The Best Essay Topics & Ideas
Unless it is preassigned, figuring out which topic to write about is one of the most challenging steps to complete when writing an essay. Usually, students are allured to choose topics they are exceptionally passionate about or genuinely interested in. Although there lacks a correct answer about selecting a topic, you can use various filters when brainstorming ideas. Having plenty of experience makes one comprehend that certain topics fit better with particular categories than others; this means your discussion idea should be picked after knowing the kind of essay you are supposed to create.
Tips for Choosing the Best Topics
There is nothing more crucial in writing than the essay topic you select. The idea of your essay topic is the pillar of the entire paper, so it will be tough to succeed if it is weak. The most significant topic ideas are the ones that you are wildly passionate about. The essay will be torture for you to create if you do not care about your subject matter. Nonetheless, if it something you genuinely enjoy, writing it will be a walkover. Your audience is another point to consider while choosing an essay topic idea. In case your audience has little to no knowledge on a specific topic, regard excluding very technical and specialized topics. Lastly, pick something captivating and entertaining. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes: what would you like to learn about?
COVID-19 Topics
The global pandemic (COVID-19) came into our world very surprisingly, and it is hard to disregard what months of self-quarantine and shelter-at-home orders have done to our lives and daily routines. This is an unforgettable experience for all of us, and an essay on such an engaging topic will attract most readers. Below are several interesting essay topic ideas:
- Life lessons you have learned during the quarantine
- A close person you lost due to COVID-19
- The effect of self-isolation on mental health
- Ways of staying healthy and active during the quarantine
- Things you enjoyed during quarantine
- Vital workers during the pandemic
- The backlash against Asian Americans due to COVID-19
- The effect of COVID-19 on your life
- Your accomplishments during the pandemic
- The challenges you faced due to COVID-19
- Preventive measures of COVID-19, and how you implemented them in life
- The new projects you undertook during quarantine
- Charity activities you engaged in during the pandemic
- School life during COVID-19
- The impact of COVID-19 on relationship dynamics
- What to know about pet and the pandemic
- Mass media and panic attack
- Merits and demerits of self-isolation
- What is your responsibility in preventing the spread of the virus?
- The future of the virus: vaccines for COVID-19 vs. a strong immune system
Essay Topics by Category
As discussed above, your essay topic relies wholly on the style of essay you will write. There are several essay styles that each student ought to know, and they can be divided into four main categories/groups:
Persuasive Writing (Group 1) — This kind of essay expects the writer to choose and defend a perspective on a particular position. Argumentative, research, and persuasive fit in this category.
Expository Writing ( Group 2) — This category entails presenting facts and informing your audience about some topic or idea. Cause & Effect, Research, informative, and expository essays fit into this group.
Descriptive Writing ( Group 3) — This style expects the writer to set free their inner artist with lively vocabulary and logical points to explain an idea, describe a concept, etc. Definition and descriptive essays fit into this category.
Narrative Writing (Group 4) — This category involves an author telling a story or explaining a process (something in chronological order). Narrative, process, and personal essays fit in this group.
Below are several good essay topics for the most common varieties:
Cause and Effect Essay Topics
Cause and effect essays describe how one factor impacts another. The cause and effect approach of covering a subject matter is prevalent and is used to write essays at both high school and college levels. This type of essay organization lets students discuss how subjects are linked. This kind of essay is also known as “reason and result.” Let’s look at some of our cause and effect essay topics:
- Communication is the key to a healthy marriage
- Causes of Bulimia nervosa and its impacts
- How can freedom of speech be abused?
- Drugs and alcohol consumption are the primary causes of homelessness
- Portion control and healthy weight loss
- Does exercise prevent kids’ obesity
- How optimism impacts your immunity
- Does using a bicycle instead of a car improve your and health and lowers your environmental impact?
- People who went to college and success
- Global warming and species extinction
- Long-distance relationships and distrust
- How do electronic devices impact child development?
- Consumerism pollutes the planet
- Panic attacks and their causes
- Social media and its influence on people’s communication skills
- Peer interaction in school and its impact on social skills
- GMOs and their effect on humans’ genes
- Cheating in school and its long-term effects on one’s personality
- Organic produce consumption reduces health risks
- Cultural differences cause immigration transition problems
Good Argumentative Essay Topics
Argumentative essays bring about arguments that support or are against a particular issue. An author can balance an argument on both sides of the problem or primarily back one of the sides depending on his/her goals and personal opinions. Below are some great essay topics:
- Should recycling be compulsory?
- Should testing on animals be illegal?
- Do careers in blogging have a future?
- Should abortion be banned?
- Does our tax system benefit everyone fairly?
- Is vaping as harmful as smoking cigarettes?
- Does social media violate our privacy?
- Should all women have access to birth control and family planning?
- Does police brutality have a racial aspect?
- Does the press violate the privacy of prominent people?
- Is competition beneficial?
- Do people abuse the right to carry a gun?
- Do food companies control our diet?
- Is vaccination for everyone?
- Does our educational system suit our society?
- Is capital punishment ever justified?
- Will we ever be able to live without the internet?
- Should everyone engage in volunteering and charity?
- What languages should be official in the United States and why?
Narrative Essay Topics
This type of essay expects you to imagine yourself as a real writer. It gives you a chance to talk about your experiences and tell an entertaining, melancholy, or funny tale memorable to you. Details play a significant role in a narrative essay as one of the purposes is to paint a picture to your audience with your words. Choose a story that you remember very well and are capable of noticing the tiniest details. Here are several great ideas for your essay topic:
- The funniest story about you and your sibling
- Your biggest fear
- The first book you read
- Most recent travel experience
- Your best friend and how you met
- Your favorite childhood memory
- The loss of a pet that changed your life
- Your first driving experience
- Your family traditions
- Things you love about school
- How you overcame any of your fears
- A summer camp story to remember
- Your first experience in a plane
- How do you relax on weekends?
- The thing that you regret most
- The death of a friend or relative that influenced you
- The most embarrassing situation you have experienced
- A person that inspires you
- The time you got in an accident
- The worst situation you have experienced
Research Essay Topics
A research essay puts forward a problem based on the works of scholars and experts. After discussing what others say about a specific issue, you get an opportunity of expressing your perspective on the subject. You can support or argue against the scholars’ opinions. Below are several interesting research essay topics:
- Body positivity for teenagers
- Significance of enough sleep for a healthy life
- Pesticides and how they affect us
- The merits and demerits of online retail
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
- Plagiarism and academic honesty
- Divorce rates among young couples
- Endangered species and their conservation
- Legal drinking ages around the world
- Sources of alternative energy
- Doctor negligence and its impacts
- Animal rights and how modern society violates them
- Stem cell research
- Ocean pollution and ways to prevent it
- Alternative medicine vs. traditional medicine
- Hate crimes and what should be done about them
- How intelligence tests segregate society
- What does it mean to be patriotic in different cultures?
- Family values and their role in an individual’s life
- Is population control a solution for global warming?
Informative Essay Topics
Informative essays are similar to research essays; nonetheless, they present facts and educate readers on a specific subject. This kind of essay does not require you to add your point of view; instead, you discuss your topic and enlighten your audience about it. Below are various essay topics:
- The causes of the Vietnam War
- Hitler and his military strategies
- The solar system and its components
- Social profiling in the US
- History of slavery in the United States
- Overcrowding in prisons
- The consequences of World War Two
- How recycling can save our planet
- The solar system and its components
- The role of media in promoting propaganda
- Reasons we procrastinate and ways of avoiding it
- The judiciary system in the United States
- The causes of child obesity and ways of preventing it
- Civil War and its essence in American history
- What is ADHD, and how does it change lives?
- Is having a college degree a necessity in becoming successful?
- Expressionism and its role in art history
- Parent negligence and its influence on character development
- Cybercrime and how not to be its victim
- The causes and long-term impacts of stress
Expository Essay Topics
An expository essay aims to conduct an assessment of a particular issue based on facts and research. This type of essay expects you to explain how things are happening and describe the process or the reason and result relationship. Expository essays differ from others because the point you are trying to argue is a process of assessment(analysis) that is not based on your research.
- How to overcome the fear of public speaking
- How to distinguish a leader from a group
- The impact of using drugs
- The difficulties with being pregnant at 16
- Why most parents are overprotective and strict
- Why moving is stressful
- How particular music can impact a society
- The psychological causes of smoking
- The higher education system in the US
- Why some things make us happier than others
- The importance of protection during sex
- How dodging classes can threaten your college career
- Why graduating from high school is essential
- Student loans: merits and demerits
- Things most teenagers worry about
- How physical activity improves overall wellness
- Why being compassionate to others is vital
- How drinking influences the ability to operate machinery
- How to open a credit card and factors to watch out for
- Why teenagers join gangs and the risks connected with it
Definition Essay Topics
The purpose of a definition essay is to define a term. Usually, these essays are about terms that are intangible. These terms do not have strict definitions and can differ based on culture or personality. Below are several definition essay topics:
- What does power mean to you?
- Define friendship in your life
- What is happiness to you?
- Why hate is not the answer
- Explain the institution of marriage
- What does love mean to you?
- How do you define success?
- Perfectionism: merits and demerits
- What does power mean to you?
- Define surrealism in culture
- What is optimism, and how does it help in life?
- What is peer pressure, and how does it impact teenagers?
- Procrastination and its effects
- Kindness and why it is essential
- Define terrorism and the reasons for it
- Creativity and its significance in life
- What is global warming, and what causes it?
- Define generosity and how being generous helps people
- Define willpower and how does it influence teenagers
- Cloning and its impact on the human race
Descriptive Essay Topics
Descriptive essays are similar to narrative essays; the disparities come in how descriptive essays focus more on detail but have less action. It essential for descriptive essays to convey a feeling, atmosphere, or place. All the descriptive essay topics entail your personal experiences and things you vividly remember.
- Describe your childhood home
- Your favorite birthday celebration
- The person that inspires you
- The most memorable day in school
- The best city you have been in
- The happiest day of your life
- The most recent nightmare you had
- Talk about an exceptional object to you
- The weirdest travel experience you had
- The earliest memory you possess
- The most beautiful view you have ever seen
- The first time you fell in love: describe your feelings
- Describe your favorite literary character
- Talk about the most embarrassing situation you have been in
- Describe yourself to someone who has never met you
- Discuss your favorite sport and narrate your experience at a live game
- Talk about the place that exists solely in your imagination
- Describe your favorite memory
- Talk about a museum that has become your favorite
- Describe one of your friends
Process Essay Topics
Process essays expect you to explain to your audience how something is done. You need to describe the subject first and then narrate step by step how the process happens. These steps can be well-defined and gradual. Conversely, it can also be a description of a group of actions that do not necessarily follow each other.
- How to save money
- How to overcome being shy
- How to make new friends
- How to pick a used car
- How to get rid of a bad habit
- How to write your book
- How to be successful in a job search
- How to pass your SATs
- How to learn to cook delicious meals
- How to become an A student
- How to let go of unnecessary things
- How to become a software engineer
- How to drive a car
- How to learn to swim
- How to deal with procrastination
- How to create your film
- How to start a business
- How to exercise regularly
- How to know when to say “no” to people
- How to know you have met your other self
Personal Essay Topics
Personal essays are autobiographical tales that have a friendly, intimate touch to them. The essay’s tone is casual and reflects the personality of the author. It should assess specific emotions/feelings you have experienced due to particular events that have happened to you.
- The time you lost a tournament
- A time when you felt very alone
- Your bucket list of wishes
- A place you would like to visit
- Someone who annoys you
- The happiest moment of your life
- A special person in your life
- A time you got hurt by someone you love
- Your motivation for success
- A time you felt betrayed
- A place that is special in your heart
- Your favorite time of the year
- How you overcame your worst fear
- A time you lost a loved one
- An inspirational person you met
- A time when you made the wrong choice
- A moment you learned a life lesson
- The biggest disappointment you have experienced
- A moment you were courageous
- The most significant act of kindness you have done
Good Persuasive Essay Topics
Despite persuasive and argumentative essays sounding like the same thing, they have one distinct disparity: The type of reasoning that both the persuasive and argumentative essays use to defend their perspective is one factor that differentiates them. While argumentative essays depend on logic and statistics to make their claim, persuasive essays entail convincing your audience through emotions and morality. These two types of essays could discuss the same topics. The difference comes from the methodology used to make their point.
- Vaccines cause autism
- School breaks should be longer
- Is it ethical to clone animals?
- Each public place must have free wifi
- School breaks should be longer
- Euthanasia should be legalized
- Parents must limit their children’s time with electronic devices
- How can we save species from extinction?
- Hunting wild animals is immoral
- Listening to music slows down homework productivity
- Everybody must engage in physical activity
- Why microchipping your pet is good
- Are people the reason for global warming?
- Human trafficking must be severely prosecuted
- Growing up in a single-parent household has long-term effects
- Why is PE essential in every grade school?
- Standardized tests are not for everyone
- Prostitution must be eliminated
- Why should adoption not be allowed?
- How the tax system benefits the already wealthy
Compare and Contrast Essay Topics
Compare and contrast essays involve showcasing your ability to find the similarities and differences between two or more subjects or viewpoints. This kind of essay is fascinating and easy to write because you get to express your opinion rather than writing only facts. You can draw parallels and examine the relationships between objects while explaining to your audience your exceptional ideas.
- Online shopping vs. traditional shopping
- What is better: a movie or a book?
- Capitalism vs. communism
- Horror films vs. comedies
- Carnivorism vs. veganism
- Freelancing vs. working in an office
- Online dating vs. real-life encounters
- The educational system in the US vs. the UK
- Japanese culture vs. Korean culture
- Biking to school vs. driving a car to school
- The similarities and differences between the US English and UK English
- Electronic book readers vs. hard copy book readers
- Impacts of coffee vs. tea on the cognitive ability when studying
- Living with parents vs. living on campus
- American North and South during the Civil War
- Lord of Rings vs. Game of Thrones
- Greek and Roman mythology; differences and similarities
- Qualitative vs. quantitative research
- The anatomical similarities and differences between monkeys and humans
- The similarities and differences of law vs. morality
Controversial Argumentative Essay Topics
Various topics are more controversial than others. These topics are controversial because the possibilities are that you will not necessarily convince the reader to take your side. Although, it is your responsibility to develop your argument in a way that gives you an opportunity to change your reader’s mind.
- Is prostitution a crime?
- Should marriages be arranged?
- Should smoking be banned?
- Should everyone pay the same taxes?
- Can terrorism be justified with religion?
- Does bullying make people stronger?
- Should abortions be legal everywhere?
- Should people have sex outside or before marriage?
- Should gun control be more strict?
- Should cheating in school be tolerated?
- Is it immoral to have sex scenes on TV?
- Should LGBTQ+ have all the same rights as heterosexuals?
- Is 18 a proper age to start voting?
- Should teenagers have access to contraception?
- Should physical punishments for kids be allowed?
- Should smoking in public spaces be allowed?
- Should small children have access to smartphones and tablets?
- Should marijuana be legalized for medical purposes?
- Is it okay for professional athletes to use steroids?
- Are cross-cultural marriages acceptable?
Funny Argumentative Essay Topics
Do you want to spice things up? What about writing a funny argumentative essay? Humor is a great way of encouraging your audience to get interested in your subject. It serves as an excellent hook to get your viewer fascinated and ensure he/she keeps reading.
- Reasons why I’m not too fond of country music
- Why I love spam emails
- Why you should drink before an exam
- Why movies are better than books
- Why is passing your driving exam vital?
- School dropouts are the most successful
- What if teachers and students switched places
- What would the world look like if animals ruled it?
- Clowns are not as scary as you think
- Reasons why Starbucks tastes so good
- Why burning down your school is not an option
- What is the worst movie ever?
- Why you should wear a mask even when COVID-19 is over
- How disobeying your parents results in success
- The best guests are the ones who come already full
- How will our lives be once we have flying cars?
- What if we saw the world through the eyes of a dog
- Why will laundry not do itself?
- How your game-playing skills can help with getting a job
- The best students are the ones who never show up to class
