How to write a good literary essay: professional tips


When you begin writing a literary essay you have to create an outline and take good notes.

Taking Notes

  • Every student needs to take adequate notes while they research. Taking good notes will give you more flexibility when it comes time to write your paper. While some students prefer taking notes on their computer others like to keep the research and note taking part of their paper low-tech.
  • To do this effectively it is important that you have an outline. The outline will direct your research. As you begin researching and reading source material it is best that you refer continually to your outline to ensure you find evidence to support every point you make. It you are struggling to create your outline for your paper or you find yourself stuck on a particular point you can always use another retrieval technique.

Mind mapping is an effective manner of retrieving information from your brain. It is a method of taking and making notes which combine creativity and logic to make a literal map of your thoughts.

Mind mapping uses a natural organizational structure which adheres to the most remedial concepts of the brain. It starts with an idea in the center after which it incorporates images, color, words, and lines to convert what would otherwise be a list of boring information into a highly organized and colorful diagram. This diagram works is structured in the same manner as your brain’s natural thought processes. Ultimately mind mapping remains consistent with what is most natural for your brain and therefore offers an improved method of not just taking notes in a traditional school setting, but making notes, taking notes, and learning from those notes. This process has limitless applications in all personal and professional settings.

Understanding the process of mind mapping is easily related to a traditional map. There are city streets, a city center, landmarks, and symbols throughout the map which are all linked by pictures, colors, and roads. In the same vein, the main idea is the same as the center of a city or the center of map with the roads extending away as secondary thoughts. Any relevant ideas or interesting ideas are denoted with special shapes or unique images in much the same manner as landmarks are noted on a map key.

A mind map functions as a way to facilitate natural thinking through the use of graphic processes. These processes are powerful in that they reach into the dynamics of the brain and expound upon the natural potential of the brain.