MIND MAPPING

A mind map is a visual representation of your ideas, consisting of

words, images and colors. It allows you to construct an overview of
the topic so that you can see its complexities more clearly and
identify relationships between different aspects of the topic.
 After you have a good grasp of what the prompt is asking, you should figure out how you will
respond
At pre-writing stage, you should brainstorm many ideas. You won’t necessarily use all of the ideas you
come up with, but it’s helpful to have lots of ideas to choose from when planning your essay. After you
have gathered many ideas, you’ll work on figuring out your main idea. Even though you may feel rushed to
begin writing right away, it’s important to take some time to go through this step to make sure you have an
interesting main idea and plenty of supporting points.
Stage 1
You can create a mind map on paper, whiteboard or digitally, using visual mapping software such as
FreeMind, associate your ideas freely anywhere on the page and do not filter out ideas.

Stage 2
When you have run out of ideas, consider each item and determine how this point is related to other
points and to your topic, map relationships with lines, arrows, colours, images and bold type.

Stage 3
Use the relationships you have identified to reorganise your ideas.

There are several methods that help you see connections between ideas
without writing in complete sentences.
Clustering
A cluster is a method of brainstorming that allows you to draw connections between ideas. This technique is also called a
tree diagram, a map, a spider diagram, and probably many other terms.

To make a cluster, start with a big concept. Write this in the center of a page or screen and circle it. Think of ideas that
connect to the big concept. Write these around the big concept and draw connecting lines to the big concept.
As you think of ideas that relate to any of the others, create more connections by writing those ideas around the one idea
that connects them and draw connecting lines.
Here’s an example:
Idea Map
Drawing a map of your ideas is helpful in many ways. First, people often find that seeing a visual representation of their
thoughts helps them to add more ideas and sort through them. Also, drawing a map might help you see how your thoughts
connect to one another, which will help you when you begin organizing your essay.

In the center of the map, write your topic and draw a circle around it. When you come up with a new idea, write it down,
draw a circle around it, and draw a line to show how it connects to the topic in the center and/or the other ideas you’ve
written down. Look at the main ideas you’ve written and see if you can think of other ideas that connect to them.
This image shows the main idea of a paper in the center circle and related, supporting ideas branching out from it.
Idea List
Rather than drawing a map, some people prefer to brainstorm by simply listing their ideas. Lists are a great way
of finding and recording your ideas. Idea lists help you to find a main idea and supporting points, which will be
useful as you plan your essay.
At the top of your list, write your topic. Writing out your topic helps you focus on it. Then, list the ideas you think
of in the order that they come to you. You can use many lists to find supporting points for each of your ideas.

Example Idea List

What is an important goal I have for the next few years?
finishing school
getting a better job
keeping in touch with my friends and family
learning a new language
How can I achieve my goal?
to finish school, I can figure out what my goals are for school, find a school that fits my goals, apply to schools and for financial
aid to get a better job, I can finish school, learn a new language, search for jobs, prepare my applications, and make a list of
people
Who will give me a good reference?
to keep in touch with my friends and family, I can make a list of everyone’s contact information, like addresses, phone numbers,
and email to learn a new language, I can pick what language I want to learn, get a dictionary
Traditional Outline
A traditional outline uses a numbering and indentation scheme to help organize your thoughts. Generally, you begin
with your main point, perhaps stated as a thesis, and place the subtopics, usually the main supports for your
thesis/main point, and finally flesh out the details underneath each subtopic. Each subtopic is numbered and has the
same level of indentation. Details under each subtopic are given a different style of number or letter and are indented
further to the right. It’s expected that each subtopic will merit at least two details.

Phrase: Some outlines use a phrase for each item.

Sentence: Some outlines, particularly for oral presentations, use a complete sentence for each item.
Paragraph: Rarely, an outline may use a paragraph for each item.

Q&A: Some outlines are organized in a question/answer format.

Asking questions
Asking questions about your assignment is a useful way of breaking down the topic into its basic elements so that you can better
understand it.
Many researchers begin with the Five Ws and One H, a series of basic questions that are useful for gathering information about an event
or issue:
What happened?
Who was involved?
When did it take place?
Where did it take place?
Why did it happen?
How did it happen?
These questions will not be appropriate for all types of assignments, so tailor your list of questions to suit the task that you have been
given.
Imagine that you have been asked to write an essay on the following topic:
On 13 September 2007 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (UNDRIP). Critically evaluate the capacity of the UNDRIP to promote the interests of Indigenous peoples in South America.
ACTIVITY

Construct your own mind map on a topic of your own

choice.
Choose a medium that you feel comfortable with. You might
construct your mind map on paper, on a whiteboard, or on
your computer.
Remember to be creative. Use colours, images, or bold type
to highlight key ideas or relationships.