Article: An association diagram is also known as a clustering technique. You will create a cluster or group of words around a theme or idea.  Take out a sheet of paper. Write your main topic or subject in the middle of the paper. For example, “Spring”. Moving out from the center, write down other words that pop into your mind that relate to “Spring”. For example, for “Spring”, you might write “flowers”, “rain”, “Spring break”, “new life”. Don’t worry about organizing the words as you write. Simply let the words flow around the main topic. Once you feel you have written enough words around the main topic, start to cluster the words. Draw a circle around words that relate to each other and draw a line between the circled words to connect them. Continue doing this with the other words. Some of the terms may end up uncircled, but these lone words can still be useful.  Focus on how the words relate to the main topic. If you have clustered together several words that relate to “new life”, for example, maybe this may be a good approach for the vignette. Or if there are a lot of clustered words that focus on “flowers", this may be another way to approach “Spring.” 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.” A free-write is a chance for you to let your thoughts flow on a piece of paper. Write whatever comes into your mind and don’t judge what you are writing.  Take out a piece of paper, or open a new document on your computer. Write the main topic at the top of the paper. Then, set a time limit of 10 minutes and start the free-write.  A good rule of thumb for the free-write is to not lift your pen from the paper, or your fingers from the keyboard. This means not re-reading the sentences you just wrote or going back over a line for spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If you feel you have run out of things to write down, write about your frustrations about not having anything else to say about the main topic. Stop writing once the timer is up. Read over the text. Though there may be some confusing or convoluted thoughts, there will also be sentences you may like or an insight that may be useful. Highlight or underline sentences or phrases you think may work in the vignette. Take out a sheet of paper or open a new document. Write the main topic of the vignette at the top of the document. Then, write down six headings: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?  Respond to each question with a phrase or sentence. For example, if your topic is “Spring”, you may answer Who? with “my mother and I in the garden”. You may answer When? with “A hot summer day in July when I was six years old.” You may answer Where? with “Miami, Florida.” You may answer Why? with “Because it was one of the happiest moments of my life.” And you may answer How? with “I was alone with my mother in the garden, without my sisters.” Look over your responses. Do you have more than one or two phrases for a certain question? Is there one question you had no answer for? If your answers reveal you know more about “where” and “why”, maybe this is where the strongest ideas for the vignette are.

What is a summary?
Create an association diagram. Do a free-write. Ask the six big questions.