Selecting a Topic to Write About

Strategies for Selecting a Topic

Complete the following table.
|What two objects, people, subjects, or concepts are you going |Colorectal Cancer and Mesothelioma |
|to compare and contrast? | |
|What are the similarities between the two objects, people, |Cancer, lower abdominal pain, bowel function changes, fatigue, loss|
|subjects, or concepts? List as many similarities that you can |of appetite, weight loss, anemia, can be tested with CT scan, |
|think of. |treated with Chemotherapy, Radiation, and sometimes surgery |
|What are the differences between the two objects, people, |Mesothelioma - chest wall pain, fluid around lungs, coughing up |
|subjects, or concepts? List as many differences that you can |blood, blood clots, low blood sugar, ascites, and jaundice. |
|think of. |Colorectal Cancer- pelvic pain, persistent constipation or |
| |diarrhea, rectal cramping or bleeding |
|Are you going to focus on similarities, differences, or both? |Similarities. It is always easy to find differences in things but |
|Explain your rationale.. |finding similarities and being able to identify the cancer type |
| |regardless of the similarities will shed light on the subject. |
|What do you want your readers to learn and understand after |There is a lot of common ground with these two types of cancer and |
|reading your essay? What is the purpose of your essay? |being able to distinguish between the two will give better |
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