What are the two speakers mainly talking about?

M: Hi, Maggie. Do you know what the assignment is for our term paper in History?
W: Sure. Well, Jack, weren’t you in class on Monday? That’s when it was given out.
M: No. I missed that class. Was there a handout?
W: No, the instructor just wrote the assignment on the board.
M: Could I copy the assignment from your notes?
W: You could, if I had copied it all down; but I just wrote down the part that I wanted.
M: Oh, no.
W: You see, there were three choices of topics for a term paper; but I knew which one I wanted, so I didn’t copy the others down. Mine was "The Early Immigrants’ Life in America."
M: Can you remember the other two?
W: There was one about the Breakout of World War I, something about it, but I don’t remember what, and another called "The Idea of Progress in the 19th Century."
M: Anyway, those are certainly broad topics.
W: Yes, but you can focus on a special area within them. Which one would you take?
M: I think I’d take "The Idea of Progress."
W: That is very abstract.
M: Yes, but it’s one of my interests and I’ve read a lot on the subject. I’ve never written a term paper on it though.
W: Me neither. I haven’t even read about it. It’s a very challenging topic.
M: Yes, but I’ll go all out to do it well. Could you give me some suggestions after I finish it?
W: OK, I’d love to. Then we can exchange our ideas.