How to

create good
subtopics
Concepts:
Strategies that apply to print
and digital sources:

1. Outline:
Developing subtopics is a
KEY research process
step that is often
overlooked when students
jump straight from a topic
into research. But it's
important to divide a topic
into smaller parts, called
subtopics. This can be
written as an outline. It
becomes your research
plan so you know what
information to gather and,
equally important, what to
skip! Just like a chef
cannot cook without a
                   
recipe and an architect Subtopics graphic organizer
cannot build without a
blueprint, you CANNOT
do research without
subtopics as your
research plan.

2. Rule of
three: Triangulation mean
s the fewest number of
subtopics you need is
three for good topic
exploration. Judge how
many more to add by the
amount of time needed for
project completion. The
more time you have, the
more subtopics you can
explore.

3. Notes: A subtopic must be

large enough to take at least
ten notes about it. For example,
"population" cannot be a
subtopic if the answer is just
one number. But "people" can
be a subtopic if it includes
things like food, clothing,
language, cultural group, etc.

4. Keywords or
question: Subtopics can
be written into essential
questions, or subtopics
can be identified from
essential questions.
Subtopics form the
keywords used as search
terms. Expand your
search with keyword
synonyms.

5. Location skills: Learn skills

unique to print and digital
sources to locate subtopics that
support the topic. It is NOT
plagiarism to copy subtopics.
Be prepared to add, drop, or
change subtopics depending
on information in at least three
different kinds of sources.

6. Types of subtopics:

  General subtopics can

be brainstormed for
simple topics such as a
person, place, or thing
that you already know
something about. For a
topic that is a thing or a
concept, you can
also use the 5Ws as
a

general way to
determine whether
 a topic has enough
information.

  Specific subtopics
must be "pre-searched"
when a topic is
unfamiliar or complex.
It is not plagiarism to
copy subtopics.

7. Consider using a print or

digital Thinking Map or graphic
organizer to plan your
subtopics.

Using Headings Effectively: Parallel

Structure
Headings at the same level should have parallel structure. This means that they must follow
the same grammatical pattern. Writing in parallel structure creates an expectation for the
reader that your headings will follow a consistent format and style.

Examples

The examples below demonstrate how parallel structure helps reveal the structure of a report.
As you scroll down through each column in the following table, notice that there are different
ways of writing headings in parallel. You can also see that when headings are not parallel,
they can detract from the quality of the report.

Parallel (correct) Parallel (correct) Not parallel (incorrect)

Implementing a Better How to Implement a Better Implementing a Better
Framework Framework Framework

Set up the purchase Set up the purchase Setting up the purchase

Reform budgets Reform budgets Budget reforms

Make a marketplace Make a marketplace Make a marketplace

Establish licenses Establish licenses What licenses are needed?

Reform the providers Reform the providers
Handling the Transition How to Handle the
Transition
Analyze the current system
Analyze the current system
Develop the new institutional
structure Develop the new institutional
structure
Cost and project financial
flows Cost and project financial
flows
Develop facilities and
management planning Develop facilities and
management planning
Develop a project plan
Develop a project plan
This example follows a This example is slightly
straightforward parallel different from the first one. It
structure with each first-level uses its top-level heading to
heading in gerund form pose an indirect question
(ending in –ing). The second (How to implement, how to
level headings are all in the handle). The headings at the
imperative form. next level use the imperative
form of the verb (develop, set
up, establish, etc.) to form the
answer to those original
questions.
Reform the providers
How to Handle the
Transition
Analyzing the current system
Develop the new institutional
structure
Costing and projection of
financial flows
Facilities development and
management planning
Develop a project plan
This example includes a mix
of heading styles: nouns,
gerunds, questions, and
verbs. When the parallel
structure is absent, so is the
sense that these headings
share any commonality,
particularly their order of
importance in the
hierarchical structure of the
report.
Borden Plan: A Case of Cat And Mouse
 Dec. 5, 1994

Credit...The New York Times Archives

Borden Inc. and Paul B. Kazarian, who wants to invest in and alter the company, have not yet
held serious negotiations about the company's future, but their game of one-upsmanship
continued through the weekend.

Borden said yesterday that its board members would meet tomorrow in its New York offices
to discuss Mr. Kazarian's proposals to revamp the company with him as a minority
shareholder. But Mr. Kazarian will not be there, he said.

Instead, he will be waiting in a Manhattan hotel room he has already booked for a meeting
with Borden executives, shareholders and Wall Street analysts -- a meeting that Borden
executives say they will not attend.
The intransigence about where and when to meet -- and the shape of the table has not been
discussed yet -- can obscure just what is at stake: the fate of one of the best-known food
companies in the country and Borden's 41,000 sharedholders.

As the deadline for Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Company's tender offer to Borden
stockholders approaches on Dec. 20, the deal-related maneuvering has been escalating.

As an alternative to Kohlberg, Kravis's $2 billion bid for Borden, Mr. Kazarian's investment
firm, Japonica Partners Inc., last week proposed a recovery plan in which it would invest
$430 million for a 20 percent stake in Borden. That offer is valued at $17 a share in cash for
the minority stake, while the Kohlberg, Kravis offer consists of $14.25 a share, not in cash
but in shares of its RJR Holdings Corporation.

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Borden countered by inviting Mr. Kazarian to its lawyers' office yesterday, but before the
meeting set out some important questions it wanted answered about financing and the
revamping plan. Mr. Kazarian did not respond by Friday night, so Borden canceled the
meeting.

Then, yesterday morning, Mr. Kazarian said he would be waiting in the Grand Hyatt Hotel
tomorrow to meet with Borden's directors.

Is this just grandstanding, or does Mr. Kazarian have a calculated strategy to win control of
Borden? The answer is being debated by investors and analysts.

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Up to 91% More Expensive: How Delivery Apps Eat Up Your Budget

In a letter yesterday sent to Frank J. Tasco, Borden's chairman, Japonica said the Borden
board would "serve shareholders' best interests" by providing "business-knowledgeable
directors" at a Tuesday meeting, and it requested that major shareholders and industry
analysts be present as well.

Borden's response last night was to invite Mr. Kazarian to its headquarters at 277 Park
Avenue, without analysts and large shareholders. Borden set a a deadline of 4 P.M. today for
Mr. Kazarian to respond.

In an interview, Mr. Kazarian said he hoped "that each board member will attend our
meeting."

But a Borden spokesman, James Fingeroth, said Mr. Kazarian "is not in a position to dictate
the means by which Borden will consider his proposal," adding that Mr. Kazarian had not
demonstrated "that he has the capability" to execute the deal. "If he is acting in good faith we
assume he will attend the meeting we have set," he added.

An industry executive with knowledge of Mr. Kazarian's plans said Mr. Kazarian would be
able to present commitments to Borden demonstrating that he could raise the $430 million,
showing that this part of his proposal was at least theoretically feasible.

One Borden shareholder described Mr. Kazarian's proposed meeting as part of a carefully
planned chess gambit to orchestrate shareholder opposition to the Kohlberg, Kravis tender
offer.

This person said that ultimately Mr. Kazarian might be hoping that major shareholders would
exercise their right to convene a Borden board meeting to question the board about his offer.

In September, after Borden agreed to be acquired for $2 billion by Kohlberg, Kravis, some
large Borden shareholders criticized the company's directors, saying they had failed to
represent shareholders' interests in the negotiations with Kohlberg, Kravis, and questioned
whether the board had been misled by its advisers.

After the deal passed regulatory inspection last month, some shareholders complained that in
the Kohlberg, Kravis deal, they would be forced to swap their shares for shares in RJR
Nabisco, a tobacco company exposed to possible smokers' litigation and government
legislation.

The meeting invitations aside, shareholders were buzzing this weekend over an article in the
Dec. 19 issue of Forbes magazine warning Borden stockholders not to tender their shares.
Borden had no comment on the article.

The Forbes article, which cited no sources, said Kohlberg, Kravis has divested itself of six
businesses with more than $500 million in revenues to make it less attractive to suitors like
Mr. Kazarian and also said Borden was close to selling its dairy division at a fraction of its
value.

The article suggested that after selling off Borden's packaging and industrial businesses to
pay off Borden's $2 billion in debt, Kohlberg, Kravis would sell its grocery unit to a planned
Nabisco foods company, using its Nabisco stock as currency. An RJR Nabisco proposal to
spin off 19 percent of its food business is awaiting approval before the Securities and
Exchange Commission.

Borden responded that it had announced the sale of its businesses months ago. A
spokeswoman for Kohlberg, Kravis said yesterday, "K.K.R. has absolutely no current plans
to sell any Borden operation to Nabisco," adding, "K.K.R. believes its offer is full and fair
and by far the best alternative available to Borden shareholders.