Using the guided activity below, develop a list of potential keywords to use while conducting research for the persuasive essay. Review the examples provided. If you would like to ask a librarian about your choices, click the “chat 24/7 with a Librarian” link on the Shapiro Library’s home page. You can also use email or phone during business hours.

Learning Goal: I’m working on a health & medical question and need guidance to help me learn.

ACTIVITY: CREATING KEYWORDS (GRADED)

NOTE: This activity will be graded based on completion.

Using the guided activity below, develop a list of potential keywords to use while conducting research for the persuasive essay. Review the examples provided. If you would like to ask a librarian about your choices, click the “chat 24/7 with a Librarian” link on the Shapiro Library’s home page. You can also use email or phone during business hours.

You will use your work in this section to help you with the Writing Notes assignment coming up in 2-5.

MIND MAPPING

Mind mapping* is a useful visual technique for brainstorming keywords. The brain is constantly making connections between different aspects of a problem. By capturing these connections and exploring them systematically, we are less likely to miss possible solutions. Mind mapping is also a highly visual and efficient way of organizing ideas.

The main subject/research topic is written in the center of a sheet in a circle to begin the mind mapping process. Next, new ideas are drawn in the form of spokes branching from this central idea. These ideas are likely to lead to further ideas which form new spokes and so on. It can be helpful to use different colors for different branches of the map. By the end of the mind-mapping process, you will have an entire page full of keywords related to your research topic.

The first step in creating your own mind map is to grab a blank piece of paper and a pen or pencil (several different colored pens would be ideal). Then in the middle of the page, write down the main subject that you plan to research for the persuasive essay project. Next, draw a circle around it:

From the main circle, draw lines outward to represent the main ideas.

As you dig into each of the main ideas, add sub-topics and supporting evidence:

We can take the mind map as far as it needs to go to cover all our main ideas, sub-topics, and relevant evidence.

After your mind map is complete, look over the results and pick out the most interesting terms that you have generated on the page—these terms are your keywords*.

SAMPLE MIND MAP

The image below depicts a sample mind map drawn out based on the research topic “the impact of technology on urban education.”