Page 215 - Keys to College Success

get creative

CRAFT YOUR OWN MNEMONIC

Complete the following on paper or in digital format.
Create a mnemonic to help you remember some facts.
1. Identify a group of facts that you have to memorize—for example, the names of all the world’s major religions,
or a series of elements in the periodic table.
1 7 2. Now create your own mnemonic to remember the grouping, using any of the devices in this chapter. Write the
CHAPTER CHAPTER 3. Describe your mnemonic. What type is it? How does it rely on imagination, association, and/or location?
mnemonic out in detail.

4. Considering your learning preferences, describe why you think this particular mnemonic will help you retain
the information.

The method of loci
This technique involves imagining storing new ideas in familiar locations. Say, for
example, that on your next biology test you have to remember the body’s major endo-
crine glands. Think of the route you travel through campus to the library. You pass the
college theater, the physics building, the bookstore, the cafeteria, the athletic center, and
the social science building before reaching the library. At each spot along the way, you
“place” a concept you want to learn. You then link the concept with a similar-sounding
word that brings an image to mind (see Key 7.7):
■ At the campus theater, you imagine bumping into the actor Brad Pitt
(pituitary gland).
■ At the science center, you visualize a body builder with bulging thighs
(thyroid gland).
■ At the campus bookstore, you envision a second body builder with his thighs cov-
ered in mustard (thymus gland).
■ In the cafeteria, you bump into Dean Al (adrenal gland).
■ At the athletic center, you think of the school team, the Panthers—nicknamed the
Pans—and remember the sound of the cheer “Pans-R-Us” (pancreas).
■ At the social science building, you imagine receiving a standing ovation (ovaries).
■ And at the library, you visualize sitting at a table taking a test that is easy (testes).

You can use all kinds of locations with the method of loci. Try locating informa-
tion at buildings in a city you know well, places in your bedroom, or locations on a
ACRONYM
A word formed from the first familiar game board.
letters of a series of words
created to help you
remember the series. Acronyms
Another helpful association method involves acronyms. In history class, you can
remember the allies during World War II—Britain, America, and Russia—with the acro-
nym BAR. This is an example of a word acronym, because the first letters of the items
you want to remember spell a word. The word (or words) spelled don’t necessarily have
to be real words. For example, the acronym Roy G. Biv is a made-up name that will
help you remember the colors of the spectrum.

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