Objectives:

• To discuss how to come up with a good outline
• To discuss the importance of an outline
• To exhibit examples of good outlines

In this part of the class we’ll be discussing the specifics of English composition. In the past sections of this class we were able to talk about certain phases in the process of English composition—the next few lessons will focus on details about the parts which we previously discussed. In particular, this lesson will focus on coming up with a good outline and how it can aid you when writing your paper.

An outline is basically an organizational table which categorizes your subtopics into different wider topics. The outline is written in the order in which it is going to appear in your paper. When writing your outline, you should also consider the order in which the topics appear in your paper—is it logical? Does it lend to your topic? Is it disruptive to the reader’s experience? Does it make sense? Are any more parts needed? These are all questions which we’ll be able to answer through the following guidelines below. Examples are also provided throughout the lesson to help better illustrate the points discussed.

1. Begin with the introduction.

The introduction should always contain a short definition of terms—if there is jargon specific to your paper, then you should state it in this portion. Also, you should include your paper’s objectives here because this sets the frame of mind through which your readers will view your topic. This gives the paper a context to work from.

2. Go from general to specific.

When writing an outline, you should always begin with your general key points—these are going to serve as your headings. From there, work on the specific details under each of these umbrella topics that you want to discuss. This makes it much easier to write your outline because it helps you keep within the limits of your paper. Make sure that the order in which you put these points makes sense.

For example:

I. Introduction

a. What is Algebra?
b. What are polynomials?
c. What is a variable?
d. How do we solve polynomial equations?

II. Advanced Algebra

a. Solving complex equations
b. Simplifying logarithms
c. Complex quadratic equations
d. Complex word problems

III. Basic Algebra

a. Simple equations
b. Sum of two squares
c. Perfect square trinomial
d. Simple quadratic equations

In the example above, we can see that the part which is in boldface is correct because it begins with the introduction and defines all of the terms which are going to be used throughout the paper. However, if you look at the order of sections II and III, you’ll see that Basic Algebra comes after Advanced Algebra which means that the person reading your paper won’t know anything about simple algebra yet but you’ll already be discussing complex algebraic equations with them. Below is the correct outline:

I. Introduction

a. What is Algebra?
b. What are polynomials?
c. What is a variable?
d. How do we solve polynomial equations?

II. Advanced Algebra

a. Solving complex equations
b. Simplifying logarithms
c. Complex quadratic equations
d. Complex word problems

III. Basic Algebra

a. Simple equations
b. Sum of two squares
c. Perfect square trinomial
d. Simple quadratic equations

3. Keep parallelism in mind.

Another thing to note about the (corrected) outline above is that all of the specific points under the general headings are stated similarly—for I, the sub-points are all phrased as questions; for II, the sub-points are all phrased as nouns and in part III, all the sub-points are stated as present-progressive phrases. This creates a parallelism between the different points within the umbrella topic. This allows you to frame every section of the paper in a uniform manner.

Also remember that if there is only one sub-topic under your general heading then it probably shouldn’t be a general heading because it doesn’t have enough weight for it to be a general heading. Single sub-headings shouldn’t be included in the outline; if there is an a., there should be a b.—instead you can either include them in another section or look for other sub-topics that are also relevant to your paper.

For example:

I. Introduction

a. History

 II. Zodiac Signs

a. Water signs
b. Earth signs
c. Air signs
d. Fire signs

In the example above, we can see that the Introduction only has one point—history. We can either think of other sub-topics under the Introduction or we can merge the two headings into one. Below is a modified version of the outline which takes parallelisms into consideration:

I. Introduction

a. History
b. Types of signs
             i. Water signs
             ii. Earth signs
             iii. Air signs
             iv. Fire signs
c. Popular opinions
d. Relevance to culture

II. Specific Traits

a. Water signs
b. Earth signs
c. Air signs
d. Fire signs

In the lesson we were able to discuss a few guidelines for writing outlines. We were able to look at how writing an outline helps  us keep our compositions tight and within the parameters of what we need to discuss. We were also able to look at how they help keep us on our toes about flow and organization of topics.

Next we’ll be looking at how to research thoroughly—we’ll be discussing different tips on how to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered as well as how to properly curate the information you’re looking for. Keep reading and you’ll be on your way to mastering English composition!