Prewriting: Choosing a Subject and a Topic

1. 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

2. Introduction Mari is writing a paper for English class when a friend asks her Dogs I’m writing about how to choose the right dog as a pet. 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.

3. Introduction Topics are narrower, focused subcategories of the subject. Subjectsare broad and general, and can often be described in one or two words. Space Why humans should continue to explore space History African American soldiers in the Civil War Auto Racing The growth of NASCAR’s popularity Family My family’s best day ever

4. What to write about, and why? How do you choose a subject and topic for your writing? Your subject and topic can depend on • what you want to accomplish in your writing—your purpose • the type of writing you want to create—your form 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

5. What to write about, and why? Notice how your topic can be influenced by the form in which you plan to write. Subject: Ballet Descriptive essay Costumes for The Nutcracker Persuasive speech Ballet dancers are athletes, too Personal narrative The first time I saw a ballet performance Informative report The history of our local ballet company

6. 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

7. Generating ideas Here’s how one student writer, Monica, used a cluster diagram to explore ideas for an informative essay about environmental problems. air pollution how you can help the environment Environmental Problems loss of animal habitat water pollution

8. Too broad! Narrowing your topic 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. Topic:water pollution:

9. Too broad! Narrowing your topic 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. Topic:water pollution: Narrower topics 1. Sources of water pollution

10. Too broad! Narrowing your topic 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. Topic:water pollution: Narrower topics 1. Sources of water pollution Effects of water pollution 2.

11. Too broad! Narrowing your topic 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. Topic:water pollution: Narrower topics 1. Sources of water pollution Effects of water pollution 2. Reducing water pollution 3.

12. Evaluating your topic Once you’ve got a focused topic, do a quick check before you start to write. Evaluate the topic by asking Topic: Reducing water pollution • 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

13. Writing a topic statement 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. 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.

14. 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

15. Your Turn 2: Evaluate a topic andwrite a topic statement 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?

16. The End