essay map definition

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10 Concept Mapping

Creating a concept map is a way of organizing your brainstorming around key concepts.

This video from the University of Guelph offers a brief and helpful overview of concept mapping: [1]

Ready to get started with a concept map? This KPU learning aid can also help guide you through the process.

Let’s use our example where an instructor has given us the assignment: Write a 1,500 word persuasive essay that responds to the question: “Are transit services effective for Kwantlen University students?” Include your own perspective in your analysis and draw on two primary and two academic sources.

We’ll follow the seven steps of concept mapping outlined in the video above and I’ll include some examples.

• Identify the main topic
• Brainstorm everything you know about the topic
• Use relevant content from course, lectures, textbooks, and course material

Sticky notes can be a great way of jotting down ideas – you can move the notes around as you begin to identify similarities and differences. You can also ask questions and include reminders of work that that you need to do. See the example below of some sticky notes I might use to start my assignment:

I’ll add more sticky notes with key questions that relate back to the assignment – I’ll need to find primary and academic sources:

I can use these questions as I begin my research process and identify the primary and academic sources I need to support the argument that I will make.

To find out more about the research process, ask a librarian , or check out the KPU Library’s Research Help guide.

This video, included in KPU Library’s Research Help page, provides a good overview of working with an assignment to make sure that you develop a response that is specific and well-supported:

• Organize information into main points 

After noting down what I know about my topic and identifying key questions that I’ll need to research everything, I can focus on a few things that will be important to describe and analyze in my essay. I’ve made a list of some that I can use:

Based on what I’ve done so far, I’m setting up a descriptive comparison of transit options for KPU students, but will emphasize that current transit options are not effective. I want to look for further connections between ideas and see how I can shape my argument.

Step Three :

• Start creating map
• Begin with main points
• Branch out to supporting details

Give it a try! Based on your experience of public transit and the ideas that I’ve outlined so far, how might you start to create a concept map? You can use a piece of paper, or concept mapping software, to make note of ideas and start to connect them.

Step Four :

• Review map and look for more connections
• Use arrows, symbols, and colours, to show relationships between ideas

I start to build layers of connections and relationships in my map:

Step Five :

• Include details

This is where I can provide more information about each point – below, I’ve taken one of the points and added to it:

• Analyze and improve map by asking questions
• How do ideas fit together?
• Have all necessary connections been made?

This is where I can step back and review my map and keep the purpose of my assignment in mind. This is also a good time to follow up on questions that I might have – I can talk through my ideas with a classmate or visit my instructor as I continue to develop and refine my ideas.

Step Seven :

• Update concept map as you learn more
• Ask key questions about connections between ideas

I’ll keep my map with me as I meet with my instructor to discuss my ideas and when I visit the library to locate any academic resources that I might need; this way, I can keep everything together.

• “ How to Create a Concept Map ” by University of Guelph Library CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ↵

Academic Writing Basics Copyright © 2019 by Megan Robertson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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About this printout

Use this graphic organizer to develop an outline for an essay that includes an introductory statement, main ideas, supporting details, and a conclusion.

Teaching with this printout

More ideas to try, related resources.

Expository writing can be challenging for students, yet it is an important skill for them to develop and eventually master. Often, the most difficult aspects of writing an essay are getting started and maintaining an organized focus while drafting the essay. This Essay Map helps students with those challenges by providing them with an organized format that will help them generate and outline their ideas. When you introduce this graphic organizer to your students, model its use by creating an essay of a topic that is very familiar to students. Using a projector so students can watch, fill in the Essay Map as you brainstorm ideas. Then, show students how to use your completed Essay Map to generate a rough draft of an essay.

• If this is a new tool for your students, consider having them fill in the Essay Map on a relatively simple topic. Topic ideas such as “All About Me” or “My Favorite Movies” will help students successfully create an essay because of the high level of background knowledge on these topics. Give older students a more challenging first topic that requires some basic research about something or someone close to them. For example, have them interview an elderly family member to compare and contrast life as a teen today versus life as a teen in the past.
• Prior to assigning them independent work, have students work in small groups to fill in an Essay Map together. Peer interaction will help generate ideas and provide opportunities for discussing the use of the tool. As they work, circulate among groups to check for correct placement of main ideas and supporting details. If you see a detail that is incorrectly placed on the Essay Map, ask guiding questions to help students make adjustments, such as, “I see that you put this supporting detail with this main idea. Can you tell me why you think it would fit there? Is there a better place that you could place it?” When groups have completed their Essay Maps, discuss them, comparing and contrasting the choice and placement of main ideas and details.
• Use Essay Maps that were completed by students to create a class-generated essay. Begin by assigning a single topic to the class. Topics for younger or less advanced students might include, “A Description of Our School,” “Field Trip Ideas for Our Class,” and “Things to Do in Our Town/City.” Topics for older or advanced students can be generated from the content areas and might require research. Ask students to fill in the Essay Map either individually or in groups. After students have completed their Essay Maps, project a blank paper or digital document so that all students can view as you collaboratively create a class essay, working through each paragraph of the essay, soliciting suggestions from students’ Essay Maps, and explaining how the Essay Map serves as a guide in the creation of an essay.
• Strategy Guides
• Lesson Plans

This strategy guide explains the writing process and offers practical methods for applying it in your classroom to help students become proficient writers.

While drafting a literary analysis essay (or another type of argument) of their own, students work in pairs to investigate advice for writing conclusions and to analyze conclusions of sample essays. They then draft two conclusions for their essay, select one, and reflect on what they have learned through the process.

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