

Write the main topic at the top of the paper. Take out a piece of paper, or open a new document on your computer.Write whatever comes into your mind and don’t judge what you are writing. A free-write is a chance for you to let your thoughts flow on a piece of paper. Answer questions like: "I was surprised by…" or "I discovered…" For example, you may look over the clustered words and note "I was surprised by how often I mention my mother in relation to Spring." Or, "I discovered I may want to write about how Spring means new life."ĭo a free-write.Or if there are a lot of clustered words that focus on "flowers", this may be another way to approach "Spring." If you have clustered together several words that relate to "new life", for example, maybe this may be a good approach for the vignette. Focus on how the words relate to the main topic.

Some of the terms may end up uncircled, but these lone words can still be useful. Continue doing this with the other words. Draw a circle around words that relate to each other and draw a line between the circled words to connect them. Once you feel you have written enough words around the main topic, start to cluster the words.Simply let the words flow around the main topic. Don’t worry about organizing the words as you write. For example, for "Spring", you might write "flowers", "rain", "Spring break", "new life".Moving out from the center, write down other words that pop into your mind that relate to "Spring".Write your main topic or subject in the middle of the paper. X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source You will create a cluster or group of words around a theme or idea.

An association diagram is also known as a clustering technique. So the reader is left with the feeling of being held down or tethered to someone, just like the narrator.Ĭreate an association diagram. The narrator’s feeling of being weighed down by her sister is perfectly summed up by the last image.

