Prewriting: Choosing a Subject and a Topic

Introduction

What to write about, and why?

Generating ideas

Narrowing your topic

Evaluating your topic

Writing a topic statement

Your Turn 1: Generate ideas and narrow a topic

Your Turn 2: Evaluate a topic and write a topic statement

Introduction Mari is writing a paper for English class when a friend asks her

What are you

writing about?

Okay, but what

about dogs?

Mari and her friend have just talked about both the subject and the topic of her writing.

DogsI’m writing about how to choose the right dog as a

pet.

IntroductionSubjects are broad and general, and can often be described in one or two words.

Why humans should continue to explore space

Space

Topics are narrower, focused subcategories of the subject.

History

Auto Racing

Family

African American soldiers in the Civil War

The growth of NASCAR’s popularity

My family’s best day ever

What to write about, and why?How do you choose a subject and topic for your writing? Your subject and topic can depend on

Purpose: convince my friends to volunteer

at the local animal shelter

+ Form: an article on the school Web site

Topic: why being an animal shelter

volunteer is right for you

• what you want to accomplish in your writing—your purpose

• the type of writing you want to create—your form

Subject: Ballet

Notice how your topic can be influenced by the form in which you plan to write.

What to write about, and why?

Descriptive essayCostumes for

The Nutcracker

Personal narrativeThe first time I saw a ballet performance

Informative reportThe history of our local

ballet company

Persuasive speechBallet dancers are

athletes, too

Generating ideas

Once you have a purpose and a form in mind for your writing, think of a subject and a topic by

• talking with a partner about things that interest you

• using a search engine to discover new topics

• paging through a newspaper or news magazine

• creating a cluster diagram to explore ideas

Generating ideas

Here’s how one student writer, Monica, used a cluster diagram to explore ideas for an informative essay about environmental problems.

airpollution

waterpollution

loss ofanimalhabitat

how you canhelp the

environmentEnvironmental

Problems

Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.

Narrowing your topic

Too broad!Topic: water pollution:

Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.

Narrowing your topic

Topic: water pollution:

1. Sources of water pollution

Narrower topics

Too broad!

Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.

Narrowing your topic

Topic: water pollution:

1. Sources of water pollution

2. Effects of water pollution

Narrower topics

Too broad!

Effects of water pollution

Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.

Narrowing your topic

Topic: water pollution:

1. Sources of water pollution

2.

3. Reducing water pollution

Narrower topics

Too broad!

Once you’ve got a focused topic, do a quick check before you start to write. Evaluate the topic by asking

Evaluating your topic

• Will this topic interest my readers?

• How much do I already know about this topic?

• Can I find additional information about this topic?

• Does this topic fit my purpose for writing?

yes, definitely

quite a bit

There should be a lot of information on it.

yes

Topic: Reducing water pollution

Write out a topic statement, one or two sentences that state your topic clearly. Use this topic statement to help you focus as you continue the prewriting process.

Writing a topic statement

Water pollution is an ongoing problem that affects all types of life. However, each individual can help protect water by doing a few small things to improve the environment.

Remember that the writing process is not a one-way street. You can always narrow, revise, or even change your topic later, if necessary.

Your Turn 1: Generate ideas and narrow a topic

Choose one of the following subjects or a subject of your own. Create a cluster diagram to break down the broad subject into possible topics. Make sure that you finish with at least one topic that is narrow enough for a school essay.

Wildlife Current events Sports

Hobbies Travel Health

Choose a subject and a topic for one of the following projects. Evaluate your topic with the evaluation questions below. Finish by writing a topic statement.

• Project 1: an entertaining story for children

• Project 2: a how-to article for the local newspaper

Evaluation questions: • Will this topic interest my readers? • How much do I already know about this topic?• Can I find additional information about this topic?• Does my topic fit my purpose for writing?

Your Turn 2: Evaluate a topic andwrite a topic statement

The End