Prewriting

Selecting topics, developing ideas, organizing thoughts.

Outlines

An outline is an organized list of the information to be included in a paper. The purpose of an outline is to organize ideas and to create a paper with a clear concept, brought together in the best possible way.

Rules of Outlining

For every A there should be a B and for every 1 there should be a 2.
When producing a formal outline the headings should be grammatically parallel.
Each heading should be as important as the others in its level. For example, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, and not Introduction, Main Point One, Supporting Idea all at the same level.

Example:

I. Introduction (including thesis)

II. Body

A. Main Point One

1. Supporting Idea One

a. Example One

b. Example Two

2. Supporting Idea Two

B. Main Point Two

1. Supporting Idea One

2. Supporting Idea Two

a. Example One

b. Example Two

3. Supporting Idea Three

III. Conclusion

Phases of Creating an Outline

Brainstorm all of the ideas you want to use in your paper.
Organize the ideas into groups based on topic or idea. Use either sentences or phrases, depending on how complicated the subject is.
Decide what the main idea is in each group. Then break that idea down into parts. Each main idea and its sub-parts will be a section of the outline.

Sources

Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.

Purdue University. “Developing an Outline.” The OWL at Purdue. 28 Sept 2006. 19 Nov 2007. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/