DOCUMENT RESUME ED 470 655 CS 511 615 TITLE What Can I Write about? 7,000 Topics for High School Students. Second Edition, Revised and Updated. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. ISBN ISBN-0-8141-5654-1 PUB DATE 2002-00-00 NOTE 153p.; Based on the original edition by David Powell (ED 204 814). AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock no. 56541-1659: $17.95, members; $23.95, nonmembers). Tel: 800-369-6283 (Toll Free); Web site: http://www.ncte.org. PUB TYPE Books (010) Guides Classroom Learner (051) Guides Classroom Teacher (052) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS High Schools; *Writing (Composition); Writing Assignments; *Writing Instruction; *Writing Strategies IDENTIFIERS Genre Approach; *Writing Topics ABSTRACT Substantially updated for today's world, this second edition offers chapters on 12 different categories of writing, each of which is briefly introduced with a definition, notes on appropriate writing strategies, and suggestions for using the book to locate topics. Types of writing covered include description, comparison/contrast, process, narrative, classification/division, cause-and-effect writing, exposition, argumentation, definition, research-and-report writing, creative writing, and critical writing. Ideas in the book range from the profound to the everyday to the topical--e.g., describe a terrible beauty; write a narrative about the ultimate eccentric; classify kinds of body alterations. With hundreds of new topics, the book is intended to be a resource for teachers and students alike. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the on inal document. What Can I Write About? 7,000 Topics for High School Students PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Second Edition Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this dis document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. AVAILABLE 2 BEST COPY I"at Ca I Write About? 7,000 Topics for High School Students Second Edition Revised and Updated Based on the Original by David Powell National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 3 Staff Editors: Kurt Austin, Zarina Hock, Tom Tiller Book Design: Tom Jaczak NCTE Stock Number: 56541-3050 ©2002 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the member- ship at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data What can I write about? : 7,000 topics for high school students. 2nd ed., rev. and updated. p. cm. "Based on the original by David Powell." Rev. ed. of: What can I write about? / David Powell. c1981. ISBN 0-8141-5654-1 (pbk.) 1. English languageComposition and exercises. 2. Creative writing (Secondary education) I. National Council of Teachers of English. II. Powell, David, 1934- What can I write about? LB1631 .P66 2002 808'.042'0712dc21 2002015465 4 Contents Acknowledgment vii Preface to the First Edition ix Foreword xi 1 Description 1 Nature and Natural Settings 2 Creature Life 3 Human Beings, Individuals 4 Human Beings, Groups 8 Places and Things 9 Senses, Intangibles 11 Actions/Miscellaneous 12 Celebrations 13 2 Comparison/Contrast 14 People 15 Human Conditions 17 Science and Nature 18 Language 19 Education, Knowledge 20 Places, Perspectives 20 Economy, Trade 21 Measurement 22 Art and Entertainment 22 Past and Present 22 Analogy 23 3 Process 25 Food and Drink 26 Writing 26 Education, Learning Processes 26 History 27 Nature 27 Human-and-Creature Processes 28 Games, Sports, Outdoor Activities 28 Religion 29 Airplanes, Air Travel 29 Cars, Road Travel 29 Travel, Travel Preparation 29 iii 5 iv Contents Telecommunication and Audiovisual Processes 29 Grooming 29 Sleep/Sleep Processes 30 Entertaining, Social Arrangements 30 Safety 30 Medicine, Physiology, Health 30 Constructions, Constructing 31 Repairing, Cleaning, Inspecting 31 Art, Handicrafts, Domestic Arts 31 Plant Life 31 Money, Business, Saving, Theft, Economics 32 Film, Film Media, Photography 32 Language, Information, Communication 33 Mechanical and Chemical Processes 33 Psychology, Emotions, Social Actions 33 Law 34 Government, Politics 34 Miscellaneous Processes 34 4 Narrative 36 Domestic, Personal, and Autobiographical Narratives37 Dreams, Fantasies, Make-Believe 40 Sports and Their Metaphors 40 Travel, Adventure 41 Mystery 42 Miscellaneous 42 5 Classification/Division 44 Animal Life 45 Intellectual, Psychological, and Emotional 45 Perceptions and Reactions Law 45 Human-Made Structures 46 Natural Phenomena 46 Arts and Entertainment 46 Sociopolitical Concerns 47 Religion, Myth, Worldviews 47 Communication and Rhetoric 47 Work, Customs, and Ways of People 48 6 Cause and Effect 50 Art, Drama, Music, Graphics, Film, Etc. 52 Biological Sciences 52 Business, Office, or Bureaucracy 53 Children 53 Economics 53 Education 54 Environment 55 Contents v Ethics and Philosophy 55 Government, Politics 57 Health 58 History 58 Language 59 Law, Crime 60 Literature, Writing 60 Media 61 Physical Science 62 Psychology 62 Religion 64 Social Science (Sociology, Social Theory, Etc.) 64 Sports and Physical Activities 65 7 Exposition 66 Professions, Occupations 67 Commerce, Finance, Economy, Economics 67 Sports, Entertainment 68 Education 68 Law 69 Travel, Transportation 70 Animals, Plants, Natural Phenomena 70 Religion, Beliefs 71 The Media, Rhetoric, Communication 71 Health, Medicine 72 Politics, Government, History 73 8 Argumentation 75 Education, Learning, Experience 76 Law 78 Government, Politics 80 War and Peace, Strife, Violence 82 Athletics, Outdoor Activities 83 Freedom, Free Will 83 Transportation 83 Eating, Drinking, Health 84 Religion, Ethics 84 Medicine, Psychology 84 Science and Progress 85 Language and Communication 85 Society, Social Interaction 86 Economy, Employment 87 Time and Eternity, Life Pursuits, Death and Life 87 9 Definition 89 Human Beings and Human Types for Definition 91 Human Conditions, Human Relations, Sociology 98 Nonhuman Life/Creatures 100 7 vi Contents Paradox 101 Psychology and the Mind, Emotions 101 Ambiguity, Infinity, and the Kitchen Sink 101 A Game of Fictionary 107 10Research and Report 108 Individual Personalities 109 Places, Events, Conditions 113 World Peoples, Ancient and Modern 114 War, Political Strife, Wartime Conditions 114 and Operations Philosophical, Political, and Religious Groups 115 or Movements Nonhuman Creature Life 116 Language-Related Subjects 116 Medical Subjects 117 Inventions, Devices, Operations 118 Natural Phenomena 118 Written Media, Special Books 118 Education 118 Professions, Occupations, Employment 119 Human-Made Constructions and Designs 119 Sports, Entertainments, Recognitions 120 Sciences, Studies, Skills, Inquiries, 120 Observations of the Universe Flora and Derivatives 121 Media and Media Events 121 Miscellaneous 121 11 Creative Writing 123 Brainstorming Fictional Themes 125 Questions, Titles, Assignments, and Brainstormers 129 for the Short Story, Novel, Novella, and Fiction Sketch Human Beings and Types for Creative Writing 131 Subjects Creative Language 132 Song and Poetry 133 Creative Writing for a Children's Audience 133 Other Creative Exercises 134 Fun with the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 135 12 Critical Writing 136 Common Themes in Literature for Critical Analysis 138 Acknowledgment We are deeply grateful to David Powell for creating original ideas remain. It is for this reason that we the first edition of this book more than two decades have retained David Powell's preface to the first edi- ago. Although we have brought the twenty-first cen- tion and most of his introductory comments to indi- tury into the book, his framework and many of his vidual chapters. vii Preface to the First Edition The question all composition students ask"What come up with on their own. Certainly one of the first can I write about?"is answered more than 7,000 aims of teaching is to bring students to self-discov- times in this volume. The teacher in search of as- ery, and it is no small accomplishment if, by looking signments can simply glance down any page of a outside, students are brought to look within themselves. desired category of writing and see countless ideas Notes heading each of the chapters in What Can I spring forth. Appeals are made throughout the book Write About? briefly define the different kinds of to a comprehensive range of interests, knowledge, writing, tell how to write them, and indicate how the experience, feelings, and thoughts; there is an abun-