Lost in a Library and Looking for a Topic

I feel like one of the most difficult parts of a research paper is coming up with a specific topic to research.  It's almost like trying to title a poem before you've written it.  I found pages 259-259 helpful because they suggest different ways to approach the assignment.  I tend to be more interested in the reason why an author wrote something (leaning more towards number 4&5) rather than studying one particular author in detail (suggestion 1, 2, and 3).  I never realized this about myself until I read it in Roberts.  I think this will help steer me in the right direction when writing my own paper this week!