Outlines - Templates. Outline templates - Google Search. Purdue: Developing an Outline. Summary: This resource describes why outlines are useful, what types of outlines exist, suggestions for developing effective outlines, and how outlines can be used as an invention strategy for writing.
Contributors:Elyssa Tardiff, Allen BrizeeLast Edited: 2013-03-01 09:20:56 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. The examples are taken from the Sample Outline handout. Parallelism—How do I accomplish this?
Each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure. ("Choose" and "Prepare" are both verbs. Coordination—How do I accomplish this? All the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same significance as the information contained in Heading 2. (Campus and Web sites visits are equally significant. Getting Started: Outlining. Outlining It might prove useful to organize the ideas that suggest themselves during the freewriting and clustering exercises into a preliminary outline form.
It is possible to write a paper without an outline, but it might suggest that your paper lacks organization if it proves impossible to write an outline that describes the thinking process behind your paper. Outlining never hurt; how helpful it is depends on what kind of thinker you are. At the least, a tentative outline can suggest areas in which your paper needs additional work or supporting details to bolster main ideas or, on the other hand, areas which have too much emphasis and need to be pruned down to avoid an imbalance. It might also help you to see how ideas are related and where connections or transitions are necessary between sections of your paper. The Guide to Writing Research Papers has a special section on writing outlines, and we recommend you review that material.
Harvard Outlining. How to Write an Outline_LA Valley College. What is it?
An outline is a general plan of the material that is to be presented in a speech or a paper. The outline shows the order of the various topics, the relative importance of each, and the relationship between the various parts. Order in an Outline There are many ways to arrange the different parts of a subject. Sometimes, a chronological arrangement works well.
Thesis Statement of Summarizing Sentence All outlines should begin with a thesis statement of summarizing sentence. Types of Outlines The two main types of outlines are the topic outline and the sentence outline. Rules for Outlining 1. Example: I. 2. Examples Topic Outline Choices in College and After Thesis: The decisions I have to make in choosing college courses, depend on larger questions I am beginning to ask myself about my life’s work. Basic Outlining. Basic Outlining An outline presents a picture of the main ideas and the subsidiary ideas of any subject.
Some typical uses of outlining are: a class reading assignment, an essay, a term paper, a book review or a speech. For any of these, an outline will show a basic overview and important details. Some professors will require an outline in sentence form, or require the main points to be in chronological order, or have other specific requirements. A student’s first responsibility, of course, is to follow the requirements of the particular assignment.