How to Write an Essay outline
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I’ve been seeing a lot of people asking, “How do I write an essay outline?” and while there are many ways to go about it, the most important thing is that you have a plan.
What is an essay outline?
In essence, an outline allows you to see the big picture rather than focus on one small part of your paper at a time.
When we write in steps, we are taking shortcuts and that can often make our writing feel choppy and disjointed.
An essay outline will help you brainstorm ideas and will allow you to begin writing right away.
Here are a few tips and tricks to help you with writing an essay outline.
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1. Identify Your Thesis and Supporting Evidence
Your first task is to identify your thesis statement which should be a single, narrow claim about an aspect of the topic and can be written as a declarative sentence (ending in a period). Your thesis will act as the guide for your paper.
How do I write my thesis?
Ask yourself: What is this essay going to prove? What am I trying to convince the reader of? This is your thesis.
What type of essay should I write?
Now that you have an idea for your paper, it’s time to determine what type of essay this will be:
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Expository essays are based on research and use evidence from that research in support of the main argument.
Argumentative essays are used to support or discredit a claim based on the writer’s viewpoint.
Descriptive essays paint a vivid picture of an object, process, emotion, person, or place.
Narrative essays use dialogue and description to tell a story about either real people or fictional characters.
Once you determine what type of essay you are going to write, you can begin outlining your paper.
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2. Outline Your Introduction, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusion
Each of these sections should include a number of specific items. For example, an introduction should have an interesting opening paragraph that includes the thesis and can be supported by quotes from various sources. This will help to “hook” your readers.
The body paragraphs will give you the opportunity to expand on the subject and need to contain details about each aspect of the topic.
Each of these body paragraphs should include a topic sentence (which can be the same or different from the thesis), at least three supporting details, and a conclusion that ties up all your points and will leave your reader with a memorable takeaway message.
The introduction is where you’ll want to introduce your paper’s topic and briefly state why you’re writing about it.
Your concluding paragraph should leave readers with a memorable takeaway message that you want them to remember for the future.
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Example essay outline
Here is an example of an outline that uses numbers to help with organization and clarity:
- Introduction: Who? Where? When? Why? What happened? 1. Introduction: Who?
- Background info: Where and when the story takes place
- Characters — What are they like? How do we know them? How do they feel about each other? What events lead up to the beginning of this tale?
- The Catalyst — What event causes a change to occur within the characters?
- Rising Action — What events take place that causes problems to develop within the story? How are those initial problems resolved or taken care of by one character or another?
- Climax — Why is this point in the story so important and how does it affect our understanding of the story as a whole? Falling Action — How do the remaining characters react to the climax?
- Resolution — What is the final situation at this point in the story and how does it bring closure to the events that have unfolded?
- Ending — What are your final thoughts on this story as a whole and what did you learn from it?Conclusion — A brief summary of what main points you wish to make, or your thoughts on the events that took place
- Theme: What is it about? (this will be explained in the next section)
- Characters: Who are they and why do we care about them? (list at least 3specific characters and tell what they are like/why we care about them)
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3. Use Transitions to Connect Ideas Between Paragraphs
These words and phrases make writing easier for your readers; they also give you a way to organize your information so that readers can follow your thoughts
Some examples of these transition words are: like, in addition, on the other hand, first, next, finally, also/on the same note, and last but not least.
You’ll want to use this type of transition at the end of a paragraph that precedes another idea or thought that is related to the one you are writing about.
Transitional words are not limited to just small or single sentences. For example, there could be a theme that pertains to each of the body paragraphs in an essay.
Transitions can be used to tie one body paragraph to the next where they all center on the same idea or theme.
For example First body paragraph: This is a good idea because… Second body paragraph: However, on the other hand, this could be bad as well. Third body paragraph: On the other hand, however.
By using transitions you will help your readers to keep track of what is being said and how it pertains to the overall topic at hand.
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4. Include a Concluding Paragraph That Summarizes What You’ve Said in The essay
Your concluding paragraph is where you put your final thoughts on this story as a whole and what you learned from it
(Example)
“Overall, I found the story to be somewhat humorous, but also touching. It seems to me that some of these cats are lonely and would like nothing more than a friend. Who knows? Maybe one day they will get what they wish. But for now, no matter how mean they may seem, we must remember that they have feelings too. That is why it is important to treat them with respect and kindness, because if we can get along with each other, so can they.”
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5. Provide Works Cited Page with All Sources Used for Research Quoted or Paraphrased in The essay
Provide a list of all sources you used to help with your research including websites, books, and articles.
Essays with online written resources should include the name of the website and the. Essays with books and printed articles should include the author, title, published date if available, place of publication, publisher’s name, and page numbers.
However, it is possible that while writing a term paper or essay in an assigned class you might come across some things about your topic that you just can’t find any information on. Your date that you accessed it in addition to the URL address, will also be considered as works cited.
In Essays or research papers with multiple sources that you have not outlined in the text of your essay, include a Works Cited list at the end (after the Essay Body).
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Conclusion
In conclusion, Essay Writing can be a difficult task for many students. However, you should know that Essay Writing is not as hard as it seems to be once you understand the basic rules of Essay Writing
There are a lot of different approaches when writing an Essay and every approach requires its own set of Essay Writing rules.
If you know the Essay Writing rules of your topic and the Essay required by your teacher, then the Essay Writing process will be much easier for you’
There is a simple Essay Writing rule: “The more research you conduct on the topic, the better essay you’ll have” Essays with minimum efforts put into them are usually not impressive and will not get you very high grades.
No matter Essay Writing rules your Essay is going to follow, make sure that you thoroughly research your topic so that your Essay does not sound like it was written in a hurry
Never forget to ask yourself the question “How can I make my Essay better? Is there anything I can do to improve it?” Essays that follow Essay Writing rules will be very good but there is always a possibility of improving them
If you keep asking yourself these questions, Essay Writing will become much easier for you, and the quality of your Essays will rise.
