CHOOSING & NARROWING A TOPIC
Explore Your Interests
Now that you've learned something about this year's theme from the previous section, Understanding the Theme, it's time to think about what topic you would like to research.
When you are thinking about selecting a topic for History Day, ask yourself some of the following questions.
-
What subjects do you like to study?
-
What do you like to read?
-
What do you like to learn about in school?
-
What topics have you enjoyed learning about in your history, social studies, literature, math, or science classes?
Use your answers to these questions to learn more about topics that interest you in a library database called Britannica School (try the search box below). Can you find an encyclopedia article from this database on some of the things that interest you? Remember to keep your search focused on the History Day theme. Is there a topic that particularly stands out to you?
Narrow Your Topic
Once you have selected a topic that interests you, let's work on narrowing it to provide a clearer focus for your research.
Most topics are just too big. For example, if you were interested in the Civil Rights Movement in America, that topic would be too broad for our research project. That topic has many parts or sub-topics. You need to ask yourself what interests you about the Civil Rights Movement in America.
-
Are you most interested in a specific act of protest during the Civil Rights Movement?
-
Are you more interested in a person who had a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement?
The image below illustrates how you might narrow your focus from a broad topic to one that's more narrow and specific.
We started with the Civil Rights Movement in America. We decided that we were interested in that movement's opposition to Racial Segregation, which is just one of the things involved in that movement. One example of opposing Racial Segregation during the Civil Rights Movement was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. And a specific individual involved in that boycott was Rosa Parks.
You can see how we went from a very broad topic to a much more narrow and specific topic. You'll want to do this as well in order to make your History Day topic manageable.
You Try!
Now, you try narrowing your topic!
You can work on narrowing your topic by writing it down on paper, on a Google Doc, or by using an online brainstorming tool like bubbl.us.
To help you narrow your topic, think about people, events, and accomplishments related to your topic. Use Britannica School (try the search box below) to identify and explore those people, events, and accomplishments.
Once you've chosen your narrowed topic focused on a specific event in history or person and accomplishment, write your narrowed topic in your History Day Research Notes.
What's Next?
With a specific, narrowed topic you are now ready to move on to the next step.
As you begin to research your topic your focus may shift. Don't worry! That's all a part of the research process. Click on the button below to move on to the next section.