten minutes or an entire
evening. The point is to collect as many ideas as you can”.
4.5. Questioning
There are two main types of questions that writers engage in when trying to generate ideas for
writing. These are: Journalist’s questions and the pentad.
• Journalist’s questions:
These are who? What? When? Where? Why? And how? Using journalist’s questions to
explore the subject of balancing school work and a job could lead you to think about it in
a number of ways. e.g. Who typically has to work part time while in college? What should
college students look for in a part time job? When should students work? Where should
students work? Why can part time job be an important part of college experience? And
how can students balance part time job with good school work?
ii. The pentad
Kenneth Burk’s Pentad consists of five points of consideration: he calls it a dramatic pentad
because it uses the drama of a human life as the basis for exploring any subject.
These five points are:
i. Act: What is happening?
ii. Actor: Who is acting?
iii. Scene: what are the times, place, and conditions in which the act
occurred?
• Agency: How was the act accomplished?
• Purpose: How and why did the act, actor, sane, and agency come
together?

3. 4.6. The Following Development Strategies Can Help You To Focus Your Essay:
i. Narration: What kind of story can I tell about part time work for college students?
ii. Description: What kind of part time job do I have?
iii. Process: How have I gone about balancing my own part time job with my school work?
iv. Cause and Effect: What have been the causes of my successes in balancing my job with school
work? Concentration?Commitment? What are some of the consequences when I have made
mistakes in balancing these two in the past? Exhaustion?Frustration? What is the primary cause?
What are contributory causes?
v. Comparison and Contrast: How do my study habits and academic skills compare with those
of students who do not work and those of students who do? How does my work – and school
lifestyle compare with my school – only lifestyle?
Vi. Classification and Division: How can I classify the different types of jobs that college
students take? How can I divide the desirable qualities of jobs and employers?
vii. Definition: How do I define “success” in college? Is career experience as important as good
grades? What constitutes a good attitude toward your education?
The following sentence suggests a focus on comparison and contrast:
“Before I came to college and took a part time job, I spent all my free time either studying or
hanging out with friends.”
This sentence focuses on cause and consequence:
“Now that I am working part – time and taking classes full time, I have very little free time to
spend with friends or to relax.”
Because writing is a form of thinking and discovering, your focus might not emerge until you have
written your first draft.
(for a full essay on this topic on balancing part time job with college work consult Hodges et
al (2004, pp.474-479).
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