English for Academic Purposes

Essay Writing

Week 1: Mindmapping

WAYS OF ORGANISING YOUR WORK: MINDMAPPING USING

MindGenius Education©

Most of us find it difficult to transfer all our ideas and the ideas and theories of others
in a coherent and well- structured way. However, this is very important if we want
others to take our work seriously and if we want to produce a piece of academic
writing that reflects the expectations of our lecturers at university level.

Here you are introduced to one system that may help you to organise your thoughts
and help you to structure your writing. The system we are going to use is
MindGenius Education, a mind-mapping programme available for all to use on the
university intranet.

MindGenius Education is simple to use and can help you to transform your ideas
from:

initial scribble or jotting down of ideas on paper.

To:

a neat, clear and easy to read picture of your thoughts like this:
 i n t e r p r e t i n g

a n a l y s i s n g

d e v e l o p s s k i l l s i n

r e a s o n i n g

e v a l u a t i n g

a c h i e v e b e t t e r m a r k s

b e c o m e l e s s d e p e n d e n t o n

t e a c h e r s a n d t e a x t b o o k s

i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e :

c r e a t e k n o w l e d g e

c h a l l e n g e a n d c h a n g e i d e a s

t o p r o v i d e e v i d e n c e t o b a c k u p o r

c h a l l e n g e a p o i n t o f v i e w

r e a d i n g

t o e v a l u a t e t h e v a l i d i t y a n d i m p o r t a n c e

o f a t e x t

a l i t e r a r y t e x t o r a r t w o r k

c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g

a r e s e a r c h a r t i c l e

d i r e c t l y a s k i n g y o u t o e v a l u a t e :

c a n b e e x p l i c i t e g . c r i t i c a l r e v i e w s

a n a r g u m e n t o r i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f a n

i s s u e , t e x t o r a r t w o r k

w r i t i n g

c a n b e i m p l i c i t e . g c h a l l e n g e s e . g . a p e r s u a s i v e e s s a y

d i s p l a y i n g c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g i n

r e a d i n g & w r i t i n g

c o n f i r m T h e s i s i n r e l a t i o n t o a r e a o r

t o p i c o f a r g u m e n t 1

p r e s e n t e v i d e n c e t o c o n f i r m t h e s i s

c r i t i c a l l y e v a l u a t e e v i d e n c e

u s i n g e v i d e n c e c r i t i c a l l y

p r e s e n t e v i d e n c e t o c o n t a d i c t t h e s i s

c r i t i c a l l y e v a l u a t e e v i d e n c e

r e c o n f i r m t h e s i s i n r e l a t i o n t o a r e a o r

t o p i c i n a r g u m e n t 1

to this: a front page/contents page/essay outline using WORD like this:

critical thinking

_______________________________________________________________________

1: develops skills in

1.1: interpreting

1.2: analysisng
1.3: reasoning

1.4: evaluating

2: important because:

2.1: achieve better marks

2.2: become less dependent on teachers and textbooks

2.3: create knowledge

2.4: challenge and change ideas

3: displaying critical thinking in reading & writing

3.1: reading

3.1.1: to provide evidence to back up or challenge a point of view

3.1.2: to evaluate the validity and importance of a text

3.2: writing

3.2.1: can be explicit e.g. critical reviews

3.2.1.1: directly asking you to evaluate:

3.2.1.1.1: a literary text or artwork

3.2.1.1.2: a research article

3.2.1.1.3: an argument or interpretation of an issue, text or artwork

3.2.2: can be implicit e.g. challenges

3.2.2.1: e.g. a persuasive essay

3.3: using evidence critically

3.3.1: confirm Thesis in relation to area or topic of argument 1

3.3.2: present evidence to confirm thesis

3.3.3: critically evaluate evidence

3.3.4: present evidence to contradict thesis

3.3.5: critically evaluate evidence

3.3.6: reconfirm thesis in relation to area or topic in argument 1

or even to this: a PowerPoint presentation:

Slide 1

critical thinking
Slide 2
critical thinking
• develops skills in
• important because:
• displaying critical thinking in reading & writing

Slide 3
develops skills in
• interpreting
• analysisng
• reasoning
• evaluating

Slide 4
important because:
• achieve better marks
• become less dependent on teachers and teaxtbooks
• create knowledge
• challenge and change ideas
Slide 5
displaying critical thinking in
reading & writing
• reading
– to provide evidence to back up or challenge a point
of view
– to evaluate the validity and importance of a text
• writing
– can be explicit eg. critical reviews
• directly asking you to evaluate:
– a literary text or artwork
– a research article

Slide 6
displaying critical thinking in
reading & writing (Cont.)
– an argument or interpretation of an issue, text or artwork
– can be implicit e.g challenges
• e.g. a persuasive essay
• using evidence critically
– confirm Thesis in relation to area or topic of
argument 1
– present evidence to confirm thesis
– critically evaluate evidence
– present evidence to contadict thesis

It’s simple. After adding all the points you wish to discuss, with a couple of
clicks on your mouse you can transform your ideas into structured
‘backbones’ for your essays, reports & dissertations and then into PowerPoint
presentations.
 HOW TO ACCESS AND USE MINDGENIUS EDUCATION

1. Once you have logged on to the University system, click on the START
button.

2. Slide the mouse arrow up to ACADEMIC APPLICATIONS.

3. Select the 3rd item from the list. This is MINDGENIUS EDUCATION

You will now be presented with the MindGenius Education front page which
had lots of buttons on the navigation bar at the top f of the page, a large
diagram in the centre of the page and a small text box at the bottom of the
page

4. Move the arrow to file and click on NEW

You will now be presented with a small task box in the centre of the screen
with the heading ‘create a new map’. It will say: ‘Look in Ygnius’.

5. Leave everything as it is presented in the task box and click OPEN

In the middle of the screen you will be presented with another small box
with the heading ‘type map title and <return>. The words ‘untitled map’ are
highlighted in blue.

6. Type in the title of your map. This is actually the title of the piece of work
you are preparing for (using key words only). Click OK.

For this example, imagine you are writing about ‘fruits of the world’. You will want to
perhaps discuss the kinds of fruit that exist in the world. You may want to add
comments by health experts about the benefits of eating some of these fruits. You
may find some evidence to suggest that certain types of fruit are better than others or
that certain fruits are dangerous for people with particular dietary needs. You my wish
to discuss the implications for poor farming communities around the world when large
amounts of fruit are exported to other (wealthier) nations. However, there may be
issues concerning the exploitation of farmers in developing countries. This may raise
the issue of ‘fair trade’. What about the controversial use of insecticides or the even
more progressive production of genetically modified fruit?

Basically, the issues which could be discussed are endless under a title such as
‘fruits of the world’
No university assignment will ever ask you to write all you know about a topic.
It will be specific in what you are expected to do and so you must analyse the
assignment task very carefully. In larger pieces of work such as a dissertation
you will also have to focus on specific questions that you wish to find answers
to.

The title of new map will appear in a blue box entitled ‘fruits of the world’

7. If you LEFT CLICK ONCE ONLY on this box you can start to type a new
BRANCH for your map. For example you could type ‘oranges’.

A new small box appears. At the top of this box is written: type new branch
title and <return>

8. After you have typed ‘oranges’ CLICK OK

The new branch ‘ORANGES’ should appear

9. If you have anything you wish to mention about oranges (from all the reading
you have done), then go through the last process again in exactly the same
way: Left click the box ONCE ONLY and start types ONE point only. You
could at this point add the name of a particular researcher (and date of
publication) who has something to say about oranges e.g. vital source of
Vitamin C (Smith, 2004). You could even add the page number where this
statement is found in Smith’s publication. This will help you locate your
sources later on when you write up your work later on.

If at any time you make a mistake and/or would like to change what you
 have written in any branch box or add something to it, then simply double
click the box. Your original writing will appear in blue and you can delete or
make changes/add notes. Then click ‘OK’ to confirm

10. When you are ready to start mapping other issues you wish to discuss
concerning ‘fruits of the world’ then place the curser arrow back onto the
main map title box (fruits of the world). By LEFT CLICKING ONCE ONLY you
can now add another branch e.g. ‘health benefits’. You can now add as
many names of researchers with their main issues on the topic, or issue
concerning the benefits of eating fruit in general (or specific fruits if you like,
just add ore branches to the ‘health benefits’ branch)

The possibilities for adding new ideas, thoughts, themes, opinions of

others etc. are endless. Try it!

You will notice many little blue and yellow buttons in the second row on the task
bar. By clicking on these you can change the appearance of your map. The
choice is up to you.

You will also recognise the Microsoft Word symbol in the task bar. If you
click on this, a new box appears entitled ‘save map’ which asks you where
you would like to save this map. Select where you would like to save it e.g.
save in ‘removable disk (E)’ and click ‘save’. The screen will now ask
whether you would like to see a preview of the task you have just save (as a
Word document). If you click ‘yes’ then you will be presented with the
original mind map you have just created followed by a Word document that
has actually structured the ‘backbone’ of your work. Congratulations!!! You
can begin to write up your work knowing that there is some kind of
coherent structure for you to follow. It may not be the answer to all your
dreams, but it will go some way to keeping you focused. Organisation is
one of the keys to successful academic writing.
 What about presentations?

Just as you above, you can save your map as a PowerPoint presentation.
Simply click on the little red PowerPoint symbol in the top right corner of
the taskbar (in your original MindGenius Education mind map) and you will
be able to save it as a PowerPoint presentation wherever you wish. You will
also be able to preview the presentation. By going back to your original
map you will always be able to change and/or make additions to your work
as you read and learn more.

This is just an introduction to using MindGenius Education. There are many more
tasks it can perform. Play with it and experiment with it. A tutor for the program
is included. You may also know of other such programs that perform equally as
well. The main point is that you should take extra care when putting all your ideas
and opinions (and those of others) together. By ‘seeing’ your ideas, you may well
be able to see how critical and analytical your work is (or not, as the case may
be). By seeing, it sometimes very obvious that something is missing or appears in
the wrong sequence.

TASK 1

‘No country which resorts to legalised murder can claim to be truly

civilised’ Do what extent do you agree with this statement
A

You are now going to try to organise your thoughts, ideas and opinions on the
topic above using MindGenius Education. Some articles are provided here for
you highlighting various aspects of the debate. Browse through them and pick out
the main themes and discuss these in small groups. You can probably think of
other points you may like to include in the debate.

Once you have gathered the various aspects of the debate, try to make your own
judgement. In other words, do you agree or disagree with the statement above?

Now try to organise your thoughts on the topic logically and according to your
own response to the statement.

After the lesson, use the University network to access MindGenius Education.
Using all you have learned in this lesson, try to build your own mind map. Once
you are satisfied with it, transfer the mind map to a WORD document following
the procedures set out earlier on in these notes.

Bring this with you to the class in week 4!!