Gathering Information

Organize Your Information

Connections

  • What are the causes & effects?
  • Can you identify relationships & trends?
  • Can you see any positive or negative impacts?
  • Who or what will this influence?
  • What does this mean to you / the community / the environment?
  • Does this really matter? Why?
  • How is it important?
  • What is your opinion?

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers can help you to:

  • sort information into categories,
  • identify relationships,
  • compare and contrast information,
  • identify cause and effect,
  • show a sequence of events,
  • show proof for your thesis.

There are many different types of graphic organizers available. Click here to see some examples.

As you put information into the organizer, keep track of which source it came from. This will make the writing process easier.

Once you've included all of your information into a graphic organizer, determine if you have more research to do. If part of your "map" is sparse, you'll need to decide to remove that section or do more research. If a section is too heavy, you can decide to cut some information out or to divide it up into separate sections.

Last updated: April 4, 2008