Outlines

When preparing a paper or assignment, an outline is a great way and often a necessary part of organizing your thoughts and research.

Why create an outline? On the most obvious level, creating an outline forces you to consider the hierarchical relationship or logical ordering of the information you plan to present.

• Aids in the process of writing

• Helps you organize your ideas

• Presents your material in a logical form

• Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing

• Constructs an ordered overview of your writing

• Defines boundaries and groups

How do I create an outline?

• Determine the purpose of your paper.

• Determine the audience you are writing for.

• Develop the thesis of your paper.

Then:

• Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper.

• Organize: Group related ideas together.

• Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.

• Label: Create main and sub headings.

Four Main Components for Effective Outlines

• Purdue OWL suggests a very traditional approach to outlining your paper. Ideally, you should follow the four suggestions presented here to create an effective outline. When creating a topic outline, follow these two rules for capitalization: For first-level heads, present the information using all upper-case letters; and for secondary and tertiary items, use upper and lower-case letters.

• Click HERE to view the corresponding Sample Outline

• Here's a more formal approach to "outlining" essays. Note, that the process above, outlined by Purdue, sets writers up to engage in more specific outlining and organizing. Personally, I use both approaches when outlining my work.