Topic Development Exercise

Part I

What happened in the Darfur region of Western Sudan this past year?

Weak question because it is too broad. A lot can happen in a year. I would suggest asking about the three major events of the past year, or asking specifically about particular event.

Did news coverage of the poor conditions at the U.S. Military’s Walter Reed Medical Center result in improved care of the veterans housed there?

Good Question, specific enough to evoke an accuracy, and broad enough for the answer to be interesting.

Did Germany invade Poland during the Second World War?

Weak question, though straight to the point, it leads to a yes or no answer. I would add on to the question, keeping it as is and then adding "to what cause"?

Does the media cause eating disorders in women?

Broad question, though not a bad one. It too is answerable with yes or no, therefore I would insist on changing it to "which genre of media causes more women to develop eating disorders"?

Is there evidence that vocational training programs in California prisons impact recidivism (re-offense) rates?

Good question, but it would be beneficial to ask also where the evidence comes from as well as its accuracy so as to avoid yes or no answers.

Part II

In order to prepare myself to speak about a topic for one minute I would do some research naturally. But first I would be sure to choose a topic that I am comfortable and interested in enough to do the research and of course talk about. Indeed it would be a process of selection, choosing the sub topics that would make the overall topic come together. Then of course I would apply the knowledge that I have with the knowledge that I have gained adding an improvised analysis during the one minute exactly at the point where I have that a-ha feeling.

Some ways to narrow the focus of a research topic is to discard the topics that are not of the most importance or relevance. Another idea is to talk about the topics and hear what doesn't flow. Tactical topic cuts are the best way however, by using the Goldilocks method and finding the Just Right topics, sub-topics, and information, one can easily cut out the filler. In many cases, less is more.