Faculty of Sciences of Nature and Life Academic Year: 2023/2024

Departments of Biology & Agronomy English for Specific Purpose

Outlining
(How To Outline a Text.)
Introduction
Among the writing skills that any researcher must master we can cite the ability to draw an outline.
The American writer Tom Wolfe said, “By writing an outline you really are writing in a way, because
you’re creating the structure of what you’re going to do. Once I really know what I’m going to write, I
don’t find the actual writing takes all that long.” 1 So, outlining can be considered as ‘the road map’ for
any dissertation. This lecture is an introduction to the form only.

1. What is an outline?
An outline is “the summary of a text put in a schematic form for easy grasping of the ideas developed
in the text. It shows how ideas relate one to another and also the major divisions and subdivisions of a
text.”2 In other words, an outline is an organized list of related items or ideas. It is a method of grouping
together things that are similar in some selected ways, then presented in a simplified manner that
clearly illustrates the relationship with each group and among all the groups.
So, preparing an outline is essentially a problem of classifying and organizing. It is thus necessary to
understand in what ways objects, facts, or ideas are related to each other.

2. What an outline is used for?

An outline is useful in both reading and writing. Because writing is a language that is identified to be
read, reading and writing are different tasks of the same communication process. If a writer has used an
outline to help him/her organize his/her writing clearly, his reader should be able to analyze its
organization clearly by outlining it. In other words, an outline is useful in planning the organization of
writing. “It is a formal system used to develop a framework for thinking about what should be the
organization and eventual contents of your paper.” 3
A good outline 4:
 “is a way of structuring your ideas;
 sets goals for completing each section of your paper;
 helps you stay organized and focused throughout the writing process;
 helps ensure proper coherence [flow of ideas] in your final paper;
 ensures that you always have something to help re-calibrate your writing;
 helps staying motivated;
 helps you organize multiple ideas about a topic;
 serves as a schedule for when certain aspects of your writing should be accomplished;”
 helps you organize your ideas coherently.
Indeed an outline has two purposes: In writing  to organize and present your ideas effectively and in
reading  to analyze the organization and relationship of ideas.
3. How an outline is written?
Depending on its purpose and subject, an outline is usually written in one of the two forms: a topic
outline or a sentence outline. The topic outline uses short phrases and words, without punctuation;
whereas, a sentence outline uses full sentences. “Topic outlines are easier and faster but sentence outlines
are more detailed and better for mapping the complex relationships between more complicated ideas”5.
Whether you use a topic outline or a sentence outline, both have certain similarities that should be
understood and used.

1
The Writing Process Outlining. Retrieved from http://accounts.smccd.edu/skyenglish/4Outlining.pdf
2
Izuagba, A.C., and Onwukanjo, M. (2002). Functional English and Communication Skills for Higher Education (Book 1).
Versalite Publishers: Nigeria (Page 112)
3
University of Southern California. Research Guides. Organizing Your Research Paper. Retrieved from
https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/outline
4
Carleton University. Macodrum Library. Writing an Outline for Your Essay. Retrieved from
https://library.carleton.ca/help/writing-outline-your-essay
5
Developing an outline. Retrieved from https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/sites/utsc.utoronto.ca.twc/files/resource-
files/Outline.pdf
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 a. A topic outline (e.g.: The purpose of study skills) b. A sentence outline (e.g.: Forgetting)

I.To introduce students to proper attitude I. Why does forgetting occur?

A. Attitude toward English A. Forgetting occurs because of disuse.
1. Reasons for studying English 1. Material that is not used is soon forgotten.
2. Study habits in English 2. This is an ild an no longer accepted theory.
B. Attitude toward other subjects B. Forgetting occurs because of interference.
1. The importance of motivation 1. If you learn A, then learn B, when you wants to
2. The means of concentration recall A, B interferes.
3. The problem of distraction 2. The learning of A interferes with the learning of B.
II. To instruct and provide practice in study skills 3. Sleep provides a minimum amount of forgetting.
A. Using a dictionary II. How can forgetting be overcome?
B. Leaning a vocabulary A. Material should be meaningful and well organized.
C. Outlining B. Material should be overlearnt.
D. Note-making C. Materail should be systematically reviewed.
E. Using a library
F. Preparing for examination

 Notice that the grammatical structure/form of each topic is parallel6: this means that it is expressed by
similar grammatical structure.
 A topic outline is a listing of topics arranged according to some useful and logical organization. It is
usual to begin each topic with a capital letter.
 Because they are topics rather than sentences, it is not necessary to use a period at the end of each topic.
 Each topic of the same rank should be expressed in the same grammatical form.
 Each topic of the same rank should be indented the same distance from the margin.
 In a sentence outline, the sentences should be short and to the point.
 Notice that an outline usually starts with the longest or most important idea and then progresses down to
smaller or less important idea. To indicate the comparative importance of ideas, numbers and letters are
used, that is, an outline can use Roam numerals/letters or decimal form.7

 Notice that each heading is indented. Headings of equal rank are indented an equal distance from the
margin.
 Notice that if a heading runs from one line to the next, it is indented so that it may start directly
below the first word of the preceding line. The purpose of indentation is to make each heading stand out
clearly so that you can see it quickly and see how it is related to what is before and after it.
 Notice that no punctuation is needed at the end of topics in a topic outline. Punctuation in a sentence
outline follows regular sentence punctuation.
 Notice that periods are used after numbers and letters, for low rank, parentheses are used instead of
periods.
 Finally, notice that because topics and subtopics are divisions of larger units, there are always, AT
LEAST, two things that cannot be divided into one piece; therefore, there is never, I without II, never, A
without B, never, 1 without 2, never a without b ……..
 A well-drawn outline presents the structure of the text being prepared accurately.
 Finally, remember that “outlining is the only satisfactory way of getting your ideas down in a logical,
meaningful sequence. Outlining forces straight thinking; if the ideas don’t fit, the outline will show it.” 8

6
Parallelism in outlining consists in putting words in the same grammatical order.
7
Developing an Outline. Retrieved from https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/sites/utsc.utoronto.ca.twc/files/resource-
files/Outline.pdf
8
Dietrich, J. E. and Brooks, K., (1958). Practical Speaking for Technical Man. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall (pp.
109-110)
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