Outline Development Guide Sheet

Outlines have specific content and format rules that must be followed in order for the students
writing to be effective.
I. Each entry is a complete sentence. That includes the roman numerals and all of the sub
points (the As, the Bs, the Cs, and all of the little 1s, little 2s, and little 3s).
II. Each sentence carries meaning.
A. Below is an example of a sentence with little meaning and then one with meaning.
i. The boys have things in common. (This is an empty sentence no clear
meaning.)
ii. The boys share an interest in football which fuels their competitive
natures. (This not only points out what they have in common but also a
result of their commonality.)
B. Vague sentences in the outline will not help you create strong content in the essay
text.
III. Each main point (Roman numeral) is reflected in the thesis.
A. For the working thesis, you may be tempted to repeat the main outline points in
the thesis. While this approach is fine (and many times needed), remember that
this initial thesis is a WORKING thesis, not the final thesis.
B. Your final thesis must reflect the main points in the outline (see Thesis Statement
guide sheet for an example of the revision process for a thesis).
IV. Each sub point has a direct connection to the Roman numeral.
A. Below is an example of a roman numeral and its sub-points:
I. Managements treatment of the employees has had a negative
effect on productivity.
A. Many of the employees see the harsh rules as a reason to lower
their production standards.
B. The union has called a strike which will continue the downward
trend in the companys ability to produce at the highest rate.
B. Each sub point can be seen as a division of the main point.
V. An outline needs to be well-developed, and for each draft, needs to be revised to
reflect any changes that you made in your essay.
A. Well-developed means that roman numerals never stand alone; there will always
be sub points. If you have a roman numeral, you must have at least an A and a B.
You can have more sub points if you like.
B. Well-developed does not mean that you include your introduction or conclusion
on the outline.
VI. An outline will abide by formatting rules (see the sample outline for an example).
A. The essay will have one inch margins, and everything is double-spaced. Make
sure that you do not have extra spaces after you hit return.
B. The heading (your name, your GSA name, course, date) will appear on the first
page of the outline.
C. Page numbering starts on the first page of the outline and continues throughout
the essay (top right: your last name and the page number).
D. A good title, one that reflects your topic, should be centered after the heading.
E. The thesis will appear next (not centered left justified).
F. The outline elements go after the thesis statement.

Thesis Statement Guide Sheet
The thesis statement is the one sentence that truly guides the direction of the essay. For this
class, each essay is an argument, and the thesis statement needs to support that focus and also
reflect the main points (roman numerals) in the outline.
Thesis statement definition:
Narrowed topic + a specific claim about the topic
Several elements must be considered when crafting the thesis statement:
1. What is the purpose of your essay (what point are you trying to argue)?
2. Who is the audience?
a. Please remember the following about the audience:
i. The audience must be narrow enough to fit a short essay. If the
audience is Parents then you should narrow that to a limited group of
parent, for example, Parents with preschoolers. However, even that is
too broad for a 2-5 page essay. Parents with preschoolers could be
narrowed to Parents looking at a Montessori preschool for their child.
This narrowing restricts the audience significantly.
ii. The audience is not necessarily the readership for your essay. The
readership for this class includes the other students in your section and
in the large lecture, your GSA, and the professor of the class.
b. The audience needs to be clearly identified in your essay, either in the
introduction or the thesis statement.
3. What are the main points in the outline (roman numerals)?
First sample revision of a thesis:
1. (Vague thesis) Though many think of the decline of the recording industry as a bad
thing, it is really good for artists.
2. (Passive thesis) Artists are made able to make their own music because of the decline of
the recording industry.
3. (Effects followed by overall claim still a work in progress) The decline of the
recording industry, by furthering the divide between celebrity and craft, democratizing
the process of music distribution, and localizing the artists creative identity, effectively
frees musicians to do their best work.
The purpose that this thesis supports: To prove that musicians have more creative autonomy
because the recording industrys control over artists control has declined.
The audience that this thesis addresses: New musicians who are worried about their future
without the strong support of a recording company.

The outline points that this thesis reflects:
I. The decline of the recording industry furthers the divide between celebrity and craft.
II. The decline of the recording industry means that artists now produce and distribute
music more independently, giving them more creative control.
III. The decline of the recording industry places artists in a more localized context.

Second sample revision of a thesis:

1. (weak thesis) People should not listen to nineties boy bands because they are too good
and it can be hard to focus on other important things.
2. (better thesis) Freshmen girls should avoid watching NSync music videos because the
members attractiveness, musical talent, and dancing ability might prove both addictive
and academically harmful.

The purpose that this thesis supports: To demonstrate that an obsessive focus on viewing
music videos can be detrimental to an academic life.
The audience that this thesis addresses: College freshman girls who are enamored of NSync.
The outline points that this thesis reflects:
I. The members of NSync were carefully chosen to represent different archetypes that
most young women find romantically attractive, but unfortunately, most freshmen
girls are not yet mature enough to forge meaningful with boys their own age.
II. Even though NSync is the best boy band of all time, they can be too addicting and
thus people will fail their classes because they want to dance instead of study.


On the next page, there is a model outline that reflects the points that have been addressed on the
outline and thesis guide sheets. The revisions that were made to strengthen the outline are made
in red.

A Student
Mrs. Towles
ENGL 101
5 January 2012
TITLE Have unique title
Thesis: When meeting a new kid in class, a person should understand that there are multiple
reasons why they could have moved to the area. Vague
Before judging a new student, teenagers should realize that various reasons, such as jobs,
divorce, or an ailing grandparent, could result in a family having to move.
I. One reason could be that the students parents found new jobs.
A teenager might move to a new town if his or her parents had to move because of a
job.
A. One of the parents may have been transferred to a new position.
B. Both parents may have lost their jobs and could only find new ones in a different
town.
II. Another reason could be divorce.
A. If one of the parents is from the area, he or she may have wanted to move to some
place familiar.
B. Sometimes a parent wants a change in scenery when he or she gets a divorce.
III. Grandparents get old. Okrelate to thesis more
Sometimes a family will move in order to be closer to a grandparent who is sick.
A. Instead of a nursing home, some parents want to take care of their parents
themselves.
B. Where is B?
Some families like to live closer together if a grandparent does not have much
longer than a year or two to live.