THE X-Y GRAPH

A simple way to present information is to tell it as a story on a simple L-shaped, x-y graph. The horizontal leg of the L is known as the x-axis, and the vertical leg, the y-axis.

For example:

In the graph to the right, our ‘story’ shows that when we are not having fun whilst learning, our speed of learning is slow, Point A; when we are having fun (our teachers are fantastic!), our speed of learning is fast! (Point B).

Can YOU now create some positive graphs such as the one in this example?

In the graph to the left, our ‘story’ shows that when we have viruses in our minds (when we are nervous, anxious, worried, and think negatively) our chances for success in life can be low, Point A; when we stay positive, happy, and are full of fun, we have no mind viruses; we can think better, learn faster, and therefore have high chances of success! So, stay happy, and brilliant! (Point B).

There are people who find it difficult to distinguish between the x and y axes, so, on the next page, I have created a story to help you recall this information ... even five hundred years from now!


Just imagine....Your Mum asked you to take some eggs to the kitchen; you, being wonderful, readily agreed to help her. Unfortunately, as you were carrying your cargo to its destination, you slipped! Crash! Smash! Splash!

Your Mum, seeing the eggs (sounds like X) on the floor (horizontal axis), screamed: “Whyyyyy have you messed up my kitchen?”

(Whyyyyy sounds like Y, and since her voice was rising and rising, meaning vertically, we know that the y-axis is the one that’s vertical!). (The vertical line in the letter ‘Y’ could also help to remember the orientation of the y-axis).

Thus, the x-axis is always horizontal, and the y-axis is always vertical.

And a bonus for earning this snippet of information: Your Dad, meanwhile, was dozing away in his armchair, oblivious to the drama in the kitchen. Zzzzzzzzzz! As you can see in the imagery above, he is shown diagonally, on what we know to be the z-axis!

Therefore, we now know that the z-axis is the one that is always diagonal (normally visible in 3-D mode). Voila!

Create stories from your learning material.You will soon be acing all your subjects!

[Excerpted from the 'Thinkerbelles' edition of The InGenius Series of bookazines by Dilip Mukerjea. All the images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.]