This blog was really, really hard for me to complete. This is because I couldn't think of anything that I would be able to talk about that would, 1) pass the "So What?" test, 2) be interesting, and 3) that I'm knowledgeable about. I could think of almost nothing that would pass the criteria.
What I've come up with is still not great, but I guess it will have to do. I think I'm going to talk about either The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) or something involving music. I'm not exactly sure what it would be that involved music, but I'd really like to write about that instead of the HPA. This is because I don't want to talk about Harry Potter in every single paper ever because I am getting sick of it, but apparently that's the only thing in the world anyone can suggest. I have spent a few hours today trying to think about this, and I have come up with not a whole lot. I don't know why; but, I guess sometimes you just can't think.
If I do end up choosing to talk about the HPA--and I probably will, unfortunately--I'll talk about background information (how Andrew Slack, one of the co-founders, used the fact that HP has a huge fandom to his advantage), the mission and slogan, how campaigns work and their success, how chapters are formed, and how it is a good way to turn your love of a book/thing into an amazing real-world thing. I guess I have a lot to talk about, but I don't really know how interesting it is, or whether it would pass the "So What?" test. The only thing that would make it pass, in my opinion, is the interesting back story and transforming love of a thing into a movement. Also, finding sources/using the online research libraries and things would probably be pretty hard for this subject in particular.
If I end up choosing the music related thing, I guess I'll maybe talk about music relates to almost every subject in school curriculum and how it has been proven to help with rehabilitation. This will pass the "So What?" test by showing how music can be applied and why it is a subject in schools. I think this may get a little opinionated, though. I would, however, be able to use databases effectively.
I really don't know what to talk about. If you have any suggestions, feel free to add them.
What are your passions about music? I know Zach is thinking of writing an essay on the importance of keeping music in school. Is there a style of music you're knowledgeable about? Is there anything with music theory or research that you find intriguing? You could do general researches on music history and see what you turn up.
ReplyDeleteThe key to informative writing is simply informing others. It's certainly a different style than the personal essay. You can utilize something from your personal life into the essay to help spark the information that follows. The biggest thing is to just not try and persuade your reader. The HPA would certainly tie into your own life and experiences.
Do you have a particular author (aside from Rowling) that you find interesting to discuss? Perhaps the background of a particular writing style? Or musical style?
When in doubt, use your friend Google! A lot of times informative topics can be found when looking for speech topics. The idea is basically the same just in a different format.
http://library.austincc.edu/help/speech/topic/Good%20Informative%20Speech%20Topics.htm
Hope this helps!
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