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CHAPTER SEVEN
SELECTING THE TOPIC AND PURPOSE
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter students should be able to:
2. Identify five guidelines for selecting speech topics;
4. Understand the function of the thesis statement;
5. Develop a specific purpose and thesis statement on a given topic.
Additional Skill Builder Exercises
3. Speech purposes exercises, part 1. Divide your class into several small groups and have
students write a narrowed topic, general purpose, specific purpose, and thesis statement for each
of the following subjects:
The economic recession
The U.S. as a debtor nation
Keeping wild animals as pets
Prospects for independence from fossil fuel
The decline of the U.S. auto industry
New medical treatments for cancer
The ineffectiveness of hybrid vehicles
Organic gardening
The dangers of the national debt
Vegetarian diets to prolong health
The remedies for illegal immigration
The dangers of caffeine
4. Speech purposes exercise, part 2. Have students develop specific purpose and thesis
statements for these topics and general purposes.
Travel to Mexico to inform
Here are possible answers:
Topic: Travel to Mexico
General purpose To inform
Specific purpose: To convince the audience that the U.S. has been ineffective
in its efforts to stabilize Afghanistan
Thesis statement: “U.S. intervention in Afghanistan has increased violence,
created a vulnerable central government, and done little to reduce the
poppy fields.”
5. Correcting the poor specific purpose. Have students pick out what is wrong with the
following specific purpose statements.
a. To explain how volcanoes form, some types of volcanoes, and how a volcano
actually erupts.
6. Rewriting the thesis statement. Rewrite the following thesis statements so that they are more
effective.
a. I will describe the country of Greece and also tell you about the Greek islands.
b. I want to inform you about hearing ear dogs.
InfoTrac/Library Database Exercise
Using your library databases, find 10 interesting topics for an informative speech and 10
controversial topics for a persuasive convincing speech.
Speech Builder Express Exercise
Students can use Speech Builder Express to help them prepare their specific purpose and thesis
