Sociology 131: Marriage & Intimate Relationships

Strategy #1: Keep an Ideas Journal or Freewrite 

Take 10 minutes to write on the topic without any editing. Summarize what you wrote about in a single sentence. Use that first sentence for another free write exercise for 5 minutes. Summarize your second writing session in one sentence. Continue to free write about your sentences until a clear angle or aspect of your topic emerges

Strategy #2: Have a Conversation (with yourself or others) 

• Ask yourself questions (perhaps based off of the assignment prompt and/or in relation to your ideas and interests). Write down the answers to your own questions as a way to think through potential ideas. 

• Do a think aloud. It is productive to brainstorm by having a conversation with someone else (perhaps a friend, peer, family member, mentor, or instructor). Find someone that you can bounce your thoughts off of as a way to clarify and develop your ideas for the assignment. 

Strategy #3: Create a Mind Map

A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps you structure information so you can better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas. It also helps you see how ideas are connected to one another.

Definition From Litemind.