文档介绍：English Writing
Choosing a Topic
I. Introduction
All writing begins with a topic. So this is the first important step in the writing of a research paper. An inappropriate decision about a research topic may lead to the failure of the whole research project, or at least a waste of time and energy. You may find it difficult to make a quick decision about the topic.
II. What subjects to discover (确定论文方向)
In the area of language, you may do pure language study of English on its structure and elements such as peculiarities, ics, grammar, vocabulary, discourse, comparisons of English dialects, Briticism, Americanism, Australianism, etc.; or on its uses such as ESP, methods, techniques, changes, approaches, etc. If you want to be more theoretical, you can try any branch of linguistics and its application to language teaching and learning.
In the area of literature, you may apply literary theories and critical methodology to the study of writers, works, literary trends and schools, literary periods, literary criticisms, etc.
III. Selecting a general topic (选一个笼统的题目)
It is advisable to go from the general to the specific in the following way:
In order to discover a good subject for research, you should generate ideas. For this purpose, you may use your personal experiences, especially learning experiences in, for example, attending a lecture or a course; reading a newspaper, a journal, a book or a novel; watching a movie, a TV program and so on. You may also talk with others, your fellow students, your friends, and your teachers in particular, to get enlightenment. The most important thing for you to do is to get help from source materials, especially tertiary sources, such as a table of contents, a book’s index, an encyclopedia article, headlines in periodical indexes, etc.
IV. Formulating the final topic
( 确定最后的题目)
1)It should be a topic that is meaningful and serious.(选定的题目本身应该是有意义的,而且是严肃的)
2)It should be a topic within the range of your abilities.(选定的题目应该是你力所