Essay Topic Suggestions to Help You Get Started

Descriptive Essays	Comparison and Contrast Essays	Process Analysis Essays
Exemplification Essays		Narrative Essays
Analogy Essays	Classification Essays
Cause and Effect Essays	Argument and Persuasion Essays	Definition Essays

10 Topic Suggestions for Descriptive Essays

1	A Surprise Birthday Party
2	My Next-door Neighbor
3	Favorite Athlete
4	A Character from a Book ,Movie or TV Program
5	First Day in College
6	A Sad (or Happy) Day in Life
7	Farewell in High School
8	The Experience of Sky-diving
9	Baking a Pizza
10	Learning to Play Piano

10 Topic Suggestions for Narrative Essays

1	Your first day at a new school or college
2	Your first day at a new job
3	Your last day on a job
4	An embarrassing experience
5	A dangerous experience
6	Surviving a hurricane or a tornado (or other natural disaster)
7	The day you decided to change your life
8	The experience of being lost (or of being frustrated)
9	A communication barrier
10	Your first time away from home

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10 Topic Suggestions for Process Analysis Essays

1	How ice cream is made
2	How to play chess
3	How people choose mates
4	How to quit smoking
5	How to conduct obedience training for dogs
6	How to succeed at a job interview
7	How to learn photography
8	How a bad habit develops
9	How to enjoy the weekend for under $20
10	How to make the perfect brownies

10 Topic Suggestions for Exemplification Essays

1	Successful People Without a Formal Education
2	Homeschooling
3	Effects of Social Networking Sites
4	Child discipline
5	Animal Characteristics in People
6	Annoying Commercials
7	Genetic Engineering
8	Ghosts and Goblins
9	Religion in School
10	Discrimination

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10 Topic Suggestions for Comparison and Contrast Essays

1	Two stages of a person’s life
2	Two places you have visited
3	Effects of Social Networking Sites
4	A good boss and a bad boss
5	Bulimia and anorexia
6	Living on campus and living off campus
7	An active student and a passive student
8	An online class compared to a traditional class
9	Hearing culture and deaf culture
10	Mainstream school vs. deaf school

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10 Topic Suggestions for Analogy Essays

1	Starting a new job
2	Getting out of debt
3	Being in a car accident
4	Falling in love
5	Experiencing grief
6	Experiencing joy
7	Discovering a major in college
8	Leaving home for the first time
9	Making a speech
10	Becoming addicted to drugs

10 Topic Suggestions for Classification Essays

1	Ways of saving money
2	Uses of social network sites
3	Reasons for attending or not attending college
4	Classify the winter and summer sports
5	Classify the study habits
6	Ways of quitting smoking
7	Attitudes toward politics
8	Ways of coping with a cold
9	Ways of protecting the environment
10	On-campus jobs for students

10 Topic Suggestions for Cause and Effect Essays

1	The effect of a parent, teacher, or friend on your life
2	Why you selected your major
3	Why students drop out of high school or college
4	The effects of divorce
5	Volcano eruptions — causes and effects
6	What are the effects of illiteracy
7	Causes of the Great Depression
8	Why people exercise
9	The causes/effects of child neglect
10	Why many Americans prefer foreign-built cars

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10 Topic Suggestions for Definition Essays

1	Deaf culture
2	Audism
3	A good (or bad) parent
4	A good (or bad) boss
5	Sportsmanship
6	Racism and prejudice
7	Bilingual education
8	Optimism
9	Free Speech
10	Environmental technology

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10 Topic Suggestions for Argument and Persuasion Essays

1	The production and sale of cigarettes should be made illegal.
2	Participating in team sports helps to develop good character.
3	Americans should have more holidays and longer vacations.
4	Dieting makes people fat.
5	College students should have complete freedom to choose their own courses.
6	Students should (or should not) be required to take physical education courses.
7	Freshmen should not be required to purchase a meal plan from the college.
8	High school graduates should take a year off before entering college.
9	People have become overly dependent on technology.
10	Drunk drivers should be imprisoned on the first offense.

 

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Sources:

• About (2012). Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/topicterm.htm
• Free Writing (2012). Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.writingvalley.com/category/essay-topics/