How to Memorize Anything (33 page)

Visualization
:
Nana
is
washing
the
bonnet of a car
with
10 glasses of soda
water
.

(ii)
WATER GLASS—
Sodium Silicate
Na
₂
Si O
₃
Na2 – Nana
Si – Silly
O – Ox
3 – tree (rhyme)
Visualization
:
Nana
is giving
water
in a
glass
to a
silly ox
sitting on a
tree
.

Thus memory techniques are useful in memorizing various formulae of chemical compounds, atomic number of elements, classification of periodic table in groups, their valencies, and composition of various alloys and results of different chemical reactions, and various facts about chemical compounds and their reactions.

18

MEMORIZING HISTORY DATES
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Memorizing history dates have always been a nightmare for many. Using a combination of various mnemonics learnt in the earlier chapters, you can memorize them in a very funny way!

To memorize historical dates, we need to have an image of the historical event and that of the date. Create those images by understanding the following steps:

STEPS FOR MEMORIZING HISTORY DATES

1. Visualize the event:
   First visualize the historical event to be memorized using the PNN method, like the birth of Gandhiji, or the First World War, etc.
   
2. Visualize the date:
   The date consists of three parts—
   date, month, and year
   .
   
   1. Date can be visualized using the number peg system, i.e.
      Dates
      1–20
      can be memorized using the
      rhyme method
      Dates
      21–31
      can be memorized using the
      shape method
      (where 1 to 11 codes of shape method can be taken for dates 21–31 of any month)
      
   2. Month can be memorized using month mnemonics as given in
      chapter 13
      ,
      ‘Memorizing Numerical Facts and Data’
      under the section on
      ‘Memorizing Birthdates’
      .
      
   3. Year can be memorized by converting the year into images using the
      Phonetic Peg System.
      
3. Make an association:
   Visualize an association between the event and the date.
   

SOME EXAMPLES

1. The 1
^st
atom bomb hit Hiroshima on August 6
^th
, 1945
Hiroshima : Hero
6 : sticks (rhyme)
August : National Flag
19
45
: Rail (phonetic)
(The confusion is about the year only and not the century, so there is no need to convert the century part in such kind of dates.)
Visualization:
Somebody hit the
Hero
(Shahrukh Khan) with an
atom bomb
, but he kept standing with a
national flag
(August) on a
stick
(6)
in his hand, on top of the
rail
(19
45
)
.

2. Dandi March was started by Gandhiji on March 12
^th
, 1930
Dandi March : dandi (walking stick)
12 : Shelf (rhyme)
March : Holi (festival)
1930 : mess (phonetic)
Visualization:
Gandhiji was marching with a
dandi
in his hand, but people took out the
Holi
colours
(March) from the
shelf
(12)
and smeared him with it, creating a
mess
(19
30
)
.

3. Alexander attacked India in 323 BC
Alexander : Alexander King
323 : m n m: my name (phonetic)
BC : Before Christ
Visualization:
When Alexander attacked India, he bowed
b
efore
C
hrist (B.C.) and said loudly, ‘
My name
(323) is Alexander’.

Till now we have taken dates where the centuries are quite obvious and there is no need to associate them with any image. But if the dates are such that you need to memorize the centuries as well, you can use the colour coding system using which we assign a particular colour to a century. We see that colour specifically in our visualization, which enables us to remember the century while recalling it.

Below is a list of colours that you may use as century code colours.

It’s totally your choice which colour you want to give to a particular century, provided you keep it constant throughout.

Let’s see some examples to make it clear:

4. Battle of Haldighati was fought in 1576
Battle of Haldighati : People fighting with haldi (turmeric)
1576 : Yellow + Kash
Visualization:
People wearing
yellow
dresses are fighting with
haldi
for
cash
(76).

5. Battle of Buxar was fought in 1764
Battle of Buxar : Boxer fighting
1764 : Royal Blue + jar
Visualization:
A
Boxer
wearing
royal blue
gloves is fighting while standing on a big
jar.

6. Treaty of Lahore was signed in 1846
Treaty of Lahore : Treat in the Law house
1846 : Brown + Raja
Visualization
: A
Raja
sitting on a
brown
throne is, giving
treat
to everybody
in the Law house
and signing on
brown
papers.

7. Rabindranath Tagore got the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.
Noble Prize : Noble Prize
Literature : Books
1913 : Orange + Dam
Visualization:
Rabindranath Tagore is putting all his
literary works (books) that are
covered in an
orange
cloth on the
dam
and getting a
Nobel Prize
for it.

Now practice some history dates by yourself:

1. C.V. Raman got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930 for his study of the scattering of light
   
2. Russian revolution took place in the year 1917
   
3. Prarthana Samaj was established in the year 1867
   
4. Death of Shahjahan was in the year 1666
   
5. Birth of Subhash Chandra Bose was in the year 1897
   Memory techniques play a very important role in changing the perspective of a student towards boring and difficult subjects. Using these methods, memorizing history dates will become fun rather than a burden as it was earlier.
   

19

MEMORIZING ANSWERS OF SOCIAL STUDIES

MEMORIZING SHORT ANSWERS

You can memorize short answers using the following steps:

• Take out key words from your answers and
  
• Make a mental picture of those keywords using PNN
  
• Visualize them using the chain method
  

Let’s take some examples from the school syllabus:

Q1. What are archives?

Ans. Archives
are places where
manuscripts
are kept.

Archives : Archies Gallery

Manuscripts : Menu card

Visualization:
In
Archies gallery, menu cards
are displayed instead of greeting cards.

Q2. What was the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans?

Ans.
Persian was the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.

Persian : Pari (angel)

Visualiztion:
Delhi Sultans speak the language of
Pari
(angel
).

Q3. From which country did Ibn Battuta travel to India?

Ans.
Ibn Battuta travelled to India from Morocco.

Ibn Battuta : Batuni Insaan
(talkative person)
Morocco : Mor
(peackock)

Visualiztion:
A
Batuni insaan
(talkative person)
travelled to India sitting on a
mor
(peacock).

Q4. In whose reign did the Sultanate reach its farthest extent?

Ans.
In Muhammad Tughluq’s reign the Sultanate reached its farthest end.

Tughluq : Tilak

Visualization:
Sultan sabse farthest end par pahucha, to Muha-mmad ne use
Tilak
kiya.

(Muhammad gave a
Tilak
to the Sultan when he reached its farthest end).

Q5. What were the qualifications necessary to become a member of a committee of the sabha in the Chola empire?

Ans.
To become a member of a committee of the sabha in the
Chola empire
, the following qualifications were necessary:

• The member had to be a
  revenue-paying land owner
  .
  
• He had to
  possess
  his own
  home.
  
• He had to be between the
  age of 30–70 years
  .
  
• He should have been
  honest.
  
• He had to have
  knowledge of the Vedas.
  
• He should be well versed in
  administrative matters
  .
  

Visualization:

The keywords are highlighted in the answer above.

Imagine a person nominated for making a new committee representing people who cook
chole
for the entire empire. He is giving reasons why he should be elected.

Imagine he is standing in front of his house and saying ‘I
own
this
house
and
pay revenue
for it. When I initially came here, it was all a
mess (30).
Now it’s such a nice place that you can even
kiss (70)
it. I have been very
honest
these days and want to spread this
knowledge
to all, so I want to become the
admin
of this new committee. Please vote for me’.

Q6. Name three types of rainfall?

Ans.
Convectional rainfall, Orographic rainfall, and Cyclonic rainfall are the three types of rainfall.

Conventional : Convincing
Orographic : Oro (name)
Cyclonic : Cycle

Visualization:
Since it is raining,
Oro
is
convincing
his parents to allow him to ride the
cycle
in the rain.

Q7. What is the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’? Explain with examples.

Ans.
The
Doctrine of Lapse
declared that if an Indian ruler died without a
male heir
, his kingdom would ‘lapse’, that is, become part of the company territory. One kingdom after another was
annexed
simply by applying this doctrine:
Sambalpur
(1850),
Udaipur
(1852),
Nagpur
(1853), and
Jhansi
(1854).

Visualization:
Visualize that a
Doctor
(Doctrine)
is saying if you don’t have a male baby in your
lap
(Lapse),
then your kingdom will become part of the company. See as if he is saying ‘
NEXT
’
(annexed)
and one after another, kingdoms are becoming part of his company.

After coming out of his room one person is saying: ‘
Sambhal kar
(Sambalpur),
udne
(Udaipur)
wala
naag
(Nagpur),
sabko apne
jhanse
(Jhansi)
mein fasa raha hain.’

(‘Beware, a flying snake is trying to trap everyone in its decoy’
).

MEMORIZING LONG ANSWERS

You can memorize long answers using the following steps:

• Just break your long answers into small sentences.
  
• Take a key word from each sentence and associate it with any of the pegs system.
  
• Make a mental picture of that association.
  
• While recalling, just recall the pegs and you will be able to give the whole answer correctly without missing a single point.
  

Let’s take some examples from the school syllabus:

Using the Number Rhyme Peg System