Topic Selection Worksheet
Select a topic for your Persuasive Essay using the following steps:
• Review the College Specific Resources for Rhetoric and Research Learning Activity.
• Click on any College/School that interests you.
o Each college page has a description of the importance of rhetoric and research to degree programs and professional careers within that College/School.
o The topics for you to choose from are below the "Importance of Rhetoric and Research" paragraph. Each topic has a link to an associated resource from the University Library to learn more about the topic.
For example, the College of Humanities and Sciences has the topics "Synthetic Life", "Large Hadron Collider will Destroy Earth", "Climate Change", and many other topics to choose from.
• Choose one controversial topic. Your topic must be selected from the list of topics under one of the Colleges/Schools. Please note that the "Accessibility" area on the right is not one of the topics.
Complete the worksheet below using your chosen topic.
What is your topic?
Relate the key points of an effective research topic for the topic you chose for your Persuasive Essay. Identify how your topic addresses the key points of an effective research paper topic.
Refer to the "Evaluating Possible Topics" section on p. 339 of Ch. 11 in Elements of Argument. Your response to each question should be at least 50 words (for a total of at least 200 words).
1. How is your topic interesting?
2. How is your topic debatable?
3. How is your topic not too broad and not too narrow?
4. How is your topic not too unconventional?