your topic if it is too big:

Be careful not to choose a topic that is too broad in scope. For instance, the Civil War is a topic of interest for many history students. However, choosing The History of the Civl War as your topic will leave you looking through thousands of periodicals, books, and websites.

Quick fix?

Limit your topic. Do this by focusing on a particular:

• timeframe (the first year of the war)
• category of people (plantation owners, slaves, factory workers, etc.
• specific event (Battles at Appomatox, Antietam, etc.)
• place (Memphis, the South, the Appalachians, etc.)

Another solution is to add another topic that interests you to your original topic. For instance:

     music and the Civil War
     religion and the Civil War

your topic if it is too small:

There should be enough background information and scholarly research on your topic for your paper to be comprehensive and factual. For instance, you might have trouble finding enough information about hazing practices of southern fraternities - there just isn't enough research on the topic.

Quick fix?

Expand your topic. You can do this by:

• looking for parallels and wider categories (peer pressure among college students)
• choosing an alternate focus (drug and alcohol use instead of hazing)
• choosing an alternate place (the entire United States instead of the South)
• choosing an alternate person or group (fraternities and sororities, young adults, etc.)