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Reference: Course on Subject Clearing

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Key Word List

The key words represent the concepts that have evolved in a subject. The Key Word List is the list of key words that are arranged in a logical sequence. 

Prepare a key word list as you study the books on a subject. The first key word on the list should be the title of the subject. For example, when you are studying mathematics, start the key word list with the word MATHEMATICS. 

The key word list shall get longer as you proceed with your studies. Rearrange the sequence of the key words now and then to reflect the development of the concepts in that subject. For example, the beginning key words for the subject of mathematics may be arranged in a sequence as follows.

Mathematics, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, co-ordinate geometry, calculus, number theory, and so on.

For a general subject, such as, ‘Religion,’ you may first throw a key word list together, and then, start arranging these key words in a logical sequence as you study the subject. 

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Glossary

If you do not have a glossary available on a subject, then you may generate one while studying various books and articles on that subject. Most probably you will start from an extant glossary and then improve upon it. You may get help from dictionaries, Wikipedia, and Encyclopedias available on Internet.

The Glossary shall contain the definitions of the terminology of the subject. It may also provide additional notes and explanations besides definitions. All entries in the glossary shall be arranged in an alphabetical order.

You may simultaneously generate the key word list; but the sequence of the key words in the Key Word List may have to be rearranged frequently as your understanding of the subject improves. More fundamental concepts shall appear earlier on the list than the later derived concepts. A person can then clear the understanding of the key words in the sequence of their development by looking them up in the Glossary.

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Summary

The whole idea of the Key Word List and Glossary is to examine the consistency of the concepts underlying the key words. As you prepare the Key Word list and the Glossary, it may lead to many insights and new ideas on the subject.

You may also come up with inconsistencies in the subject. The closer an inconsistency is to the beginning of the Key Word List, its resolution is bound to lead to a major corrections in the subject. This may even lead to new discoveries, new key words and new organization of knowledge.

The tracking down of the inconsistencies and finally resolving them is the most fruitful part of subject clearing. When there are inconsistencies in the fundamentals of a subject, their resolution is of the utmost priority.

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