Choosing an essay topic is one of the most important parts of writing an essay or paper. It also is one of the most difficult parts of building the essay. However, here are some important tips in choosing the essay topic:

  • Select something that interests you,
  • Choose something you know about.

Topic selection must be specific. Because of this, it is impossible to cover all aspects of a broad topic in the scope of a single essay. For example, the topic “the Internet” is a general one. You may want to write on something more specific which will give a deeper and more detailed discussion of this topic, such as "Microsoft's contribution to the development of online games."

General subject: Internet
Narrowed topic: Facebook
Specific topic: How Facebook influences us

After you decide to choose the topic for your essay or paper, start researching that topic, brainstorm, and make an outline. As you research your topic, make notes and record all you learn. This will make it easier to form an outline from the notes you have taken.

Here are suggestions for choosing the essay topic (below):

Descriptive Essays Analogy Essays
Exemplification Essays Narrative Essays
Comparison and Contrast Essays Classification Essays
Cause and Effect Essays Argument and Persuasion Essays
Process Analysis Essays Definition Essays