The Topic Question



Quite simply, a topic question, "...Asks an important and relevant question about your topic that you answer in the form of a written essay." (McClain and Roth, 1999) This question may be one that the writer has created or one that has been asked before by other writers. Take our example of Australia. Various topic questions could include, "What was Australia's role in the latter years of British colonialism?" or "How influential was Captain James Cook in the establishment of the Australian colony?"

It is important to ask the topic question to focus better on the issues at hand for both the writer and the intended readers of the essay. Indeed, this question also leads directly to the creation of the essay's thesis statement. According to McClain and Roth (1999), "When you answer your topic question, you state your judgment or opinion. This is your thesis statement."

To use our two topic questions from above, two potential thesis statements could be created, "Australia played a significant role in the latter years of the British Empire." or "It was actually Joseph Banks, Captain Cook's on-board botanist, who was more influential in establishing the first British colony in Australia." Other thesis statements are also possible, given the topic question.

Here are some other things to consider when creating topic questions. (McClain and Roth, 1999)

1. They should be important and relevant to the topic and subject at hand.


2. Where possible, they should be open-ended to allow for more than one possible outcome.


3. They should be narrow enough as to be possible to answer in the time or space allowed for the essay.