Chapter#2: Reading Critically before Writing

 Selecting Source Material

 Engaging with Ideas in the Source Material
 Becoming a Critical Reader

 Active Reading and Notetaking

1. Reading Critically before Writing

To read critically is to make judgements about how a text is argued. This is a
highly reflective skill requiring you to “stand back” and gain some distance from
the text you are reading. (You might have to read a text through once to get a basic
grasp of content before you launch into an intensive critical reading.) THE KEY IS
THIS:

 don’t read looking only or primarily for information

 do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter

When you are reading, highlighting, or taking notes, avoid extracting and
compiling lists of evidence, lists of facts and examples. Avoid approaching a text
by asking “What information can I get out of it?” Rather ask “How does this text
work? How is it argued? How is the evidence (the facts, examples, etc.) used and
interpreted? How does the text reach its conclusions?
 Selecting Source Material

How Choosing a Source for a Critique is Different

Most essays focus on a topic–one you have narrowed down–and require a number
of sources to back up the points or ideas. A critique, on the other hand, focuses
on onesource of information. Soon you will learn more about critiquing, but at this
stage, it is important to know this is the key difference between a critique and a
research paper because it will have an impact your choice of base and
supplemental sources. However, you first need to choose a topic that you will then
narrow in your search for an appropriate academic article to critique. Simply
stated, then, a critique is typically a discussion centred around one primary
source. However, just as with any other essay, you may need to bring in
supplemental sources to support the ideas you present in your discussion. While
your next assignment stems around the one source you choose, you will need to
look for other sources on the same topic in case you need them for background or
supporting information or to even present opposing points of view.

For the critique you are required to write for your next assignment, the original
source you will base your critical response on needs to meet the criteria outlined
in Table 7.1: Source Selection Criteria.

Table 7.1 Source Selection Criteria

It should: It should NOT:

Be on a topic interesting to you. It is

better if it is something you react to
strongly (positively or negatively) Be on a topic on which you have no
because it is easier to generate ideas of opinion or background information.
what to critique when you have more of
an emotional response.

Be from a website because this

Be from an academic source/journal–even makes it difficult for citations and
though you may use an academic referencing.
database to find your article, you may Be from a newspaper (print or
come across non-academic sources. online) because these are often
biased.

Have a lot of challenging vocabulary

Contain language that is relatively
forcing you to constantly refer to a
straightforward–some challenging
dictionary–you may get bogged
vocabulary would be all right because
down in doing that and miss the
you can critique this.
main points the author is presenting.

Be 5 to 10 pages in length, giving you Be closer to 3 or as high as 20

enough content to choose a few points to pages–this will either provide you
discuss in depth. with too little content, and you will
be stuck for ideas, or it will give you
 too much and you will only cover
the points superficially.

Self-practice EXERCISE 7.1

Take a few minutes to brainstorm ideas on a topic you find interesting. This
may be the same one you used for your expository essay, or it may be another
one entirely. Try to come up with preliminary ideas and different key words
or specific areas within that topic. Once you have brainstormed, write the key
words below for easy reference. You will later use these key words when you
are conducting your article search.

Key words:

Table 7.1 gives you an idea of the technical criteria you need to meet when
choosing a source for your next assignment. The next section will help you ensure
you find a credible source, and one that meets the requirement to use an
appropriate academic source.

7.2 Strategies for Gathering Reliable Information

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Distinguish between primary and secondary sources

 Identify strategies for locating relevant print and electronic resources efficiently
 Identify instances when it is appropriate to use human sources, such as interviews
or eyewitness testimony
 Identify criteria for evaluating research resources
 Understand why many electronic resources are not reliable

Now that you have chosen your topic, you are ready to begin the research. This
phase can be both exciting and challenging. As you read this section, you will learn
ways to locate sources efficiently, so you have enough time to read the sources,
take notes, and think about how to use the information.
Of course, the technological advances of the past few decades—particularly the
rise of online media—mean that, as a 21st century student, you have countless
sources of information available at your fingertips. However, how can you tell
whether a source is reliable? This section will discuss strategies for evaluating
sources critically so that you can be a media savvy researcher.

Locating Useful Resources

When you chose a topic and determined your research questions, you conducted
preliminary research to stimulate your thinking. Your proposal included some
general ideas for how to go about your research—for instance, interviewing an
expert in the field or analyzing the content of popular magazines. You may even
have identified a few potential sources. Now it is time to conduct a more focused,
systematic search for informative primary and secondary sources.

Using Primary and Secondary Sources

Writers classify research resources in two categories: primary sources and

secondary sources. Primary sources are direct, firsthand sources of information or
data. For example, if you were writing a paper about freedom of religion, the text
of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would be a primary source.

Other primary sources include the following:

Research articles

Literary texts

Historical documents such as diaries or letters

Autobiographies or other personal accounts

Secondary sources discuss, interpret, analyze, consolidate, or otherwise rework

information from primary sources. In researching a paper about freedom of
religion, you might read articles about legal cases that involved freedom of
religion, or editorials expressing commentary on freedom of religion. These would
be considered secondary sources because they are one step removed from the
primary source of information.

The following are examples of secondary sources:

Magazine articles

Biographical books

Literary and scientific reviews

Television documentaries

Your topic and purpose determine whether you must cite both primary and
secondary sources in your paper. Ask yourself which sources are most likely to
provide the information that will answer your research questions. If you are writing
a research paper about reality television shows, you will need to use some reality
shows as a primary source, but secondary sources, such as a reviewer’s critique,
are also important. If you are writing about the health effects of nicotine, you will
probably want to read the published results of scientific studies, but secondary
sources, such as magazine articles discussing the outcome of a recent study, may
also be helpful.

Once you have thought about what kinds of sources are most likely to help you
answer your research questions, you may begin your search for print and electronic
resources. The challenge is to conduct your search efficiently. Writers use
strategies to help them find the sources that are most relevant and reliable while
steering clear of sources that will not be useful.

Finding Print Resources

Print resources include a vast array of documents and publications. Regardless of

your topic, you will consult some print resources as part of your research. (You
will use electronic sources as well, but it is not wise to limit yourself to electronic
sources only because some potentially useful sources may be available only in
print form.) Table 7.2: Library Print Resources lists different types of print
resources available at public and university libraries.

Table 7.2 Library Print Resources

Resource
Description Examples
Type
 Reference works provide a
summary of information about a
particular topic. Almanacs,
encyclopedias, atlases, medical
The World Almanac and
reference books, and scientific
Book of Facts 2015
abstracts are examples of reference
Diagnostic and Statistical
Reference works. In some cases, reference
Manual published by the
works books may not be checked out of a
American Psychiatric
library. Note that reference works
Association
are many steps removed from
original primary sources and are
often brief, so they should be used
only as a starting point when you
gather information.

Nonfiction books provide in-depth

coverage of a topic. Trade books,
biographies, and how-to guides are The 30-Day Low-Carb Diet
Nonfiction usually written for a general Solution
books audience. Scholarly books and Fundamentals of Nutrition
scientific studies are usually written
for an audience that has specialized
knowledge of a topic.
These sources are published at
regular intervals—daily, weekly, The Globe and Mail
monthly, or quarterly. Newspapers, Maclean’s magazine
Periodicals
magazines, and academic journals
and news CMAJ, Canadian Medical
are examples. Some periodicals
sources Association Journal
provide articles on subjects of
general interest, while others are
more specialized.
Government Federal, provincial, and local Statistics Canada
publications government agencies publish Juristat
information on a variety of topics.
Government publications include
reports, legislation, court
 documents, public records,
statistics, studies, guides, programs,
and forms.
Businesses and nonprofit
organizations produce publications
designed to market a product, A company’s instruction
provide background about the manual explaining how to
Business and organization, provide information use a specific software
nonprofit on topics connected to the program
publications organization, or promote a cause. A news release published by
These publications include reports, UNICEF Canada
newsletters, advertisements,
manuals, brochures, and other print
documents.

Some of these resources are also widely available in electronic format. In addition
to the resources noted in the table, library holdings may include primary texts such
as historical documents, letters, and diaries

2.Engaging with your source material

You will cite sources within the body of your paper and at the end of the paper in
your references section. For this assignment, you will use the citation format used
by the American Psychological Association (also known as APA style). Within
this course and for all of your courses at JIBC, you will need to follow the JIBC
APA Reference Guide when formatting citations and references within your
papers.

This section covers the nitty-gritty details of in-text citations. You will learn how
to format citations for different types of source materials, whether you are citing
brief quotations, paraphrasing ideas, or quoting longer passages. You will also
learn techniques you can use to introduce quoted and paraphrased material
effectively. Keep this section handy as a reference to consult while writing the
body of your paper.
Formatting Cited Material: The Basics

In-text citations usually provide the name of the author(s) and the year the source
was published. For direct quotations, the page number must also be included. Use
past tense verbs when introducing a quote: for example, “Smith found…,” not
“Smith finds.…”

Citing Sources in the Body of Your Paper

In–text citations document your sources within the body of your paper. These
include two vital pieces of information: the author’s name and the year the source
material was published. When quoting a print source, also include in the citation
the page number where the quoted material originally appears. The page number
follows the year in the in-text citation. Page numbers are necessary only when
content has been directly quoted, not when it has been summarized or
paraphrased.

Using Source Material in Your Paper

One of the challenges of writing a research paper is successfully integrating your

ideas with material from your sources. Your paper must explain what you think, or
it will read like a disconnected string of facts and quotations. However, you also
need to support your ideas with research, or they will seem insubstantial. How do
you strike the right balance?

In your essay, the introduction and conclusion function like the frame around a
picture. They define and limit your topic and place your research in context. In the
body paragraphs of your paper, you need to integrate ideas carefully at the
paragraph level and at the sentence level. You will use topic sentences in your
paragraphs to make sure readers understand the significance of any facts, details,
or quotations you cite. You will also include sentences that transition between
ideas from your research, either within a paragraph or between paragraphs. At the
sentence level, you will need to think carefully about how you introduce
paraphrased and quoted material.

Earlier you learned about summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting when taking
notes. In the next few sections, you will learn how to use these techniques in the
body of your paper to weave in source material to support your ideas.
Summarizing Sources

Look back at Section 3.2: Summarizing to refresh your memory of how Jorge
summarized the article. As was mentioned there, when you are summarizing, you
are focusing on identifying and sharing the main elements of a source. This is
when you paraphrase the concepts and put them in your own words, demonstrating
you have a firm understanding of the concepts presented and are able to
incorporate them into your own paper.

Within a paragraph, this information may appear as part of your introduction to the
material or as a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence. Read the examples
that follow.
Summary
Leibowitz (2008) found that low-carbohydrate diets often helped subjects with
Type II diabetes maintain a healthy weight and control blood sugar levels.
The introduction to the source material (the attributive tag) includes the author’s
name followed by the year of publication in parentheses.
Low-carbohydrate diets often help subjects with Type II diabetes maintain a
healthy weight and control blood sugar levels (Leibowitz, 2008).
The parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence includes the author’s name, a
comma, and the year the source was published. The period at the end of the
sentence comes after the parentheses.

Formatting Paraphrased and Summarized Material

When you paraphrase or summarize ideas from a source, you follow the same
guidelines previously provided, except that you are not required to provide the
page number where the ideas are located. If you are summing up the main findings
of a research article, simply providing the author’s name and publication year may
suffice, but if you are paraphrasing a more specific idea, consider including the
page number.

Read the following examples.

Examples
Chang (2008) pointed out that weight-bearing exercise has many potential benefits
for women.
Here, the writer is summarizing a major idea that recurs throughout the source
material. No page reference is needed.
 Chang (2008) found that weight-bearing exercise could help women maintain or
even increase bone density through middle age and beyond, reducing the
likelihood that they will develop osteoporosis in later life (p. 86).
Although the writer is not directly quoting the source, this passage paraphrases a
specific detail, so the writer chose to include the page number where the
information is located.

Introducing Cited Material Effectively

Including an introductory phrase in your text, such as “Jackson wrote” or

“Copeland found,” often helps you integrate source material smoothly. This
citation technique also helps convey that you are actively engaged with your
source material. Unfortunately, during the process of writing your research paper,
it is easy to fall into a rut and use the same few dull verbs repeatedly, such as
“Jones said,” “Smith stated,” and so on.

Punch up your writing by using strong verbs that help your reader understand how
the source material presents ideas. There is a world of difference between an
author who “suggests” and one who “claims,” one who “questions” and one who
“criticizes.” You do not need to consult your thesaurus every time you cite a
source, but do think about which verbs will accurately represent the ideas and
make your writing more engaging. Strong Verbs for Introducing Cited
Material shows some possibilities.

Strong Verbs for Introducing Cited Material

 ask
 suggest
 question
 recommend
 determine
 insist
 explain
 assert
 claim
 hypothesize
 measure
 argue
 propose
 compare
 contrast
 evaluate
 conclude
 find
 study
 sum up
 believe
 warn
 point out
 assess

When to Cite

Any idea or fact taken from an outside source must be cited, in both the body of
your paper and the references. The only exceptions are facts or general statements
that are common knowledge. Common knowledge facts or general statements are
commonly supported by and found in multiple sources. For example, a writer
would not need to cite the statement that most breads, pastas, and cereals are high
in carbohydrates; this is well known and well documented. However, if a writer
explained in detail the differences among the chemical structures of carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats, a citation would be necessary. When in doubt, cite!

Fair Dealing

In recent years, issues related to the fair use of sources have been prevalent in
popular culture. Recording artists, for example, may disagree about the extent to
which one has the right to sample another’s music. For academic purposes,
however, the guidelines for fair dealing are reasonably straightforward.

Writers may quote from or paraphrase material from previously published works
without formally obtaining the copyright holder’s permission. Fair dealing in
copyright law allows a writer to legitimately use brief excerpts from source
material to support and develop his or her own ideas. For instance, a columnist
may excerpt a few sentences from a novel when writing a book review. However,
quoting or paraphrasing another’s work excessively, to the extent that large
sections of the writing are unoriginal, is not fair dealing.

As he worked on his draft, Jorge was careful to cite his sources correctly and not to
rely excessively on any one source. Occasionally, however, he caught himself
quoting a source at great length. In those instances, he highlighted the paragraph in
question so that he could go back to it later and revise. Read the example, along
with Jorge’s revision.
Summary
Heinz (2009) found that “subjects in the low-carbohydrate group (30%
carbohydrates; 40% protein, 30% fat) had a mean weight loss of 10 kg (22 lbs)
over a four-month period.” These results were “noticeably better than results for
subjects on a low-fat diet (45% carbohydrates, 35% protein, 20% fat)” whose
average weight loss was only “7 kg (15.4 lbs) in the same period.” From this, it can
be concluded that “low-carbohydrate diets obtain more rapid results.” Other
researchers agree that “at least in the short term, patients following low-
carbohydrate diets enjoy greater success” than those who follow alternative plans
(Johnson & Crowe, 2010).
Self-Practice Exercise 9.1

3. Becoming a critical reader

CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES Reading effectively requires approaching
texts with a critical eye: evaluating what you read for not just what it says, but how
and why it says it. Effective reading is central to both effective research (when you
evaluate sources) and effective writing (when you understand how what you read
is written, you can work to incorporate those techniques into your own writing).
Being an effective reader also means being able to evaluate your own practices,
working to develop your critical reading skills.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU’RE READING FOR. • Knowing why you’re reading a
given text can help you organize both your reading and how you can use what you
read. • Before you read a text, ask and answer the following kinds of questions:
Are you reading only for general content? For data? For specific information or for
general thematic concerns? For arguments that support or contest your thesis in a
writing assignment? For information that you know you’ll need for an assignment,
or for information to get you thinking about what you’ll need?
ALLOW ENOUGH TIME TO READ, AND TAKE YOUR TIME. • Reading
critically is not a fast process. Many students do not set aside enough study time
for reading (and rereading), and read everything either too quickly or at the same
speed. If you know what you’re reading for, you can better distinguish information
that can be skimmed from that which should be more closely examined, and make
better use of your reading time. • Preview or survey the text before detailed reading
begins, looking for clues related to its purpose, its relevance, its difficulty, and how
it connects with ideas or information you already know. • Be willing to struggle
with the text in order to understand it – but don’t get hung up on single, tough
details in first readings. Rather, hold confusing passages in mental suspension, and
continue to read with the idea that what seems difficult to understand now may be
cleared up as you go along.
REMEMBER THAT RE-READING IS A PART OF EFFECTIVE, CRITICAL
READING. • Just as having more than one conversation with another person leads
to closer understanding, conducting a number of readings leads to a richer and
more meaningful relationship with, and understanding of, a text. • If your first
reading is for basic information and evaluation, subsequent readings can take on
different levels of focus (on style and tone, on details, on examples, on intellectual
or ideological tradition, etc.). • In re-reading, work to separate parts of arguments
(e.g., thesis idea, evidence, preview, counterarguments) and to understand how
these parts work to support the author’s thesis.
ENGAGE WITH THE TEXT TO GET THE MOST OUT OF IT. • Read with a
pen or pencil, highlighting key statements, parts, or points – even those you find
confusing. Also, make note of words or terms you don’t understand so you can
look them up later. • Note where and how the text relates to lectures or discussions,
as well as general or specific questions you might wish to ask your instructor in
class or office hours. • Record your own questions, points of agreement or
disagreement, references to related ideas, and points at which ideas match up with
each other. In other words, work to enter into a dialogue with the text, mark it up,
and make it your own.
ASK YOURSELF IF YOU CAN EXPLAIN BOTH “WHAT THE TEXT SAYS”
AND “WHAT IT DOES.”
• In other words, can you both provide a summary of key claims and theses and
understand its purpose, what this text seeks to do (to report or state facts, to contest
a certain idea, to persuade, to open new inquiries, etc.)? • Keep in mind that all
texts filter reality – distort, persuade, and arrive at different conclusions – and that
all texts are trying to change your view in some way.
ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH WRITER’S BACKGROUND
AND PURPOSES INFLUENCE WHAT THEY WRITE. • Reading a text critically
requires that you ask questions about the writer’s authority and agenda. You may
need to put yourself in the author’s shoes and recognize that those shoes fit a
certain way of thinking. • Work to determine and understand an author’s context,
purpose, and intended audience.
WORK TO UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN STRATEGIES AND TO IMPROVE
THEM. • Ask yourself questions about how you read: Do you read too quickly or
slowly? Do you tend to lose your focus? Can you scan for key information or
ideas? • Consider the characteristics of effective reading above, in relation to those
practices and strategies you already employ, to get a sense of your current reading
strategies and how they might be improved.
4. Active Reading AND Note taking
Have you ever read the same sentence five times and you still can’t take in what it
says? We all have, and it can be very frustrating. Active reading strategies can help
you to not just read the words on a page, but to really take in their meaning. If you
use these strategies in your studying, then your overall comprehension of the
material will increase. Thus, your studying will be more efficient, and you will be
more confident in your abilities and your understanding.

Active Reading Strategies

(P)SQ3R: This is an active reading tool for any kind of reading, but especially for
textbook chapters. Simply reading a textbook chapter does not set you up for
success. Chances are you will quickly forget the information, or you won’t fully
understand it. Using a studying tool like (P)SQ3R only takes up a bit more time
and it drastically increases your ability to recall and understand the information.

 Preview: This isn’t included in typical SQ3R methods, which is why it’s in
parentheses, but it is an important step in the learning process. In this step
 you want to preview what you already understand about a topic, if anything.
What do you know about this topic? Have you had a previous class on it?
Do you have any lived experiences that have taught you something about
this topic? As students you know much more than you probably realize, and
it is important to understand what knowledge you are already bringing to a
topic or class.
 Survey: Now you will want to open the chapter itself, but just skim it. You
want to get a general idea of what the chapter is about by reading the
introduction, the conclusion, any study questions, and any charts, graphs or
pictures. You might also go back to preview and realize that you know a few
more things after surveying the chapter.
 Question: This helps frame your reading and gives you a goal. What are the
main things you want to learn from reading this chapter? You can also try
turning headings into questions. If the heading is “The Battle of Saratoga”
you can ask “What happened during the Battle of Saratoga?”
 Read: Now you want to actually read the chapter to look for answers to the
questions you created. Take notes using a note-taking method (some listed
below) or highlight the text. You want to engage with the text in some way
to help you remember the main points later.
 Recite: After reading, look back at the questions you created as well as any
already included in the chapter. Did you answer them? If not, go back and
look for the answers.
 Review: Put the material down for at least a few hours, work on something
else or take break. Then return to the material within a day and review what
you learned, keeping note of any outstanding questions for you to ask your
professor.

(https://in.nau.edu/academic-success-centers/sq3r-reading-method/)

Defining Terms: This strategy is one of the simplest ways that you can work on
your active reading. It is based on understanding terminology and determining
what is important in a text.

 When you are reading, write down terms that are highly important to the
topic at hand. These terms could be section headers, they might be bolded in
the text, or you might have to determine if they are important based on
context. Also write down any terms that are unfamiliar to you, but try not to
 look them up while you are reading (unless you cannot understand the main
point of the text without that term.)
 After you are done reading, go back and define the terms in your own words.
For the terms that you were unfamiliar with, try to define them yourself first,
based on context-clues. If you are unable to, don’t worry, go ahead and look
them up. Star these terms (or bold them if you are typing) so that you can
pay special attention to those terms when studying.

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?: This strategy helps you categorize
what you are reading into smaller pieces. This method is particularly useful for
primary source materials in humanities classes, but can be used for any type of
reading that has a clear author and point of view. This is not as useful for textbook
chapters.

This method calls for you to format your notes into 6 columns, labeling each
column with “Who,” “What,” “Where,” “When,” “Why,” and “How.” As you are
taking notes, you will place your notes in the proper column. When you are done
with the reading, revisit your columns and fill out any columns that are particularly
short or that are blank, particularly “why” and “how” usually need to be revisited.

 Who: This column is about the author and the audience. When you are
taking notes, keep an eye for where the author's perspective, or bias, shows
in the text. Keep an eye out for phrases like “I am approaching this from the
perspective of…” or “I disagree with X on…” Remember that bias is not an
inherently bad thing because everyone has a perspective; it is up to you as
the reader to determine what it is. Also keep an eye out for anything about
the audience. Who is this text intended for?
 What: This column deals with the main argument of the text. What is the
author saying? This will probably be the longest column. There might be
overlap between this and the “Who” column and that is okay. Sometimes
arguments contain biases or certain perspectives. These columns are not
rigid, but rather guides to help you sort through information.
 Where and When: These columns are where you will put notes that are
related to places or times. These columns will probably be the shortest, and
certain categories might not be relevant to all texts. For example, “when”
will be especially relevant when reading a historical text. But “where” might
be more relevant for global studies. In general these categories are about
 context, and helping you understand the world in which the author is
existing.
 Why: This column is about the purpose behind the text. Why did the author
write it? Look for phrases like “My goal with this article is to….” Or “I
wrote this because….” Think about if the text is trying to convince people of
something or advocate for a certain course of action.
 How: This column relates to how the author accomplishes that goal. What
methods do they use? It could be logic, emotion, precedent, authority, or a
host of other methods. Look for the ways they try to convince the reader that
their argument is correct or valid.

Note-Taking Tools

Learning effective note-taking strategies is essential to any kind of active reading.

These tools will help you organize information as you are taking notes, which
contributes to your overall understanding of the material. It will also help when
you are preparing for tests or essays because your information will be organized
and easily accessible.

Cornell Notes: It is possible that you are already familiar with the Cornell style of
note-taking, as it is sometimes taught in high school. This method hinges on visual
organization of your notes and kickstarts the learning process through a summary.

 During Class/Reading: First, you will write the title of the lecture or chapter
on the top of your paper. Then you will separate your page, as indicated by
the image below. During class you will take notes on the right side. Write as
much or as little as necessary so that you will understand it later.
 Immediately After Class: Write headers to organize your notes on the left
side, called the cue column. This can be main ideas, title slides from the
lecture, questions, or study prompts. You may also do this during the lecture
if there is a short break.
 During Later Study Time (but no less than 24 hours after class): At the
bottom of your page, write a summary of the lecture/chapter in your own
words. This will help ensure that you understand the material and will
refamiliarize you with the information. When studying for tests or projects
later in the semester, use your headers and cues to quickly sort through your
notes to find the necessary information.
If this method is useful to you, you can download various styles of pre-formatted
Cornell notes for your
computer. https://templatelab.com/cornell-notes/#google_vignette

Outlining: This strategy is good for people who have an organizational mind. It
shows relationships between different ideas through the idea of nesting or
outlining. As you take notes, you will organize the information in terms of main
points and related points. Start with the first main point, and then nest any related
points as shown below. When the lecture or reading moves on to a new topic, you
move on to the next number and repeat the process.
Word Maps: Word maps are useful for people who like the idea of an outline, but
it feels too regimented for them. Word maps still show the relationship of ideas
through the idea of nesting, but this uses a freeform, more unique, format. Write
the main topic in the middle bubble, and the subsequent points in bubbles off of
that, and so on in a similar fashion. A potential drawback of this method is limited
space for topics that require a high volume of notes.