Focus on a Topic
A topic is the specific aspect of a subject on which the writer focuses. Subjects such as literature, television, and sports are too broad to be dealt with adequately in a short composition; even books focus on only aspects of these and other subject areas. The writer’s task is to select a manageable topic within the chosen or assigned subject area. Thus, if your subject is sports, you might choose as your topic the growing popularity of soccer in Canada, violence in hockey, types of fan behaviour, the psychology of marathon runners, or the growth of sports medicine.
When moving from a subject to a particular topic, take into account any length or format constraints and the amount of time you have to write. These are practical considerations that affect the scope of your topic. The following examples illustrate how to limit a topic.
Farming » livestock » cows » dairy cow diseases » parasite control in dairy cows
Music » classical » Haydn » symphonies » Haydn’s Symphony 101
Advertising » TV advertising » TV advertising of food » TV advertising of cereals » TV advertising of high-fiber cereals
Notice that each successive topic is more limited than the one before it. Moving from general to specific, the topics become appropriate for essay-length work.
