You've Been Assigned a Topic_MB_6/15/25

You've Been Assigned a Topic

You’re a freshman in Writing 150. Your professor assigns a topic for the final research paper: Environmental Science. Problem: You don't know much about it. It feels vague and a little intimidating.

What do you do?

(Click the option you want to explore.)

Look up the topic and try to find a piece of it that interests you

Panic and avoid it for a while

Ask your professor to let you write about something else

Digging into Environmental Science

You start with the Wikipedia page for Environmental Science. It's more approachable than you thought.

You find two areas that spark your interest:

• Wildlife Conservation
• Endangered Animals

Where do you want to explore next?

Endangered Animals

Wildlife Conservation

Go back and explore another option

Procrastination Nation

You decide to ignore the assignment and hope inspiration magically appears. A week goes by. Deadline: now much closer. Stress: much higher. Maybe it's time to look up what Environmental Science is about after all.

Go Back and Research

Negotiating a New Topic

You ask your professor if you can write about something else. They say: “I want you to learn how to engage with unfamiliar material–but you're free to focus on any angle of environmental science.” Okay. So maybe the key is connecting it to something you do care about.

Try Relating It to Your Interests

What You Care About

You reflect on your own interests:

• Ferrets (you had a pet ferret as a kid!)
• Journalism (you're curious about storytelling and media)

Can these interests intersect with environmental science?

Go back and choose a new subtopic

Explore Possible Research Prompts

Focus: Endangered Animals

You're thinking big-picture. Time to get specific.

Consider:

• A specific species?
• What's threatening them?
• Are protection efforts working?

Example Questions:

• How effective are ferret conservation programs?
• What role does habitat loss play in extinction?

Try a different subtopic

Begin research

Focus: Wildlife Conservation

You're thinking big-picture. Time to get specific.

Consider:

• What kind of conservation efforts?
• Who's involved–governments, orgs, individuals?
• What makes conservation hard?

Example Questions:

• Do wildlife corridors reduce habitat loss?
• How does media shape conservation support?

Try a different subtopic

Begin research

Your Unique Angle

You merge your environmental science subtopics and your interests. Here are a couple of compelling questions you brainstorm:

• How effective are current efforts to protect the endangered population of black-footed ferrets?
• How does journalism impact public understanding of wildlife conservation efforts?

Suddenly, the assignment feels doable–maybe even exciting. You've made the topic your own.

Go back and tweak your angle

Begin the research process

Ready to Go

You took a topic you knew nothing about and turned it into something you care about. 🎯 Now it's time to:

• Refine your research question
• Gather credible sources
• Make an outline
• Start writing!

You're no longer just doing the assignment–you're exploring a topic that actually matters to you.

Start Over