Topics / Themes
The themes from your book are listed below. Be sure to take a close look at the readings for the theme in which you are interested. It is possible that these writings include the name of sources you can use. Also look to see if there is a Works Cited or bibliography included with the readings.
Language: Do Words Matter?
Free Speech: Endangered on Campus?
U.S. History: How Do We Remember our Past?
A College Education: How Valuable is It?
Race: Does it Still Matter?
Diversity and Identity: How Well is American Immigration Working?
Guns: Can the Second Amendment Survive?
Prisons, Police, and Punishment: Is Our Criminal Justice System Broken?
Our Battered Economy: Is the American Dream Over?
Marriage: What Does it Mean Today?
Gender: What are the Issues Today?
The Climate Crisis: Have We Reached the Point of No Return?
Narrowing Your Topic
Developing Search Terms
Picking Your Topic IS Research
Narrowing Your Topic
Examples of Narrowing Down Your Topic
Use the last column to help you develop your research question.
Research Question=the question your paper is trying to answer