How Do You Come Up with Good Argumentative Essay Topics
Do you know what the most frustrating part of writing an essay is? Topic selection
Not for any dearth of topics to argue about but for the sheer number of them! You can write about anything that takes your fancy. The list of potential topics is so long that it can be an exercise in perseverance to actually narrow down the list to a few really promising ones. When coming up with a topic for an argument-type essay, you should consider the qualities a good argument topic has:
- It is a topic whose reverse can also be written about
- It is interesting and relevant.
- It has the potential of intriguing the reader.
- It can become a convincing argument.
- It is somewhat controversial (or very controversial, if you are adventurous).
How you come up with a good topic is another question altogether. Here are a few suggestions that may help you choose and formulate a great one:
- List your interests: Make a list of all the general areas that interest you. For example Human Behavior, Pets, Parenting, Controversy, Economy etc. After compiling a list of the categories of your interest, you can start writing the different issues that are related to your area of interest.
Example:
Category = Pets
Issues or Questions: 1. Students should be allowed to keep pets in dormitories. 2. Violence to animals should be punished with a fine. 3. Dogs should/should not be splayed.
You can pick up the one you like once you have made the list of questions or issues. In case of a tie between two or three of your favorite topics, consider calling a friend for input or discuss with your teacher.
- Discuss with your teacher: Whether the first exercise helped you or not, you have a great resource in your teacher. Talk to him or her to sound off ideas and to resolve any confusion you may have regarding topic selection.
- Look around and observe: Keep your eyes open while you are compiling the list of topics. Your surroundings offer a host of opportunities to find a topic. For example, cars honking on your street may inspire a topic related to noise pollution.
- Search online: If all of the creative and innovative ideas seem like a lot of trouble that is not worth your time and effort, you can log on to the web and let the search engines bring you some lists of topics made by others!