Outline

Outlining as Part of the Pre-writing Phase

Outline Structure and Content Requirements

You MUST follow this structure for outlines or else your work will not be in the required format, organization, and structure for the class.  

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For general help with outlines, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp0MWYbLUFU to watch a 2-minute video to give you a general idea of how to work through arrangement of your outline.  Even though you can use notecards, flow charts, and mapping to get your ideas going, you will still have to craft a traditional outline (as it is initially shown in the video) when you turn in your thesis and outline work for my review in the Liberty University Online classes.

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Outline Directions

For our class, you are required to create and submit an outline as a step in the writing process for your essays.  Whether you receive a grade or not for an outline, creating an outline will greatly help you improve your structure and organization, thus improving your content in the essay.  In this way, you will write a better paper, resulting in a higher grade.  Excellent, right?

One of the most common difficulties students experience while writing a paper is organization. After you have generated some ideas for your piece (if you have not been trained on pre-writing techniques and strategies, be sure to visit this link for additional online guidance http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/673/), you will want to create an outline. Use this information to create an outline for each of your essays before you write your initial draft. Remember that outlines are subject to change as the ideas in your essays evolve. Simply use the outline as a way to get you started on a well-structured essay with meaningful content in a correct order.

At the end of each essay that you submit in this course, you will include an additional page (after your essay, and after your Works Cited page) that includes your thesis statement followed by your finished outline in proper format. This way, your instructor will be able to view the progression of your writing, see that you took extra time to organize and plan your essay, and award you points.  If you take time to construct a thorough and well-developed outline, you will receive more points.  Points awarded are based on the thoroughness of your thesis statement and outline section.

Outlines will vary depending on the exact goal of the piece, but every outline ought to contain the following elements:

Thesis Statement: _________________________________________________________

I.       Introduction

A.    Interest-catcher (hook) that relates to your thesis

B.     Sentence that connects your interest-catcher to your thesis (background information or transitional concepts to lead to the thesis statement)

C.     Your thesis (feel free to go to this link for additional help with a thesis http://www3.uark.edu/qwct/resources/handouts/01%20Thesis%20Statements%20and%20Essay%20Maps.pdf), which identifies the topic and reveals the central claim you are making about the issue

                                                  i.      OPTIONAL (incorporated into thesis) Overview of your main points—also known as an essay map (see section below for more information about an essay map*)

II.     Several Body Paragraphs with Main Supporting Points for your Claim (Remember that these should support the claim you’ve made in your thesis!) For help organizing your ideas, you can always choose to go to http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/essay-30063.html for additional help. Furthermore, be sure to read carefully the Hamburger Method handout for our class.  If you cannot locate it, contact me for a copy.

A.    Topic sentence introducing the focus of the paragraph in some clear way

B.     Specific example(s), facts(s), story(ies) that support your point. When necessary, use

      properly cited quotes, paraphrases, or summaries.

C.     Your explanation and analysis of example(s)

D.    Summative sentence

*Remember to provide transitions for your reader!

III.  Body Paragraph(s) Discussing Opposition (This could also be addressed before your supporting points. There are other possibilities for organization, but it takes great care to make the flow of thoughts understandable to the reader, so we will just start with these.)

A.    Topic sentence identifying opposing viewpoint

B.     Explanation as to why you disagree

C.     Examples, facts, stories that support your reason for disagreement

D.    Summative sentence

*Remember transition(s).

IV. Conclusion

A.    Sums up what you talked about in your body paragraphs

B.     Reiterates your thesis in different words

C.     Drives home any final thoughts or call for action

Remember that this is just a guide to get you used to writing with structure and a smooth flow. See the Hamburger Method and Drafting Your Essay for additional assistance on idea layout.

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*Essay Map Instructions

(adapted from Jean Wyrick's Steps to Writing Well, 2nd ed., published by Harcourt Brace College Publishers and use at http://www3.uark.edu/qwct/resources/handouts/01%20Thesis%20Statements%20and%20Essay%20Maps.pdf) 

“Many thesis sentences will benefit from the addition of an essay map, a brief statement in the introductory paragraph [after the thesis statement concept] introducing the major points to be discussed in the essay. Let's suppose you have been assigned the task of praising or criticizing some aspect of your campus. You decide that your thesis will be "The campus bookstore is the worst place in town to buy textbooks." Although your thesis does take a stand ("worst place"), your reader will not know why the bookstore is so poor or what points you will cover in your argument. With an essay map added, the reader will have a brief but specific idea where the essay is going and how it will be developed. Consider the following thesis statement (in italics) and essaymap (essay map underlined). Thesis:The campus bookstore is the worst place in town to buy textbooks due to the  unreasonable prices, the lack of qualified employees, and the constant book shortages discourage all but the most loyal customers.”