Brainstorming Topic Ideas
Author: Jannette Finch, Librarian, College of Charleston North and Lowcountry Graduate
Center, March 2009, unless other sources are credited (rev. 5/2010).
The Subject
The subject is not necessarily controversial by itself.
It will help your research if you have an interest in the subject. Is the subject something
you feel passionate about? If so, your research will interest you and your final paper or
presentation will express that passion.
You may also choose a subject that you have to research for another class (Kill two birds
with one stone).
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Examples of Subjects: bicycling, drug laws, homelessness, weightlifting
(source: The Art of Public Speaking, Topic Finder).
Where else do I look for a subject?
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Conversations with your Friends and Parents
Think of an argument you had with your parents. Were you playing Devil’s Advocate
or engaging in debate with them over something important to you at the time?
Have you and your friends engaged in debate over any topic lately? World affairs?
The war in Afghanistan? Best music source? The iPhone vs Droid?
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Newspapers
Local
Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com/
Charleston City Paper, http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/index
National and international
CofC Library e-newspapers list,
http://www.cofc.edu/library/find/databases/index.php#n
BBC news, http://news.bbc.co.uk/
CNN, http://www.cnn.com/
Google news, http://news.google.com
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TV shows
Oprah http://www.oprah.com/index
Others ?
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Popular magazines
New York Times Magazine, http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/
Science, current issues on first floor of Addlestone Library
http://www.sciencemag.org/magazine.dtl
General Databases
http://www.cofc.edu/library/find/databases/index.php
Academic Search Premier
The world’s largest academic multi-disciplinary database
Infotrac General Reference Sources
A general interest database that integrates a variety of sources.
Infotrac OneFile
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics
Controversial Issues Sources
CQ Electronic Library
http://library.cqpress.com.nuncio.cofc.edu/
Includes CQ Researcher, a source for in-depth analysis reporting on the most
current and controversial issues of the day.
Search Engines
Google, Yahoo, Bing and any other search engines you like. A comprehensive list is
here: http://www.thesearchenginelist.com/
There are a couple of interesting tools Google offers that might be fun to use when
brainstorming.
o Google Trends, http://www.google.com/trends, to see what other
people are searching. It might shake your brain.
o Google Wonder Wheel. Where is it? Do a regular search in
Google, then look for it on the left side of the screen, under More
search tools. Here is a tutorial:
http://www.googlewonderwheel.com/
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A search comparing iPhone and Droid looks
like this:
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Identify an Issue
Remember to be creative in this phase. Time spent in this phase is valuable and will help
to cement your position on the subject and issue.
Explore your feelings about the subject.
You can start with identifying an issue related to the subject, then narrow that issue to
your position. Sometimes this is harder than it appears, and there are many brainstorming
techniques which can help shake your thoughts on a subject. Some of those techniques
are listed below.
The simplest technique to explore your thoughts is to name an issue involving a subject.
If you aren’t sure of the issues involving a subject, do a simple search using one of the
resources named above.
Using our subjects above: bicycling, drug laws, homelessness, weightlifting, what issues
can you think of?
Subject: Bicycling
Issue: Should bicycling lanes be paid for with federal funds?
Subject: Drug laws
Issue: Should drugs be legalized?
Subject: Homelessness
Issue: Should homeless people be evicted from shantytowns?
Subject: Weightlifting
Issue: Should children be restricted from weightlifting?
If you get stuck, remember to check the sources above for issues related to your topic.
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Your Position
It isn’t enough to identify an issue about a subject. Next you need to establish your
position on the issue. That’s what makes a passionate presentation or paper.
To help in identifying your position, there are many brainstorming techniques that can
release your thoughts and feelings. Remember, it is important that you can name the
opposing viewpoint too.
Subject:
Issue:
Position:
Side A:
Side B:
WHY?
Why do I or would someone believe A?
--because…
Why?
Why do I or would someone believe B?
--because…
--because…
--because…
--because…
--because…
--because…
--because…
Using some of our examples:
Subject: Bicycling
Issue: Should bicycling lanes be paid for with federal funds?
Position: Bicycling lanes should be paid for with federal funds.
Side A: I believe federal funds should
Side B: I believe that federal funds
pay for bicycling lanes.
should not pay for bicycling lanes.
WHY?
Why do I or would someone believe A?
Why?
Why do I or would someone believe B?
--because…A lot of roads are paid for
with federal funds.
--because…Local road maintenance is
paid for on a state level.
--because…Brain damaged cyclists drive
up health care costs.
--because…Highways are paid for with
federal funds and bicycles are already
restricted from interstates.
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--because…Encouraging healthy citizens
should be a national concern.
--because…Bicycling is overrated.
--because…
--because…
(Write Place).
These position points become the outline for your thesis. You will have to argue these
points, making the case for why you support Side A or Side B. In formal papers, you will
have to build a case for your position with supporting evidence, found in your research.
The best papers and presentations acknowledge the opposing viewpoint. It is up to you to
offer research and evidence that disputes the opposing view.
It really helps if you can narrow your thesis or position. The example above could be
narrowed further by stating I believe federal funds should pay for bicycling lanes in
Charleston County.
If you are still not sure what position you hold on an issue, try one or more of the
brainstorming techniques listed below.
Most of the examples are taken verbatim, with permission from The Cache. Tracy
Duckart. Instructional Website at Humboldt State University., 18 Jan. 2007
<http://www.humboldt.edu/~tdd2/index.htm>. Some modifications were made based on
“How Can We Think of Something to Write?” College of Charleston Writing Lab.
Original source: Neeld, Elizabeth Cowen. Writing, Glenview, Il: Scott, 1986.
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Brainstorming Techniques
(Cache)
Clustering:
Pros: Clustering is a generative tool (i.e. makes use of the unconscious in retrieving
information) that helps us to connect thoughts, feelings, and ideas not connected before.
It allows us to loosely structure ideas as they occur in a shape that allows for the further
generation of ideas. It taps our associative powers in a self-organizing process,
encouraging us to create personally meaningful patterns.
Cons: Clustering can frustrate more linear thinkers, those who need neatness and order to
think clearly.
Clustering is a non-linear brainstorming technique whose results yield a visual
representation of subject and organization. It asks that we be receptive to words and
phrases and to trust our instincts. Start with a stimulus word—the word or phrase that
represents your first, tentative idea of the whole—circled in the center of the page. Then,
as each new word or idea strikes you, give it a new circle and draw a line from it to the
preceding circle. When some new idea occurs, radiate it from the stimulus word or from
any word/phrase that seemed to prompt the new idea or strand. Write quickly and be
sensitive to any emerging structure. Keep clustering until that "aha!" moment, or the
moment when a sense of the whole is achieved, that a structure has made itself known.
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Cubing:
Pros: Cubing is an excellent tool for rapidly exploring a topic. It reveals quickly what
you know and what you don't know, and it may alert you to decide to narrow or expand
your topic.
Cons: Cubing asks us to examine a topic in an unusual way and this may prove
frustrating to some writers. It may at first feel awkward at first to describe something like
abortion and this may cause a writer to abandon this technique or, worse, the topic itself.
Tips for cubing: Cubing asks you to probe your topic from six different perspectives.
First, select a topic (issue, person, idea, event, problem, person, object, scene) and write it
at the top of your page to help you keep it firmly in mind. Use all 6 sides of the cube.
Write fast—allow only 3-5 minutes on each side.
Cube elements:
1. Describe it: Physically describe your topic. What does it look like? What color, shape,
texture, size is it? Identify its parts.
2. Compare it: How is your topic similar to other topics/things? How is it different?
3. Associate it: What other topic/thing does your topic make you think of? Can you
compare it to anything else in your experience? Don't be afraid to be creative here:
include everything that comes to mind.
4. Analyze it: Look at your topic's components. How are these parts related? How is it
put together? Where did it come from? Where is it going?
5. Apply it: What can you do with your topic? What uses does it have?
6. Argue for or against it: What arguments can you make for or against your topic?
(More on Cubing: http://www.humboldt.edu/~tdd2/Cubing.htm)
Dialoguing:
Pros: A dialogue can be especially practical in the invention stage of a narrative or a
persuasive essay. You might also find it useful when searching for topics, looking for
focus, exploring an idea, or considering opposing viewpoints.
Cons: When using dialogues, it is easy to get caught up in characterization, to become
tied to the way you're producing information rather than the information produced.
Dialogues, especially in conjunction with an expository essay, may also engender a too
narrative or too conversational tone when a more objective or reserved tone is
appropriate.
Dialoguing asks that you interact on a personal level with your topic. Just as dialogue
captures a conversation between two people, dialogues involve conversing with your
topic. First you need two characters. You may imagine two particular people or two sides
of an issue, or you may choose to speak as yourself to your topic or aspect of your topic.
You may want to label the speakers "1" and "2," or give them names, to help you keep
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track of who's speaking as you write. Try to keep the dialogue moving fast: don't get
bogged down in rehearsing or planning responses. If you get stuck, have one of the
speakers ask the other a question.
Freewriting:
Pros: Freewriting is a terrific memory stimulator. This activity reminds you of what we
already know and helps you to make connections you might not otherwise make. It helps
you to get past the sterile, static, surface responses so that you can burn through to the
insightful and fresh "meat" of what you really want to say.
Cons: Freewriting is a time-consuming activity and does not guarantee brilliant results. It
is possible to achieve only a clear idea of what you don't want to write.
Freewriting consists of focused but informal writing about the topic at hand. There are
four important rules to this activity:
1. Write for a short, specified time (5, 10, 15 minutes).
2. Keep your hand moving. Don't stop writing until the time is up. If you're having
trouble finding the right word, draw a line and keep going, or use a less than
perfect word in its stead: you can always go back and fix it later. If you can't think
of anything to say, just keep writing you last word, or your name, or "I'm stuck"
over and over again: the words will come.
3. Turn off the internal editor, the one who tells you to go back and dot that "I" and
cross that "t," tells you that this or that idea is stupid, or tells you that you've just
written a run-on sentence or fragment.
4. When the specified time is up, go back over the text and circle the surprises and
draw arrows connecting ideas or themes: identify those passages/ideas/phrases
that should carry over into your text.
Listing:
Pros: List making is, for many, a natural activity and makes concrete or tangible ideas
that might otherwise remain "slippery" in short-term memory. Lists allow you to focus
initially on your ideas rather than the shape, form, or organization of those ideas.
Cons: Lists are linear and rarely allow for associative activity. Too often we feel
restricted, when confronted by our list, to remain true to the order of our initial thinking.
Listing consists of simply making a list of any ideas, in the order in which those ideas
occur, that surface about the subject. Write as fast as you can, and organize those ideas
after you have exhausted the subject.
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Other methods: Looping, Topical Invention
Resources and Works Cited:
The Cache. Tracy Duckart. Instructional Website at Humboldt State University., 18 Jan.
2007 < http://www.humboldt.edu/~tdd2/ >.
Distinguishing Between Subject Area, Topic and Thesis. University of Illinois Center for
Teaching and Learning. 18 Jan. 2007
<http://www.uis.edu/ctl/writing/documents/subjecttopicthesis.pdf >.
“How Can We Think of Something to Write?” College of Charleston Writing Lab.
Original source: Neeld, Elizabeth Cowen. Writing, Glenview, Il: Scott, 1986.
Steps to Library Research . University of Central Florida Libraries. 18 Jan. 2007
<http://library.ucf.edu/Reference/Instruction/ENC1102Tutorial/LibraryResearchI
ntro.asp>.
The Write Place. Lennie Irvin. Writing and Grammar Resource, San Antonio College., 18
Jan. 2007 <http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/lirvin/wguides/arguebrainst.htm>.
College of Charleston Writing Lab, Addlestone Library 1st Floor. No appointment
necessary, Hours: M-TH, 9:00-9:00, Friday, 9:00-12:00 noon. 843.953.5772
http://www.cofc.edu/studentlearningcenter/writing/
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