How To Outline And Why It’s Awesome

Outlining Is Actually Awesome Because… They help you organize. It’s a road map for your entire essay. They help you write a draft more quickly. They help you think more deeply about your topic and develop more details. (This ultimately helps you draft quicker!) They’re an opportunity for you to draft your thesis and topic sentences.

Outlines make Drafting easier

The More Detailed, The Better!

How to Outline? Start with essay Structure Title Intro Thesis statement. Three body paragraphs with… Topic sentences (main point/ main event) for each body paragraph. Details for each main event. Conclusion

Your Turn  Choose where you want to start. Either draft a thesis OR list body paragraph topics. Thesis: Main point/ experience (obstacle, challenge, tough choice) + what you learned Body paragraphs: List the main topic/ part of your experience you’ll focus on in each If you started with you thesis, now use the thesis to list your body paragraphs. If you started with your body paragraph, now use the list to write a thesis. Look over your body paragraph list. Explain each topic/ event as a complete sentence. (These can become your topic sentences.)

Your Turn  Spend some time developing details and examples for each paragraph. (The more details the better! ) Draft a conclusion sentence. This should link back to your topic sentence idea and prevent your paragraph from ending on a detail. List some ideas for the intro and the conclusion. Double check your thesis. Does it still match? If not, revise it so it matches your body paragraphs. Remember, your topic might change slightly (or completely) since your Prewrite. That’s ok! One purpose of outlining is to improve and develop your ideas. If this happens to your topic, you won’t have to resubmit a new Prewrite. 