Developing a Topic through Reading

As you read, look for unanswered questions, for positions you can take about some controversial aspect, for general statements you can apply to specific situations and for techniques you can use to investigate a related topic. Below are some questions (in red) that may spur your thought and some suggestions for paper topics (in blue) that may arise from them:

 

• What is being assumed (taken for granted) in this passage? Does your experience or the other material you have read lead you to accept or to question the assumptions? Why?
• Question the writer's argument by pointing out unjustified assumptions. Analyze the assumptions underlying a particular argument, telling what they are and upon what basis they rest.

 

• If what the passage says is true, what follows from the statements in the passage? Are you satisfied and comfortable with those implications? Why or why not? If not, does your judgment affect your evaluation of the passage?
• Apply a general rule, theory, or principle to a particular individual or situation.

 

• Does the passage assert a causal connection or a relationship between events and conditions? Is the asserted connection sound in its reasoning and evidence (Common sense will often help!).
• Question or support the causal connection or the relationship.

 

• Does the passage contain terms that different people might define differently? Does the author define terms? Are the author's definitions compatible with your experience? With definitions of other writers on the same subject? If not, why not?
• Define terms. Analyze the different ways terms are defined by various people in the field.

 

• Does the passage assert a value judgment concerning an idea/object/incident? Are the criteria for such a judgment made clear? Are they fairly applied?
• Question the value judgment. Assert and defend a value judgment. Analyze the various possible judgments.

 

• What would you need in order to prove or confirm the statements made in the passage?
• Question the proof and evidence for a statement. Collect and present proof or additional proof for a statement made or implied in the passage.

 

• Does the passage assert a generalization (conclusion based upon evidence about individual instances)?
• Question the evidence behind the generalization. Gather additional evidence to support a generalization.

 

• In what sense does the passage or incident present a problem requiring or inviting someone to do something? How might you move toward solving it?
• Analyze what causes the problem. Suggest some solutions to the problem. Compare various solutions.

 

• Does the passage place a person/object/event into a category or class? Is this classification acceptable to you? Why or why not? What follows from the classification? What is affected by it?
• Suggest a new classification. Discuss the ways in which different people have classified the person/object/event.

 

• Does the incident or passage call to mind any similar incidents or passages or assertions in your experience? How are these items similar? Different? What, if anything, do you learn from examining these similarities and differences?
• Compare incidents or passages. Explore what you learned from examining similarities and differences.