Outlining is your friend!

How creating an outline can help you begin to organize your thoughts

What is an outline?An outline is a “road map” to help you organize your thoughts.

Why organize your thoughts?

• Helps you to see the parts of your paper and the whole.

• Helps you to see if your supporting arguments really support your thesis.

• Helps you to see which “organizational plan” best supports your purpose.

• May eliminate much of the work of “writing” your paper.

Organizing Research

• There are many ways in which you can organize your research.

• Much of this process may be founded on personal preference.

• However, there are some questions that you should ask as you are beginning to organize your paper:

Organizational Questions

• What is the topic?• Why is it significant?• What background material is relevant to bring

my readers “up to speed” on my topic?• What is my thesis?• What organizational plan will best support my

goal of persuading my readers of my thesis?

Transition from notecards to ouline

• As you begin to make notecards, hopefully you will notice that your notecards will fall into certain topics or themes.

• If you have placed topic headings on your notecards, group them together according to your topic or theme headings.

• These topics will help you begin to organize your paper, and form the major parts of your argument.

The Outline

• The outline is your friend.• It is a simple, classic, organizational tool that

enables you to lay out basic ideas.• The outline is adaptable for just about any

purpose: daily planning, note taking, organizing your writing, preparing a speech, studying for a test . . .

Sample Outline Format

• I. First item• II. Second Item– A. Sub item– B. Sub item• 1. Sub sub item• 2. Sub sub item

III. Third item

Preparing a Writing Outline

If your topic is, for example, the origins of the conflict between modern Israel and her Arab neighbors, several major points should have appeared in your reading and be reflected in your note cards. Some major themes would be: Arab nationalism, Zionism, British colonial policy. These three perspectives would be natural sections within your paper.

Preparing a Writing Outline

• Other important items that should have appeared in your research are:– The role of the United States (the most

important/influential power in the world in 1948).– The shifting state of opinion within the United

Nations (the body that eventually voted to partition Palestine and dedicate a section of it to Jewish resettlement).

Preparing a Writing Outline

• Your preliminary outline could possibly look something like this:

• I. Introduction and thesis statement• II. The role of Arab nationalism in . . . • III. The role of Zionism in . . . • IV. The role of British Colonial policy in . . . • V. The role of the United States in . . . • VI. The role of the United Nations in . . . • VII. Conclusion

Methods of Organization

• Once you have a general plan for your paper, the next question you need to address is what order should you put the parts of your paper in?

• Some possibilities are:– Chronological– Cause and Effect– Compare and Contrast

Methods of Organization

– Topical– Parts to the whole– Inductive/Deductive– Emphatic– Narration– Description– Process– Definition– Division and Classification

How do I decide?

• Your organizational method will depend on what kind of paper you are writing, what you are seeking to prove, and how you are seeking to prove your case.

Other Organizational Tools

• Some other tools you may want to consider as you go through the outlining process are:– Post it notes technique– Brainstorm diagrams– Mind mapping

Post it notes

Brainstorm Diagram

Mind mapping

What do I do now?

• Do your reading and research• Think about how to organize your research• Develop your outline• Challenge your outline: Ask: “Is there a more

effective way to organize my research that would be more persuasive?” “What do I have too much of?” “What do I need more of?”

• Reorganize and reoutline

Is this you?