Transcript Outlining Your Paper - Morris Hills Regional High School

By Ms. Mandel
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To
To
To
To
sketch a plan
provide structure to your ideas
order your thoughts
pre-write your draft
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Early in the process, rough outlines have
advantages, you might start with a your
thesis followed by a simple list
Formal outlines are more useful as you
continue your research and as your ideas
build
The more thorough your outline, the easier it
will be to draft your paper
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Put the thesis at the top.
Make items at the same level of generality as
parallel as possible.
◦ If two or more ideas are parallel, they are easier
to grasp when expressed in parallel grammatical
form. Single words should be balanced with
single words, phrases with phrases, clauses with
clauses etc.
◦ Not parallel: The three causes of poverty are lack of
education, lack of money and war.
◦ Parallel: The three causes of poverty are lack of
education, lack of money and lack of safety caused by
war or military conflicts.
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Use sentences unless phrases are more clear.
Use the conventional system of numbers and letters for the levels of generality.
I.
A.
B.
1.
2.
a.
b.
II.
Limit the number of major sections in the outline; if the list of Roman numerals
begins to look like a laundry list, find some way of clustering the items into a few
major categories with more subcategories.
Be flexible; in other words, be prepared to change your outline as your drafts
evolve.
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Always use at least two subdivisions for a
category, since nothing can be divided into
fewer than two parts.
◦ Types of food at the party
 Pizza
◦ Types of food at the party
 Pizza
 Ice cream
 Soda
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Don’t forget to cite your sources in the text
of your outline.
What does that mean?
Provide parenthetical citations for all
paraphrased ideas or direct quotes
Author’s name and page number if available
◦ (Solzhenitzyn 42)
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When in doubt, cite it!
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What are the characteristics of any effective
thesis?
◦ Expresses the central idea of the paper that
controls the paper’s focus (takes a position, or
proposes an argument or answers a question)
◦ Uses specific language (concise and precise)
◦ Fits the scope
◦ Justifiable (not too obvious)
◦ Expressed in a single sentence
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Remove the phrase: The purpose of this
paper is…
Remove any first person pronouns and their
verbs: In this paper I will
Look at the verbs you chose: describe,
analyze, compare and/or contrast
Do what the verb commands
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If your purpose was to describe, then you
must give a detailed account of something:
◦ Controlling purpose: The purpose of this paper is to
describe The Great Depression.
 Expository thesis: The Great Depression was a time of
economic hardship, political upheaval and social
change
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If your purpose was to compare, then you
must give an account of the similarities
between two or more items:
◦ Controlling purpose: The purpose of this paper is to
compare the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
 Expository thesis: Depression and anxiety have at least
three similar symptoms including mood swings,
disorientation and an inability to sleep; these
similarities may make it difficult to distinguish anxiety
from depression.
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What are your questions?
What have you learned?
What are you still struggling with?
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Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. New
York: Bedford St. Martins, 2009