How to choose a topic for your essay assignment

Finding your essay topic using leading questions

Here are some basic questions to ask yourself when it comes to choosing an essay topic:

• What type of assignment is it? You can’t necessarily write about your summer vacation for a persuasive essay, or about the dangers of smoking for a narrative.
• How much time do I have? If you’re short on time, best to pick something that won’t involve a lot of new research, or that you already have access to information about.
• How much space do I have to fill? You may not want to choose a topic with a lot of intricate detail or a future memoir idea for a thousand-word essay, but longer assignments will need richer material.
• Who’s my audience? This can help you discern how much detail you need or what approach you should take. It can also help inspire you to write if you image an ideal reader who really, really wants to know what you have to say or wants to argue with your conclusions.
• What am I already interested in? It’s much easier to buckle in for writing multiple pages or doing hours of research on something that you already care about or were looking to learn more about, rather than something you don’t feel passion for, or actively dislike.
• Is my topic too broad or too narrow? “Whales” are fascinating, but there are so many different types of whales. “Humpback whales” might even still be too broad, whereas humpback whale behavior or humpback whales in a particular geographic location might be a better fit or possibly too narrow, depending on the size of your paper and available information.
• Why do I want to write about this? This isn’t just related to what kind of assignment it is. Answering this question can help you figure out the thesis, or main idea, of your essay, the direction of your argument, and what supporting information you’ll use to make your point.
• What can I say about this issue that’s new? You don’t necessarily want to rehash existing arguments, retell plots or repackage common knowledge. You need to put your own spin on what you write, whether it’s explaining the meaning and implications for you or others like you or combining details in a novel, unexpected way.

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It’s also totally fine to shift your topic or direction after a little initial research and writing. Sometimes, writing teaches you things or you discover that you don’t have enough passion or material to flesh out an entire essay. Hopefully, you discover that early in the process—and thinking about the above questions can help you avoid having to find a new topic.

Some essay topic ideas

These ideas and approaches won’t work for every essay, but they can help inspire you to start thinking, or you can borrow and modify them for your own work. You can even combine parts of a few ideas for a more comprehensive approach to any given topic.

• Compare and contrast. This involves taking two topics that ideally have some pre-existing relationship with each other and figuring out how they’re alike and different, and perhaps what those similarities and differences mean.
• The first time I ever… Good for a narrative-style essay, this will involve you mining your memories for a notable moment. You can talk about what stood out for you at a particular place or about a particular person, or how you learned to do something.
• The moment something changed. These types of moments usually are memorable, even life-altering, providing plenty of opportunity for descriptive, narrative detail. This can also be an approach to an expository essay that discusses the results or implications of a particular historical or cultural shift.
• The history/future of… This could be an approach to an expository essay about science or technology topics, particularly those that have a long tradition or many exciting recent advances in knowledge.
• How to do something or how something works. Not just an explanation, this can also involve discussing the history of the process, its implications and results, or alternative techniques.
• Why you should or shouldn’t do something. Often the basis of a persuasive essay, this can involve the pros and cons and an action’s impact on the environment around it, including people and place.

Asking yourself some thoughtful questions as you begin to contemplate your essay can help make picking a topic less daunting. And thinking about how to approach potential topics can help you decide whether they’re worth committing to long-term.