This document provides guidance on brainstorming and selecting a research topic for a paper. It suggests considering career interests, hobbies, or social issues and developing an argumentative essential question around the topic. For career interests, students are asked to list careers they find fascinating and consider an argument within that field. For hobbies, students should also identify an argument. Finally, students are prompted to list controversial social issues and arguments on both sides to develop a balanced consideration of perspectives. The document offers examples and guidance to steer students towards an appropriate research topic for their paper.

1. Brainstorming for a Research
Topic
2013

2. Your research paper must
have an argument
 Therefore, your topic must be open
ended and malleable to form yes or no
questions.
 Eventually you will narrow this topic
into a nice essential question—always
keep this in mind as you are
brainstorming.

3. There are 3 categories that
are successful
 Career interest
 Hobby interest
 Social issues

4. Career interest
 Make a list…
 List at least 3 careers that you might be
interested in and for each career, in 1-2
sentences explain what you find
fascinating about that career.

5. Career List
 https://www1.cfnc.org/ExternalScripts//
Career_Center/default.asp

6. Career Interest
 REMEMBER: your paper must be
argumentative so this won’t just be a
report of “facts” about that career. You
must come up with an idea about
something specific and controversial
within that career.

7. Example
 Anthropology & linguistics:
 Many anthropologists develop strong linguistic
skills to aid their study of human cultures.
Anthropologists with linguistics degrees can
quickly decode writing and other artifacts from
ancient cultures. They can also discern the
distinctions between regional dialects when
studying modern societies.
 Ask yourself: what can I research that has
two sides to an issue surrounding this
career?

8. Sample EQ
 How does developing skills in linguistic
science help one decode artifacts in
ancient cultures?

9. Brainstorm
Editor

10. Hobby Interest
 List at least three hobbies you have or
would be interested in knowing more
about. These can be…
 Sports
 Arts
 Crafts
 Skills
 Entertainment

11. Hobby Interest
 REMEMBER: your paper must be
argumentative so this won’t just be a
report of “facts” about that hobby. You
must come up with an idea about
something specific and controversial
within that hobby.

12. Example 2
 Wakeboarding:

13. Sample EQ
 Does the very nature of extreme sports
discourage women participants

14. Brainstorm: List at least 3 issues
associated with the hobby
Ballet
Negative Male
image
Prestige in
“traditional cultures”
Usage in sports

15. Social issues
 List at least three controversial social
issues. Then, list 3 arguments and 3
counterarguments for each issue in a
T chart

16. Topics I will not allow…
1.Abortion
2.Legalizing Marijuana (or
other drugs)
3.Lowering the drinking age
4.Gay marriage

17. Devaluation of elderly
 Increased
euthanasia
 Increase in nursing
home occupants
and negative
conditions in
nursing homes
 Decreased gov’t
funding for elderly
 Still taught to
respect our elders
 Increase in nursing
homes equals an
increase in value
for wellbeing
 Movies/entertainme
nt still celebrate
ideas of elderly as
wise

18. Persuasive Speech Topics
 If you want to use your persuasive
speech topic
 YOU MAY
 However, remember that this paper
has a more FORMAL tone that the
speech, so keep that in mind.