TOO BROAD TOO NARROW AND JUST RIGHT TOPICS

TOO BROAD, TOO NARROW, AND JUST RIGHT TOPICS GES Library Mrs. Follmer: Librarian

Writing a research paper for the E. P. A. The research paper leads you into the works of others and asks you to compare their thoughts with your own. Writing a research paper involves going to sources and synthesizing what you learn from them with your own ideas.

How will your topic selection help you write a great E. P. A. paper? You must take particular care to narrow your topic so you don't get lost in a mountain of information. Your topic can not be so broad it complicates the organization of your notes. Broad topics create papers that are too general, and difficult to write. It can not be so narrow there are no sources of information available or maybe just not enough information available to synthesize into two typed pages. .

Order of sources to search Books Reference Books Power Library Databases Educational Videos Websites

Since we are talking about sources… ?

Never cite Wikipedia Teachers realize you're going to use this website at some point. Use the site during your initial stages of research, when you read many sources to familiarize yourself with your topic. After that, go elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with returning to Wikipedia to confirm a fact that you find elsewhere, or for background info, but never cite Wikipedia as a source in your Works Consulted.

Be prepared to be flexible with your topic ! If it is too broad or vague you will find too much information and will need to narrow the focus. If it is too specific or specialized or new, it will be difficult finding enough information to write your paper. In that case, you will need to broaden your idea

Your topic CAN be narrowed or broadened ! Narrowed Topic Narrowing Topic Broadened Topic Broadening

Narrowed Topic Broadened Topic Immigration Into the U. S. now Narrowing Broadening

Narrowed Topic Broadened Topic Immigration in the past and Ellis Island Immigration Into the U. S. now Immigration to other countries in the world

Narrowed Topic Narrowing Topic Broadened Topic Broadening

Narrowed topic Topics Our Solar System Broadened Topic

Narrowed topic Topics Broadened Topic Pluto Our Solar System Our galaxy, the Milky Way

Narrowed Topic Hurricane Katrina Broadened Topic

Narrowed Topic Broadened Topic New Orleans, Louisiana Hurricane Katrina Natural Disasters

Which of these topics is appropriate for the E. P. A. ? Narrowed Topic Broadened Topic Helen Keller ASL American Sign Language Blind Communication. Braille, Voice Activated Technology, ASL

Narrowed Topic ASL American Sign Language Broadened Topic

ASSIGNMENT 1. Narrow and Broaden your topic. 2. Free write at least four sentences about your topic. What I know already… What specifically I am curious about is…

How to list key words • First, write four or more sentences about your topic. • Next, underline all of the specific words in your topic and free write section. • At the bottom, add to your list any other words that mean the same thing (synonyms) or are related terms. • Think of more words or phrases that describe the topic. Add those to the list at the bottom.

Why Key Words ? They are called "key words" because they can "unlock" the doors that will lead you to useful information. They will become your SEARCH WORDS to use during research. You will use them when searching through books (using the index) and on the computer (using search screens in online reference sources or databases or searching the web.

Name Narrowed Topic Teacher Topic Free Write List of Key Words Broadened Topic

Name Teacher Matt Narrowed Topic The World Trade Center Topic 9/11/2001 Mr. Gamauf Broadened Topic Terrorism plots There were airplanes with hijackers. The airplanes were used like bombs. The Twin Towers, and the Pentagon were hit with airplanes. The White House was a target too. The people on Flight 93 stopped the hijackers from crashing into the White House. I want to know how the people on the airplane managed to do that. Hijackers Flight 93 Suicide bombers terrorists Homeland Security Air Marshalls Osama Bin Laden Al Qaeda NY: Fire Department