English 101: English Composition I: Picking a Topic

Freewriting - a writing exercise in which a person writes quickly and continuously, with a free association of ideas, especially as a means of initiating a more focused composition.

Example:

Questioning - ask a series of questions and write responses to them. Most common way is to ask who, what, when, why, where, and how questions?

Example:

Three (3) Perspectives - to examine something from a different perspective to see it mor completely, or at least in a completely different way.

This strategy requires you to answer of set of questions for each of the three perspectives, then look for interesting relationships or mismatched you can explore:

1. Describe it:
   • Describe your subject in detail.
   • What is your topic?
   • What are its components?
   • What are its interesting or distinguishing features?
   • What are its puzzles?
   • Distinguish you subject from those that are similar to it.
   • How is you subject unlike others?
2. Trace it: 
   • What is the history of your subject?
   • How has it changed over time? Why?
   • What are the significant events that have influenced you subject?
3. Map it:
   • What is you subject related to?
   • What is it influenced by? How?
   • What does it influence? How?
   • Who has a stake in your topic? Why?
   • What fields do you draw on for study of your subject? Why?
   • How has your subject been approached by others?
   • How is their work related to yours?

Listing or Bulleting - to create a list of ideas that you stop and think about as you create.

Example:

Clustering - creating a word map to create a visual image of your ideas.

Example:

Cubing - looking at your topic from six different directions, just as a cube is six-sided.

On a clean sheet of paper, consider your topic, and respond to these six commands:

1. Describe it.
2. Compare it.
3. Associate it.
4. Analyze it.
5. Apply it.
6. Argue for and against it.