Prewriting: Choosing a Subject and a Topic

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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
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Introduction
Mari is writing a paper for English class when a
friend asks her
Dogs
Im 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.
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Introduction

• Subjects are broad and general, and can often be
  described in one or two words.

Topics are narrower, focused subcategories of the
subject.
Why humans should continue to explore space
Space
History
African American soldiers in the Civil War
Auto Racing
The growth of NASCARs popularity
Family
My familys best day ever
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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 writingyour
  purpose
• the type of writing you want to createyour 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
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Test Tip Purpose and form
Often, the purpose and the form of your writing
will be chosen for you, such as when you are
writing for a test. Youll write better if you
can choose a topic that helps you connect
personally to the writing prompt.
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Test Tip Purpose and form

Study this example.
Test prompt Write an autobiographical narrative
in which you describe a memorable day. Include
details so that readers can understand what
happened that day and why it was memorable to
you.
form
purpose
Topic The day I played in my first league soccer
game
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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
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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

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Generating ideas
Heres 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
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Writing Tip Cluster diagrams
Use these steps to create a cluster diagram
subtopic

1. Write down and circle your subject.
2. Around the subject, write down and circle ideas
   about it (topics).
3. Write down and circle narrowed ideas about the
   topics as you think of them (subtopics).
4. Draw lines to connect the subject, topics, and
   subtopics.

topic
topic
subject
subtopic
topic
subtopic
subtopic
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Narrowing your topic
Is the topic youve 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
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Narrowing your topic
Is the topic youve 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
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Narrowing your topic
Is the topic youve 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.
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Narrowing your topic
Is the topic youve 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.
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Evaluating your topic
Once youve 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
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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.
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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 Heal
th
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Your Turn 1 Possible response
whale watching
nature reserve
historic Boston
biking
canoeing
Statue of Liberty
Final topic biking in the Rockies
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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?

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Your Turn 2 Possible responses
Project 1 an entertaining story for children
Subject Animals Topic My pet duckling

• Will this topic interest my readers? yes
• How much do I already know about this topic?
  a bit
• Can I find additional information about this
  topic? yes
• Does my topic fit my purpose for writing? yes

Topic statement Yesterday I found a very large
egg. I had no idea that a few days later I would
find myself holding a baby duckling.
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Your Turn 2 Possible responses
Project 2 a how-to article for the local
newspaper
Subject Nature Topic How to attract wild birds
to your backyard

• Will this topic interest my readers? definitely
• How much do I already know about this topic?
  lots
• Can I find additional information about this
  topic? yes
• Does my topic fit my purpose for writing? yes

Topic statement Bird watching is a simple hobby
you can do in your own backyard. All you have to
do is provide a bird bath, a feeder, and a
birdhouse.
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The End