Since civic engagement is the theme of SPE 113, the speeches you prepare for the course should be related to social and political issues that affect you and your community.
For your speeches, you may choose a topic that has already come up in class readings and discussions. Alternatively, you may focus on other issue of public concern.
To get an idea for a topic that is current, browse through news and magazine sites. Check out the following:
After you have come up with an idea for a speech and done some preliminary research, you will need to focus your topic.
You should be able to narrow down your topic by considering the following questions:
For more ideas on how to focus your topic, take a look at this guide from the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. It shows how to move from a broad idea to a focused research question.
The table below also shows how to narrow down a general topic.
General Topic | Topic Narrowed Down a Bit | Topic Narrowed Down Even More |
Youth violence |
Policies aimed to fight youth violence |
- Specific policies that have proved effective - Proposed legislative measures and their limits |
Sentencing of young offenders |
- Life-without-parole sentences for young offenders - Restorative justice programs and young offenders |
|
Young offenders and the correctional system |
- Differences between juvenile and adult correctional systems - Alternatives to imprisonment |