Academic Writing—Brainstorming for a Topic

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For those who have decided to accept “The Research Challenge,” please select a topic that will hold your interest for the rest of the semester because you’ll be working with it until May.

First, you should be aware that there are two types of argumentative essays:

1. Issue Essay (Arguing a Position)

In an issue essay, you take a position on an issue (usually controversial and up for debate), defend it, and try to convince your audience to accept your viewpoint.

2. Call-to-Action Essay (Proposing a Solution to a Problem)

In a call-to-action essay, you define the problem (which most reasonable people would agree is a problem), propose some solutions to the problem, argue why your solution is the best possible choice, and why your solution(s) should be adopted by your audience. For example,

In the U.S., universal health care is currently being widely debated; most reasonable people believe that our health care system is broken and needs to be fixed. However, there is lively debate regarding HOW the health-care crisis should be solved.

In Macedonia, just about everyone agrees that there is a “brain-drain” problem (smart young people leaving the country to find jobs abroad), but there may be disagreement as to how to solve this serious national crisis.

But where to start? Brainstorming!

BRAINSTORMING! (Issue Essay)
1. Develop a Broad Topic.

Find an interesting controversial issue, such as “The Macedonian Question.”

2. Narrow your focus.

Develop a specific research question so that you can cover the issue in 500-700 words, for example,

Should Macedonia risk losing inclusion in the European Union by insisting on retaining ‘Macedonia’ as its name?

3. Research your issue first on Wikipedia and then other sources.

Wikipedia, a good preliminary source, will reveal if your topic is viable and may offer, in its reference section, some great research sources, both online and offline. However, you may NOT use Wikipedia as a source for your final paper. Everybody loves Wikipedia, but its authors, not vetted by Wikipedia editors, can be wildly inaccurate or can have specific agendas to push or axes to grind.
Check to see if valid and authoritative online sources are available for your issue; otherwise, you will not be able to support your viewpoint.

4. Assuming that your preliminary search proves that your topic is viable, consider the issue from several perspectives—even if you think you already know your own position on it.

This process will help you see the issue in different ways and formulate your counterarguments.

5. Develop your thesis.

Take a position by answering your original research question:

Macedonia should insist on retaining “Macedonia” as its name, for history and the future of Macedonian identity are more important than the current economic crisis.

OR
In the interest of economic viability, Macedonia should adopt another name so that inclusion into the European will be more likely.

6. Define your purpose for writing the essay (other than the essay has been assigned to you), for example,

“My purpose is to convince reasonable fellow citizens and sympathetic Greeks that my position on this issue is the best viewpoint to endorse.”

7. Define your audience.

For example, your audience for the above topic should be fellow Macedonian and Greek citizens and politicians who may be indifferent to or wavering on the issue. Why?

• Explaining the naming question to the entire planet would require too much background and historical information, which is beyond the scope of a 500-700 word paper. In this case, your audience ought to have some basic knowledge about the issue as opposed to John Doe from Peoria, Illinois, who will have zero knowledge about the Macedonian Naming Question.

• It would be futile to try convincing hardcore opponents, so you may have to concede that particular audience to the other side of the issue.

• There is no point in trying to convince your supporters. You already “own” them (In the U.S., this is referred to as “Singing to the Choir”).

So if you know that your audience will consist of both Macedonians and Greeks who are indifferent or not quite sure what to think about the Macedonian Naming Question, you have a real opportunity to persuade many of them to adopt your viewpoint by tailoring your argument specifically to them.

8. Counterarguments:

List every possible counterargument to your viewpoint (as you delve deeper into your research, you may discover even more counterarguments) and think about how you might recognize, refute and/or accommodate them.

BRAINSTORMING! (Call-to-Action Essay)
1. Develop a broad topic.

Find a current problem, one in which there is little debate as to the existence of the problem. In other words, if the problem itself is not widely recognized as a problem, then any proposed solution would be pointless. For example, the Macedonian Naming Question would be too controversial and open to debate. However, “solving the financial crisis in Macedonia” would be a good broad topic because few Macedonians would disagree that a financial crisis exists.

2. Narrow your focus.

Develop a specific research question so that you can cover the your proposed solution in 500-700 words, for example,

How can Macedonia stop the “Brain-Drain” problem, resulting in the systematic loss of our best and brightest young people who immigrate to foreign countries for job opportunities?”

3. Research your problem first on Wikipedia and then other sources.

Wikipedia, a good preliminary source, will reveal if your topic is viable and may offer, in its reference section, some great research sources, both online and offline. However, you may NOT use Wikipedia as a source for your final paper. Everybody loves Wikipedia, but its authors, not vetted by Wikipedia editors, can be wildly inaccurate or can have specific agendas to push or axes to grind.

Check to see if valid and authoritative online sources are available for your issue; otherwise, you will not be able to support your viewpoint.

In this case, for support of your solutions, you might find examples of how other countries are working with their “Brain-Drain” problem and how others have solved the problem. You are not likely to find specific proposed solutions for Macedonia in a global resource. You may need to find regional local resources, such as local newspapers, magazines, and books.

4. Assuming that your preliminary research proves that your topic is viable, consider several different solutions to the problem—even if you think you already know what solutions to propose.

For a call-to-action essay, it’s best to keep an open mind because your research may reveal better solutions than your original ones. At the very least, this process will help you see the different ways in which a problem can be solved and will help formulate your counterarguments—in this case, opposing solutions.

5. Develop your thesis.

Answer your original research question by offering some proposed solutions within your thesis sentence:

Macedonia can stop the “Brain-Drain” problem, which results in the systematic immigration of our best and brightest young people to foreign countries for job opportunities, by implementing the following solutions (Proposed Solution #1) , (Proposed Solution #2), and (Proposed Solution #3).

6. Define your purpose for writing the essay (other than the essay has been assigned to you), for example,

“My purpose is to offer the best possible solutions for solving the “Brain-Drain” problem that currently plagues Macedonia.”

7. Define your audience.

For example, your audience for the above topic should be fellow Macedonian citizens and politicians who may agree that there is a problem but who may at a loss as to how to solve this growing problem. Why just a Macedonian audience?

• Offering Macedonian solutions to the entire planet would be irrelevant and beyond the scope of a 500-700 word paper. In this case, your audience ought to have some basic knowledge about the problem as it pertains to Macedonia. While it is true that Joe Smith in Detroit, Michigan, may have similar Brain-Drain concerns (given the state of the U.S. auto industry as workers flee to other cities and states), any proposed solutions for Detroit are likely to be different from that of Macedonia.

• With your proposed solutions tailored just for a Macedonian audience, you will not have to explain the historical background to your audience.

So if you keep your audience small and focused, you have a real opportunity to offer in-depth solutions to a specific problem.

8. Counterarguments:

List every possible alternative solution to the problem and think about how you might recognize, refute and/or accommodate them (as you delve deeper into your research, you may discover even more alternative solutions).

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