The Analytical Chart

Step One

Paragraph Titles

After you have read the text through a few times, you should be getting more comfortable with what it is saying. The Analytical Chart is a graphical way of re-creating the text with the addition of your own observations.

So, lets' begin by drawing a box about 4x9 inches on a plain sheet of paper. Go back and re-examine your text. Where there are paragraph divisions, draw a line horizontally in your text box about where you think the paragraph divisons should be. In this example on the left, the divisions are v.1, vv. 2-8, and vv. 9-13.

From your reading and notes, you should have something that stands out in each paragraph. In the upper-right corner, write the paragraph title. It should be one to three words and should be drawn directly from the text. The paragraph title is used to identify the paragraph. Use strong, even graphically descriptive words or phrases.

Step 1 Paragraph Titles

Step 2 Key Center

Step 3 Master Title

Step 4 Paragraph Points

Step 5 Putting It All Together