Imagine that you’ve been asked to write a 3-5 page research paper about the role of newspapers in shaping early American society. Since talking about a topic this big would be too much for a relatively short paper, your professors wants you to come up with a narrower topic related to this broader idea.
This can be difficult, even if you’ve discussed this topic in class and done some assigned readings on it.
There are a number of strategies you can use to help you come up with some ideas, including reading through online and print reference sources, doing a search on the internet or a library database to see if anything sparks your interest, reviewing your assigned readings, and talking to your peers or your professor.
Generative AI can also be useful for these first steps in the research process.
I am an undergraduate student in a 200-level Early American history course. I am writing a research paper on the role of newspapers in shaping early American society. Create a list of 10 possible research topics that would be appropriate for this assignment and which would be appropriate for a 3-5 page paper.
This prompt helps give ChatGPT the information it needs to tailor its response. By telling it you are an undergraduate student and what course you are taking, it will understand the level of the research being needed (as opposed to, for example, a PhD student writing a dissertation on the same topic).
Specifying the number of ideas and the format you would like them in also helps shape the response. Ten is a good number to play around with but not too overwhelming.
Making sure that ChatGPT knows this is for a 3-5 page paper also helps adjust its response. How much you can cover in a 3-5 page paper will be very different from how much you can cover in 10-20 page paper or a thesis.
Here is what ChatGPT provided in response to the above prompt:
The Role of Newspapers in the American Revolution: How did newspapers influence public opinion and mobilize support for independence?
The Zenger Trial and Freedom of the Press: How did the trial of John Peter Zenger set a precedent for press freedom in early America?
Newspapers as Tools for Political Debate: How did Federalist and Anti-Federalist newspapers shape political discourse during the ratification of the Constitution?
The Role of Newspapers in Reporting the War of 1812: How did newspapers inform and shape public opinion during the conflict?
Women and Early American Newspapers: How did newspapers reflect or challenge gender roles in early American society?
Newspapers and the Spread of Abolitionist Ideas: How did early American newspapers contribute to the growth of the abolitionist movement?
Advertising in Early American Newspapers: What can advertisements in early newspapers tell us about the economic and social life of the period?
The Role of Newspapers in Shaping Regional Identities: How did newspapers contribute to the development of distinct regional identities in the North and South?
The Evolution of Political Cartoons in Early American Newspapers: How did political cartoons reflect societal and political concerns in early America?
The Partisan Press in Early America: How did newspapers serve as partisan tools, and what impact did this have on society and politics?
Once you have the results, you can take a look at the AI’s suggestions to see if anything sparks your interest. If it doesn’t, you can keep prompting for more ideas until you find something that does.
You can also take some of these suggestions and do a few searches on the internet or in a library database (see the “Searching for Information” section for more information) to see how easy it is to find relevant sources on a particular topic. If it seems like there’s a lot of information, this may be a good topic to pursue. If it seems like there’s too much information or not enough, you can always ask ChatGPT to help you further refine a topic.
