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Choosing a term paper topic

The first step in preparing any term paper is to choose a topic.   Sometimes the instructor assigns a topic or provides a list from which to make a selection.   More often, the student is allowed to pick his own topic, or at least to limit a given subject for his own use.

The instructor usually indicates the desired length of the term paper, whether in terms of “approximately” so many words or “not less than” so many pages, and he also announces the date when the paper will be due.

These requirements – and the demands of other courses—impose practical limitations upon the student when he undertakes to choose or to limit a specific topic.

A few suggestions may help the student make his decision. The most important thing for him to consider is his own interest.   Unless his own interest is aroused, what he writes is unlikely to prove interesting to his reader.   A personal interest, then, coupled with a desire to learn more about the subject, should suggest a particular topic for a term paper.

For a term paper in literature, a student who already knows a good deal about botany might choose to study the flower symbols used in some of Shakespeare’s plays.   For a course in European history, an art student might want to investigate pagan influences on Christian architecture.   Articles in magazines or newspapers often suggest topics.   Or by scanning a general textbook in a favorite course—say in geography, or in economics, or in psychology—the student ought to be able to find some aspect of the subject that will excite his curiosity. Such an aspect may serve as the basis for a term paper.

Besides interest and curiosity, there is another factor that will limit the choice of term paper topic:   the availability of material.   The student must have access to relevant books, reference works, and periodicals from which to gather the data for his term paper.   Some earlier knowledge of the general subject and a certain amount of preliminary library work will help him estimate how much pertinent material is available.   And by “available” Is meant immediately at hand—that is, books and articles in nearby libraries.

Once the student discovers that adequate material is apparently available, he should set about further limiting his topic.   Lack of time, of background knowledge, and of access to authoritative works will make it impossible to develop a comprehensive term paper on a large subject.   What the student can hope to do is cover completely and competently a single facet of his original choice of topic.

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