Topic and Thesis Selection

Subjects, Topics, and Subtopics

It is important at this point to distinguish between a subject and a topic. A subject is a broader area of knowledge from which the topic will arise. Topics are categories of information within a given subject. For example, within the subject of "History," there are many topics "American History," "European History," "Japanese History," "Ancient History," and so forth. Topics can then be broken down into smaller divisions by the process of narrowing. (McClain and Roth, 1999)

Making a distinction between subjects and topics will greatly aid the writer in creating the preliminary framework for writing the essay. One way of determining whether a topic is a good one is if it fits within the boundaries of the selected subject. For example, the topic "Abraham Lincoln's Presidency," would be a good topic under the subject "History," but a poor topic for an essay on botany.

Within each topic are several subtopics, which may have other subtopics within them. For instance, if the subject is "History," a subtopic could be "American History." "Civil War History," a subtopic within "American History," could be selected, and narrowed further to "Abraham Lincoln's Presidency." The topic could be narrowed even further, to something like "Lincoln's Writing of the Gettysburg Address."