How To Come Up With Great Definitional Essay Topics: Tips And Examples

Topic selection must be done with four main factors in mind. If you can cover all these bases, you will easily learn how to come up with great topics for definitional essays.

Choose an interesting subject

Your subject is the main character or object of your paper. This subject should be something that people want to read about because it will become the main focus point of your essay. If you choose a subject that is dull, your entire paper runs the risk of carrying the same tune. In the same way, if your subject is something that has been exhausted, your reader may feel that the topic is too redundant to score well.

Example: A tablet

Explain its features

Now you must take your subject and give some detailed description of its main features. These are just the characteristics of the subject—some of which are obvious, and some are not so obvious. Keep in mind that every feature you mention will be elaborated on later, so make sure you mention features that are key to your definitional essay.

Example: A new app for your tablet that teaches the basics of music

Provide how those features can benefit someone

Choose one main feature from your list of descriptions and make that your main feature to elaborate on. To elaborate within your topic, simply come up with the benefit/s of the main feature. Be careful not to focus too much on the feature at the expense of the subject, but rather let the feature and its benefit compliment the subject.

Example:Using a tablet to teach music to your children

Give a summary of what your subject is

Before you settle on a topic, make sure you come up with a one-sentence purpose. This is a simple statement for yourself that tells you what you want to achieve with your definitional essay. This will help you to round off your topic and settle on the exact wording of it.

Example: The purpose of this essay is to give the reader a definition of tablet apps, how they function, and how they can be used to teach music to children.

Final topic: A tablet app that teaches music to your children

This is a formula for coming up with original definitional essay topics. Use it yourself and see how easy it is to generate your own topics out of thin air.