How to Choose a Topic for Your Senior Paper

Your senior paper is definitely the most important paper of your high school career. Unfortunately, it can also be the most uninteresting paper to write. However, seeing as it is usually a requirement to graduate, you might as well get started. If you're looking for some ideas to use as a topic for your senior paper, this guide may be helpful to you.

Brainstorm ideas - Since elementary school, you may have noticed that your teachers have been strong advocates of brainstorming. Brainstorming is typically taught in early grades. Everyone in class will offer up some suggestions, not only giving you more to choose from, but also providing a broader spectrum of senior paper topics from which to choose. Use these ideas! Write them down so you can look through them later on. Even if nothing strikes your interest right away, your list of senior paper topics may spark other ideas when you look at it again.

Narrow it down - Now it's time to make that fantastic list of senior paper topics get shorter. You don't want to write eighteen different senior papers, so first cross off any topics that made it onto your list from the brainstorming session that you are completely unfamiliar with or have no interest in. If you pick a topic for your senior paper that you already know at least a little something about, you will find the overall process of writing your paper easier and less time consuming. Using this logic, continue narrowing down your list of senior paper topics until you have five to seven topics that you know the most about.

Choose a topic that has easily accessible information - As soon as you have a shorter list of potential senior paper topics that you know a little bit about, it's time to hit the books. Don't do too much work, as you're not writing yet, but see which topics are easier to research than others. One foolproof way to see what senior paper topics might fall into this category, head to your school or city library. Type each topic into the subject search of their catalog and see what comes up. If one senior paper topic brings up twenty seven books and another brings up only three, you can make a pretty fair assumption about which of these two topics will require less hassle on your part.

Choose a topic that you are actually interested in - School work is always easier to do when you're interested in the subject, and writing your senior paper is no exception. If you're into Science, you might consider topics like stem cell research or genetic birth defects. If you're into music, you might come up with a unique senior paper topic like covering the controversial misconceptions of "Screamo". The bottom line is that there is something out there for everyone to not only be interested in writing about, but also to get a good grade on. The more interested you are, the better your writing will be.