Introductions and Topic Exploration Part 2

QUESTION

Research and Writing

Week 1 – Discussion

Introductions and Topic Exploration

1. Find a Category: Begin with a broad subject—too big to be a good essay topic, but a great starting place as you’re trying to decide what areas to explore. On the next page, you’ll choose two categories that interest you.
2. Break It Down: Once you have a category, you can break it down into smaller parts or types that you might want to investigate. These subcategories can be different aspects or areas of your category. They could also be things like jobs or locations involved in your category. For each of your selected categories, think of three types or areas that you may want to investigate. There are plenty of possibilities, as you can see with the example below.
3. Identify Issues: Take each one of your parts or subcategories and look for three issues, controversies, or trends that you might want to write about. Searching for news stories about one of your subcategories is a good way to uncover current issues related to it.
4. Get Specific: Once you have your list of issues, controversies, or trends, it’s time to get specific. Take the one that seems most interesting to you, and think about the impact it has on particular people, places, or things. Who or what is affected by it? Where do they live, or what industry do they work in? How are they impacted?
5. Choose Your Topic: Once you’ve thought about the details of your issue, you’re ready to craft your essay topic—an issue or subject affecting specific people or things in a particular way. Decide which idea interests you the most and use the results of your brainstorming to craft a statement of your topic. Your topic should bring together a specific issue, what or whom that issue affects, and how it affects them.

ANSWER

Introductions and Topic Exploration Part 2

Step 1: Categories

1. Technology
2. Health care systems

Step 2: Subcategories

1. Technology:

• Virtual reality
• Social media
• Robotics

2. Healthcare systems:

• Universal health coverage
• Health insurance
• Government spending

Step 3: Identification of Issues

1. Technology:

• Virtual reality – virtual reality therapy.
• Social media – social media marketing.
• Robotics – delivery drones.

2. Health care systems:

• Universal health care – ethical issues.
• Health insurance – healthcare intermediaries.
• Government spending – cost of medicine and health care services.

Step 4: Get Specific

Category: Technology

Part: Social Media

Issue: Social media marketing

Who is affected? : Entrepreneurs and marketing executives

How are they affected? : An opportunity for marketing their businesses

Category: Health care services

Part: Government spending

Issue: The cost of medicine and supplies

Who is affected? : The citizens of the United States

How are they affected? : The cost of acquiring health care services and medicine either increases or decreases.

Step 5: Topic Selected:

Category: Technology

Part: Social Media

Issue: Social media marketing

Who is affected? : Entrepreneurs and marketing executives

How are they affected? : An opportunity for marketing their businesses

Topic Selected: The application of social media for business marketing.

An investigation of the opportunity that social media provides for business people and marketing executives in terms of marketing. The various methods through which businesses may utilize social media platforms for marketing and advertising will be investigated.