How to Write an Essay Topic
If you're just starting out your teaching career, or if you're a teaching assistant whose job is to write essay topics for the first time, you probably have a good idea of where to begin with essay topics. You need to identify a specific topic for your students to write about, and you need to clarify the direction in which they should take their responses. However, there are additional elements to think about if you want to make sure your assigned essay topics are top-notch.
Instructions
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Identify the skill-set or the specific knowledge you want your students to demonstrate when they respond to the essay topic. For example, a skill-set may include incorporating sources into writing and analyzing them effectively; specific knowledge may include a student's understanding of a specific historical event, scientific procedure, or literary work.
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Seek to make the topic meaningful to the students. For lower-level classes, as well as some higher-level classes, it's helpful to link the topic to contemporary issues or to issues outside of the classroom that are familiar to students, such as ideas they've raised in class. With higher-level classes, emphasizing analytical thinking and original thinking within the field of study can make the topic more meaningful.
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If the students are completing the essay outside of class, create a specific enough topic that plagiarism will be difficult. Linking the essay to student-generated discussion topics and local issues can go far to make stymie plagiarism.
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Define the audience so students know who they're writing for. Often, students assume that the instructor is the intended audience. However, that makes students feel as if they don't need to explain concepts in detail -- because, clearly, the instructor is already familiar with the concepts. Identifying the class as a whole as the audience or identifying a "real world" audience can help students better explain their ideas.
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Provide process-oriented suggestions in the essay topic, or an entire step-by-step process, especially if you're teaching a lower-level or remedial class. Breaking the assignment down into clear-cut steps can help students more effectively complete it, and learn more about the process.
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Let students know the type of writing you expect, using keywords that they will understand. Clarifying whether you want a narrative, synthesis, analysis, summary or other type of writing will ensure that students take the right approach overall.
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List your evaluation criteria clearly, showing students what percentage of their grade is linked to each component of the essay. Placing that on your essay topic assignment sheet helps avoid student confusion and grade challenges.
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Include all the details, such as the minimum and maximum page number, the number of sources required (if any), formatting required, and the type of overall academic style, such as APA or MLA, if applicable.
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