THE OUTLINE
What’s the point?
MAKING AN OUTLINE
Writing an outline, in addition to the paper, may seem like a
lot of extra work. If you take the time to think about what
you want to say and to put your ideas into an outline, writing
the actual paper will be easier. An outline is a listing of
brief ideas that will be in the paper.
FOUR MAIN COMPONENTS
FOR EFFECTIVE OUTLINES

Parallelism

Coordination

Subordination

Division
PARALLELISM
HOW DO I ACCOMPLISH THIS?
Each heading and subheading should preserve parallel structure. If the
first heading is a noun, the second heading should be a noun.
Example:
1. Choose Desired Colleges
2. Prepare Application
("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. The same goes for
the subheadings (which should be less significant than the headings).
Example:
1. Visit and evaluate college campuses
2. Visit and evaluate college websites
1. Note important statistics
2. Look for interesting classes
(Campus and websites visits are equally significant, as are statistics and
classes found on college websites.)
SUBORDINATION
HOW DO I ACCOMPLISH THIS?
The information in the headings should be more general, while
the information in the subheadings should be more specific.
Example:
1. Describe an influential person in your life
1. Favorite high school teacher
2. Grandparent
(A favorite teacher and grandparent are specific examples of
influential people.)
DIVISION
HOW DO I ACCOMPLISH THIS?
Each heading should be divided into 2 or more parts.
Example:
1. Compile resume
1. List relevant coursework
2. List work experience
3. List volunteer experience
(The heading "Compile resume" is divided into 3 parts.)
Copyright ©1995-2008 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/
WHY CREATE AN
OUTLINE?
 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.
Remember:
creating an outline before writing your paper will make
organizing your thoughts a lot easier.
Copyright ©1995-2008 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/02/
ALPHANUMERIC
OUTLINES
An alphanumeric outline uses Roman numerals, capitalized letters, and
lowercase letters, in that order. Each numeral or letter is followed by a
period, and each item is capitalized:
SAMPLE
ALPHANUMERIC OUTLINE
Thesis statement: E-mail and internet monitoring; is it really an invasion of the
employees' rights in the workplace?
I. Why do over 80% of today's companies monitor their employees?
A. To prevent fraudulent activities, theft, and other workplace related violations.
B. To more efficiently monitor employee productivity.
C. To prevent any legal liabilities due to harassing or offensive communications.
II. What are the employees privacy right’s when it comes to EM/S (Electronic Monitoring
and Surveillance) in the workplace?
A. American employees have basically no legal protection from mean and snooping
bosses.
1. There are no federal or State laws protecting employees
2. Employees may assert privacy protection for their own personal effects.
BASIC OUTLINE FORM
I. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
1. Subsidiary idea to B
2. Subsidiary idea to B
a) Subsidiary idea to 2
b) Subsidiary idea to 2
II. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
B. Subsidiary idea to II
C. Subsidiary idea to II
III. MAIN IDEA
IMPORTANT!!!
It is up to the writer to decide on how many main ideas and supporting ideas adequately
describe the subject.
However, if there is a I in the outline, there has to be a II; if there is an A,
there has to be a B; if there is a 1, there has to be a 2, and so forth.
http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/outlining.html
OUTLINES PROVIDE A
SUMMARY
SHOWING THE LOGICAL FLOW OF A PAPER.
They are useful because:
 help the writer organize their thoughts before getting bogged
down in word choice and sentence structure;
 show which ideas need illustration or elaboration; and
 help the writer decide on an organizational technique for the
report, whether it be logical, chronological, or categorical in
nature.
PREPARING AND USING
OUTLINES
Using an outline can help you organize your material and
can also help you discover connections between pieces of
information that you weren't aware of when you first
conceived the plan of your paper.
It can also make you aware of material that is not really
relevant to the purposes of your paper or material that you
have covered before and should therefore be removed.
Try to bring related material together under general
headings and arrange sections so they relate logically to each
other.
An effective introduction will map out the journey your
reader is about to take, and a satisfactory conclusion will
wrap up the sequence of ideas in a nice package.