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Research/Persuasive Essay Scavenger Hunt
ENG 102
Point total: 100 points
READ THIS: This assignment will help you choose the topic for your research paper as well as help you begin to learn how to research. Read each question (8 Questions Total, pages 1-8). TYPE your response to each question where it says “Answer”.
Choosing Your Topic
A. Brainstorming a Topic
Brainstorming for a research topic is the same as brainstorming for many other kinds of essay topics, with one difference. Here, you are looking into your mind to find areas of factual knowledge, not to find your personal feelings or memories. The main questions you need to ask yourself are, "What do I know?" and "What would I like to learn more about?"
Here are some questions to help you identify the topic of your research paper.
• What are the most interesting subjects you have learned about in your past year as a student?
• What historic people or events made our world what it is?
• What is going on in the news right now that seems to you most important?
• What machines and other material objects are part of your life (for example, television and computers)?
• What are your favorite ways of spending a weekend? List a few objects or places connected with these activities.
• If you become a scientist as an adult, what kind of scientist would you like to be? What kinds of problems or developments does that kind of scientist work on?
Choose the question above that you would most like to learn more about and write it here.
Answer:
1.
B. Narrowing a Topic
Once you have chosen a possible topic, you have to make sure that the topic is a manageable size, neither too narrow nor too broad.
• If a topic is too narrow, you will have very little to write about. For example, "What was the name of Alexander the Great's horse?" is too narrow and trivial a topic. To answer...