What Is an Outline?
An outline is a direct and clear map of your essay. It shows what each paragraph will contain, in
what order paragraphs will appear, and how all the points fit together as a whole. Most outlines
use bullet points or numbers to arrange information and convey points. Outlining is a vital part of
the essay planning process. It allows the writer to understand how he or she will connect all the
information to support the thesis statement and the claims of the paper. It also provides the writer
with a space to manipulate ideas easily without needing to write complete paragraphs.
Outlining is a process that takes time and patience to perfect. It involves already having a
working thesis statement and a general idea of an essay theme. Outlining allows the writer not
only to survey the information he or she is presenting, but also to plan how he or she will
communicate with the audience. Outlining allows the writer to experiment with style and tone to
determine which presentation strategies are best.
How Do I Develop an Outline?
The first step to develop an outline is establishing a working thesis statement. After completing
this step, you will have basic ideas for your body paragraphs. In addition, you should have
already gathered the evidence you need to develop and support the claims in your paper.
Step One: Select Your Format and Input Basic Ideas
Determine if you want to use numbers, bullet points, or another style of outline. After choosing
your format, look at your working thesis for the essay theme and body paragraph topics. The
prompt above is from the “Essay Planning: How to Develop a Working Thesis Statement”
handout, in which we developed the following working thesis statement: “The thrill of pursuing
happiness, the experiences along the way, and the knowledge that comes from trial and error
provide people with more pleasure and satisfaction than the mere attainment of desires, despite
the common perception that attainment is the final goal.” Use the working thesis statement to
develop basic paragraph order and format.
This process should be repeated for each body paragraph, again keeping in mind that any one
main point may be expanded, if needed, into more than one paragraph to explain the evidence
fully.
Step Four: Consider How You Will Conclude Your Paper
The concluding paragraph of your paper should tie together all your points to draw a logical
conclusion from the evidence you have discussed. The example this handout has used is for an
argumentative essay. Usually, these essays conclude by restating the main points as well as
synthesizing a new point that includes the thesis statement and counterargument. Although the
main audience is those who agree with the main point, you still need to have considered those
who disagree with you. By creating a synthesized conclusion, you create consensus between the
two groups
When Is My Outline Finished?
Your outline can be done whenever you feel prepared to write your essay. For instance, you
might feel confident with just several words in your outline. However, some people might need
significantly more detailed outlines before feeling confident. Remember that the outline is used
to develop your paper and help you understand how your thoughts and ideas relate before you
write. An outline is by no means a first draft of your paper, but with a fully developed outline,
you will be better prepared to write an effective first draft of your essay that will be ready for
review and revision
Don’t know about essay outlines? If not, you are not doing anything right. An outline is essentially the skeleton of an essay. In other words, it is a text representation of the thesis and critical supporting points of an essay.
Essays are the most common type of academic writing. Outlines serve many purposes, including assisting writers in arranging their thoughts before starting work, allowing readers to read a quick synopsis of the essay, and acting as a guide for the writer as they work on their next supporting paragraph. Writing an essay outline is not a challenging task. In this blog post, we are going to shed light on this topic. Go through it to gather valuable insights and learn about the key points that you must consider to come up with an effective essay outline.
Understanding the Essay Outline
An essay outline is an informal document that lists the essay parts to ensure the writer stays on track and doesn’t miss a single point. As it’s not formal, the outline is mostly written in incomplete sentences, just like notes.
Outlining is a crucial early stage in the writing process. This is the stage where you arrange all of your ideas and understandings into a clear and concise roadmap. Your outline can possibly help you get back on track if you get stuck while composing your essay.
In colleges and universities, students need to submit the outline of an essay before they can start writing. This is because the instructors want to make sure each student is on the right track in terms of picking an appropriate essay topic that comes with ample referencing sources. Most importantly, it helps the instructors ensure that the essay criteria are met and that the students master the task.
Components of an Effective Essay Outline
Even though every essay is unique, all follow the same fundamental essay structure, which is as follows:
- Introduction Section
The introduction is the very first section of your essay. As the name suggests, this is the part where you introduce the points you will be explaining in your essay.
Hook or Opening Statement
This comes under the introduction part. A hook or opening statement is a full sentence that you need to incorporate to draw the attention of the readers. It is more of a concise statement that the audience relates to.
Thesis Statement
Talk about your thesis in the introduction part as well. It is the definitive sentence where you make clear arguments. This allows the reader to understand your perspective when going through the paper.
Body Paragraphs Section
Your essay might feature only two paragraphs, or it may even be a five-paragraph essay. Unless your instructor allocated a specific number of paragraphs, it’s completely your call when it comes to creating categories to divide the essay.
If you want to add multiple sources to support your thesis statement, follow the universal rule of one body paragraph per source cited. However, depending on the kind of essay you are writing, you might have to stray from this rule.
Conclusion Section
Once you get to the conclusion paragraph, you are almost done! This is the part of your essay where you summarise and list the main ideas from each of your body paragraphs. This is an opportunity to share any final ideas or viewpoints you would like the reader to see before they end up consuming your essay.
Crafting Your Essay Outline
So, you are ready to craft the outline of your essay. That’s great! But how can you get started? Follow four key steps and make the rest of your work simpler and easier. Scroll down and have a look:
- Determine your goal—Consider your thesis statement. Though the exact terminology may not yet be clear to you, you should have some idea of the argument you will put forward and defend in your essay. It is easier to go over your brainstorming thoughts and create a solid outline when you have a defined purpose.
- Filter out the fluff—When you came up with ideas, you considered every angle you could explore and every piece of information you possibly wanted to include. Now, it’s time to review the brainstorming notes and select the ideas that will help you write your essay efficiently.
- Track down the points you will make in each paragraph—Determine the primary arguments that you will make in your essay with the set of concepts you wrote down.
- Use a standard template for your outline—Arrange your main ideas into an understandable, well-organised framework that you will fill in with information as you prepare your first essay draft using a template that suits the type of essay you are assigned to compose (more on that in the following section).
Tips for Creating an Effective Essay Outline
You can easily create a detailed outline for your essay if you follow a few key points as mentioned below:
Understand the purpose of your essay – Prior to outlining, figuring out your essay purpose is the key. In other words, you must keep track of:
- Grasping the paper requirements
- The essay topic
- The thesis statement of your essay
- Your audience
Pick an order – When you draft an outline, you effectively provide your future essay with structure and purpose. You will need to consider whether to arrange your essay chronologically, spatially, or importance-based.
Creating the structure for a short essay – If you are writing a short essay or a 500-word five-paragraph essay, your structure should be like the following:
- Primary idea
- Supporting idea 1
- Supporting idea 2
- Supporting idea 3
- Conclusion
Developing an outline – Using templates is the best option for creating sentence outlines. You can select the template essay that best suits your needs and only answer each text box question with a single sentence, which will provide you with a concise, one-sentence summary. After that, you can share or export the outline with classmates or instructors for their input.
Types of Essay Outlines with Examples
Among all, the most common is the alphanumeric outline, and most people can able to recognize it. While all outlines have a similar overall structure, several significant differences must be considered when drafting one for a particular essay format. The different types of essay outlines are as follows:
- Argumentative essay outline
- Admission essay outline
- Persuasive essay outline
- Literary analysis essay outline
- Personal essay outline
- Alphanumeric outline
- Expository essay outline
Take a look at more than one common example outline for varied essay types:
1. Argumentative essays
Title: “Italian Ice is a Superior Dessert to Ice Cream”
Introduction
- Thesis
State the features of Italian Ice
Benefits
Why is it more refreshing?
Conclusion
2. Admissions Essays
Title: “Arigato, Sato Sensei”
Introduction
- Thesis
Discuss how English speakers struggle to learn Japanese language
Talk about the Japanese culture
Your experience
Conclusion
3. Persuasive Essays
Title: “We Need More Security Cameras in the Student Parking Deck”
Introduction
- Thesis
Share updated student car break-in statistics
Talk about the intangible value of high-end security
State the installation cost
Conclusion
4. Personal Essays
Title: “The Two Best Birthdays of my Life”
Introduction
- Thesis
Talk about your 18th birthday
Talk about your last birthday
Conclusion
The Importance of Essay Outlines
An outlined essay helps you stay on track and prove your argument in the best possible way. To avoid deviating from the topic, always start writing an essay after creating the outline. The main reason behind this is that essays with an outline are less confusing and easier to follow. Here’s what an essay outline brings to your paper:
- An essay with an outline has more transitions, and that too, in appropriate places—The lack of transitional words and phrases in an essay is a sign of an essay without an outline. Whether you write an essay in the field of academics or a pitch to persuade your customer, transitions allow the readers to understand your arguments with ease.
- Improved paragraph structure—Outlining can significantly improve your paragraph structure. Every paragraph should begin with a topic sentence and end with an argument, supporting points, an analysis, and a closing statement. Students who don’t outline frequently violate these rules of structure and eventually lose points.
- No distractions or misplaced paragraphs—An experienced reader or writer can easily identify an essay with no outline as it is more or less confusing. When you create an outline, you know what type of argument you are going to support. The possibility of mistakenly mixing things up doubles when you start writing without first considering the essay’s structure.
- No repetition of the writer’s arguments and ideas—Finally, experts from MyAssignmentHelp say that most essays without an outline tend to be repetitive. When you write a longer essay without any clear thought in mind, it’s easy to get carried away and lose track. For this reason, nearly all professional writing services provide an exclusive outlining feature. Though it’s not free, it’s rather affordable, so if you are not very good at outlining, getting it is quite relevant.
Common Mistakes to Avoid in Essay Outlines
As we write an essay outline, we make common mistakes. After all, we are humans and we do get out of focus sometimes. Here are the mistakes students must consider, or they might have a significant impact on the quality of your essay:
Basic spelling
When reviewing your paper, the most common type of mistake you will find is the spelling mistake. Focus more on your spelling and take help from Microsoft Word and other processors to ensure your paper is error-free.
Sentence fragments
You can modify this part by reading it aloud. There are different types of sentences that just couldn’t stand on their own without an intro. If there is any type of sentence like this, simply remove it or merge it with another sentence. Make sure there are all full sentences in your essay, which is a strong criterion for securing excellent grades.
Bad spacing
If necessary, make sure your paper is double-spaced. However, it extends beyond that. The paper must look consistent and well-organised overall. If it is not, there may be an issue with your spacing. Most students lose points because of it, so keep a close eye on this.
Missing transitions
Again, reading your essay aloud will help you identify problems like, “What transitions are you missing? Is the paper clear? Do you have a thesis statement?”. Moreover, you can easily contact our expert essay writers at http://www.eagletutor.in and ask them to highlight any flaws that you might have overlooked.
Conclusion
Once your outline is ready, proceed with the next steps in the writing process to finish the paper. If the above information falls short for you, don’t hesitate to seek expert essay help from They can assist you in refining your first draft into an error-free and quality piece of writing. They can help you with any necessary edits that maintain a clear, consistent tone that precisely communicates what you are trying to
