What is a topic related to empire that interests you? Where does your interest come from? Does the topic connect to your personal experience? (Possibilities: the nature of power, mechanisms of power, resistance to empire, imperial leaders, groups or individuals marginalized by empire, empire and race, empire and gender, empire and sexuality, empire and class, empire and language, how empire has affected your family or community, etc.)

2. Find an object of analysis (evidence) that you can analyze, to develop your thinking about this topic. The object could be a work of literature, news story, historical narrative, opinion article, work of visual art, film, etc. Your discussion in the blog post *must* be grounded in a piece of evidence; general discussion of a topic will not be sufficient.

3. What significant details (particular words, visual details, etc.) do you notice in your piece of evidence? Which details might help you address your topic?

4. As you examine your piece of evidence in light of the topic you’re interested in, what questions come to mind? What questions about your topic can your evidence help you answer, once you interpret it? Aim for debatable or arguable, rather than factual, questions.