Worksheet
Week 5 - Memory
SECTION ONE: Generating Metaphors
- Are default metaphors available?
- Start with an example of the phenomenon?
- List out its properties.
- Pick an object of comparison
- Test the analogy out
SECTION TWO: Mnemonics (Remembering a List)
- Get a list or sequence you need to remember
- Convert into visual symbols
- Choose a location
- Walk through the location, linking each element
- Test your memory palace
SECTION THREE: Mnemonics (Remembering Vocabulary)
- Get your target word
- What is its plain-English equivalent (or hint)?
- Create visual symbols with sounds-like method
- Link them together
- Test via SRS
Week 5 Worksheet
Page 2 of 9Section 1: Generating metaphors
SECTION ONE: Generating Metaphors
1) Pick an idea you want to create a metaphor for. Write it down here:
2) Are default metaphors for this idea available? What is the way your book explains the concept? If
none are available, does a quick internet search reveal any standard analogies?
3) If there is no default analogy, is there a concrete example of the idea? The example does not need
to be fully general, as long as it is an instance of the idea in question.
Week 5 Worksheet
Page 3 of 9Section 1: Generating metaphors
4) What are the properties of this idea? What features with any object of analogy need to share to
be considered successful. Brainstorm this list now. It helps to be as specic as possible, as we want
to capture most accurately how the idea works (for example: instead of just growing, does it grow
expontentially or logarithmically?)
5a) Pick out an object of your analogy which you think has some of these properties.
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Week 5 Worksheet
Page 4 of 9Section 1: Generating metaphors
5b) Can you make some of the other properties t, if you stretch your imagination?
6) Test this analogy out. Does it work well to match the features of the original idea? What properties
of the original idea does it not share? Write down the differences here now:
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Week 5 Worksheet
Page 5 of 9Section 2: Mnemonics (remembering a list)
SECTION TWO: Mnemonics (Remembering a List)
1) Start by writing out the list or sequence you need to remember. (Examples: Steps in
photosynthesis, the 5 elements of a valid contract, all the dynasties of Chinese history)
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Week 5 Worksheet
Page 6 of 9Section 2: Mnemonics (remembering a list)
2) Are the items on your list easy to visualize? If not, you need to convert them into a visual symbol.
The visual symbol should be something that easily reminds you of the abstract idea it stands for. So
if one of the elements of a valid contract is “consideration” I might think of a penny, since I know this
means some value must be exchanged. Rewrite your list as visual symbols for each element:
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Week 5 Worksheet
Page 7 of 9Section 2: Mnemonics (remembering a list)
3) Choose a location you want to use to step through your memory palace. It should be a place very
familiar to you and one you haven’t used recently for another list of ideas:
4) Mentally walk through the place you selected and whenever you encounter a landmark or object of
interest, use the link method to combine it visually.
5) After you’ve completed this, try closing your eyes and walking through your memory palace again.
If successful, you should have remembered everything along the way. If you missed something, it
may be because the visual symbol wasn’t good, or the landmark wasn’t prominent enough to be
recalled.
Week 5 Worksheet
Page 8 of 9Section 3: Mnemonics (remembering vocabulary)
SECTION THREE: Mnemonics (Remembering Vocabulary)
1) What is the target word you’d like to remember? This could be a foreign language word, a technical
denition, part of anatomy or chemical name:
2) What is the plain-English equivalent of this word. For foreign languages, this is simply the English
translation. For jargon or technical words you may not have an exact plain-English equivalent. Instead
you should use a plain-English “hint” that suggests what you need to remember (e.g. “Cuneate tract”
could be “nger touch” since it is the part of the spinal cord transmitting sensory information from the
arms)
3) Using the sounds-like method, take your target word and turn it into a set of English words you can
easily visualize (chavirer = “shave an ear”, changmun = “chum moon”, “cuneate” = “cue Nate”)
4) If your plain-English word is also abstract, translate it into a visual symbol as well. This can also
be done using the sounds-like method, but it will work as well with a symbol that can stand in for the
abstract idea (i.e. hour => hourglass, innity => universe)
Week 5 Worksheet
Page 9 of 9Section 3: Mnemonics (remembering vocabulary)
5) Using the link method, combine these two images together in a ridiculous, exaggerated scene. Try
making things larger, more numerous or otherwise unreal to solidify the point.
6) Finally, you can test out your link by using it in an SRS ashcard system. If done properly you
should be able to remember the link next time you see the ashcard.