Broad and Narrow Topics

You need to research a holiday from a different country and create a handout about it for your final product. Which subtopic should be included in your handout?

• Your favorite holiday

• The origins of the holiday

• The number of holidays observed in Spain

• Santa Claus

Most report topics are too broad and must be narrowed. Which topic is the narrowest?

• Asian literature

• Japanese poetry

• Haiku poetry

• World literature

You are about to write a report about the Mayans for social studies. You need to have a list of four questions before you start writing the report. From the five questions below choose one question that would be least helpful for your report.

• Who were the Mayans?

• Why are Mayans studied in school?

• How did Mayans grow their food?

• Where did the Mayans live?

• Why was the Mayan civilization important?

You must write a three-page report for class. Which topic would be the best choice for a three-page paper?

• Animals

• Science

• Elephants

• Mammals

Read the original topic and the revised topic. Decide if the revised topic is broader (less specific) or narrower(more specific) than the original topic.

Initial Topic: Describe what is needed to grow healthy plants.

Revised Topic: Describe the soil composition that works best to grow tomato plants.

• Broader

• Narrower

You are assigned a research project on animals. You need to narrow the topic. Which group below begins with the broadest topic and then moves to the narrowest topic at the end?

• Mammals, wild cats, animals, lions

• Animals, mammals, wild cats, lions

• Lions, wild cats, animals, mammals

• Animals, mammals, lions, wild cats

Read the first topic and the revised topic below. Is the revised topic broader (less specific) or narrower (more specific) than the first topic?

First topic: Many civilizations around the world built pyramids.

Revised topic: More than 100 pyramids were built in Egypt.

• Broader

• Narrower

You are doing a report about astronauts working in space. Which question below is least important to answer for this report?

• How do astronauts breathe when working in space?

• What do astronauts eat in space?

• What happens if astronauts get sick while working in space?

• How do astronauts put out fires working in space?

Which question would be most helpful in finding relevant information if you were doing research about United States westward expansion?

• Who was the President?

• What was the Oregon Trail?

• Where is Mexico?

• When was the United States founded?

You have chosen music as your topic for a research project. This topic is too broad and needs to be narrowed. Which would make a more manageable topic for your research?

• The Beatles

• Rock and roll music

• Music through the ages

• Modern day musical instruments