Thinking of a topic for an essay can be hard.  You might not know where to start or even find anything very interesting.  But have you really stopped and taken the time to think about what you might want to write about? A good way to get the creative juices flowing is brainstorming a few ideas off of categories.  Start with writing down a few ideas for a few of these categories: places, trends, things, technologies, people, controversies, history, jobs, habits, and hobbies.

As an example:
Trends: Clothing styles, seasonal color schemes, what causes trends, how a trend becomes popular, how they change, why they change, why people follow them.
Technologies: How technology works in different countries, how complex things are created, why do people rely on technology, when the first electronics were created.
Places: What are cultures like in third world countries, what historical things have happened in my home town, what is the most visited place on earth.
People: Domestic violence, relationships, internet dating, instant messaging, friendships, how do different people relate to one another, why do people bully.

After you are done with this then look at the list of words you have created and see if a topic you have written seems interesting.  Then ask yourself: does this raise a question that research can help me answer? Does this seem interesting to me?  If you can answer these questions then circle the item.  Now, write down a list of questions about the topic you choose.

For example: Clothing trends
Why do people follow trends?
How would a trend become popular?
How do trends changed from decade to decade?
How can I set my own trend?
How do celebrities set their own trend?
What are trends like in other countries?
What do people in other countries think of our clothing trends?