What exactly do you need help with? Writing an essay?
I'm answering the literal and metaphorical question.
Say you have two rivers that are parallel and symmetrical, any little disturbance or alteration to the direction of one of will gradually make them end up in very different locations (may take years, but will happen 100%). Also, the geography of the land probably will not be the same, further making the destination of the two rivers very distant.
Now imagine two friends that have grown up in a married, middle class, family, they have went to the same school, had similar career goals, and hang out with the same friends. Friend one plans to be a nurse and the other a veterinarian. They start out the same, but as the education there're career(s) require, the farther they end up. Life is unpredictable and NOTHING is ever guaranteed.
Hope this enlightens people, this is my first answer.
I would say either a web diagram or looking for repeated ideas while researching.
If you use a web diagram, you can find multiple subsections of one main topic, and focus on one of the subsections from there.
However, if you look for repeated ideas while researching, you can find more important, focused, and developed information on that one topic to help write your research paper from there.
It all depends on your writing style. If you prefer to write more generally about a topic, I would personally go with the web diagram. If you like to write more detailed on one subject, go with looking for repeated ideas. For this specific question though, I would say looking for repeated ideas is the better option.
