Assignment task: Brainstorm some ideas that you'd like to research for your argument paper. Pick three of those ideas and answer the following questions for each idea:
1. What is the topic you have chosen?
2. Why does this interest you?
3. What is your claim or position in regards to the idea? For instance, do not tell me that you want to write about smoking; tell me specifically what you plan on writing about involving smoking. If you want take the position that smoking is dangerous to your health, you need to state that. (And no, you cannot use this topic for your paper.)
4. If you pursue your argument, why is it important?
5. What will readers learn from it?
6. How will it illuminate a text or help you to answer a problem?