Preparing the Outline

CONCEPT ORIENTATION: An outline is an abbreviated picture of the parts of the paper or project and the order in
which they will come. The writers can think of it as a "road map" of the journey toward making a final product.

Road Mapping the Research Starts Here!

The following lessons on outlining are adapted from CRLS Research Cambridge Rindge and Latin Research
Guide.

TYPES OF OUTLINES

Topic Outline

Entries:
words,
phrases, or
clauses

Not
complete
sentences
Topic
Outline

Parallel:
same Example:
grammatical using noun
form phrases
consistently
Example:

I. Relationship Defined
II. Relationship Management
III. Relationship Development
A. Preferences of sellers and buyers
B. Types of assessment
1. Internal assessment
2. External measures
IV. Relationship Phase
V. Relationship Preservation

Sentence
Sentence Outline Outline
Entries: complete Serves as a
sentences beginning for the
paper
1
Test of the logic of
the outline
 Example:
I. Building relationship in business marketing is essential.
II. Maintaining a high-performance relationship often has its counterpart on the supply side.
III. Developing relationship is a process.

A. The preferences of sellers and buyers do not coincide.

B. The partners in business rely on broad types of assessment.
1. Some companies evaluate relationship through internal assessment.
2. Other companies evaluate relationships on a relative basis against external norms.

IV. Undergoing the relationship phase is crucial for both the buyer and seller.
V. Varying mechanisms are used to promote strategic relationships.
VI. Considering the nesting of each relationship in a larger business network must not be neglected.

Note: A writer may choose either a topic outline or a sentence outline, depending on personal preference and
that of the instructor.

Strategies in Preparing an Outline

1. Some writers begin with a tentative or working outline that guides the choice of research materials; others let the
outline grow from their research and writing.
2. If writers develop an outline in advance, it should remain open to change as they read and take notes.
3. Formulating and revising an outline throughout the process of researching and writing can help the writers give
the paper a logical and meaningful structure.
4. After the writers have written a draft of the paper, they should either check it against an existing outline or
attempt to make an outline from the draft.

Creating a final outline involves making decisions about the thesis statement, the principle of organization, the type
of outline, and the format of the outline. Thus writers must consider the following:

1. staying on course and not get off-track when putting the final product together
2. checking of materials support Thesis Statement
3. figuring out the order in which subtopics will appear in the final product

Important Points about Outlining

1. For a long paper, the outline is the essential guide to how the different portions of the material will be arranged
and related to one another.
2. Writing a long paper is not done in one sitting, so a map, or an outline, is needed to show how to make the pieces
fit together.
3. Constructing a solid and useful outline must be taken seriously.
4. A well-developed outline will make writing a more enjoyable and simple task.

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 5. A complete outline still needs revision. In the process of revising, the following checklist (Hurley, 2004)must be
considered:

Are all the major headings of the same importance?

 Does each heading appear to have several minor points?
 Is there one topic that the writer does not have much information about?
 Writers should ensure that they have roughly the same amount of emphasis on each major point.

Would the writing be easier if the writers changed the order of the topics?
 The outline shows how the paper will flow when written.
 Writers must look at the outline carefully, and decide if it has the correct order for how they
would describe the topic.
 This is at the writers’ discretion because writers can decide on the major emphasis of the paper.

Are there two or more minor headings under each major heading?
 Writers cannot have a 1 without a 2, and A without a B, etc.
 Writers need to see if there are any subheadings at any level that are isolated or singular and add
at least one additional subheading.

Is the order of the subheadings what the writers want?

Writers should look at the outline to make sure that the order is something close to what they
want to write about.

6. As the writers find new information, they may still change or improve the outline.

Outlining Method

The following mechanics (Manlapaz, 2003, p.81) is useful in developing an outline:

1. Main topics are numbered with Roman numerals.

2. For the major subheadings, capital letters are used.
3. The minor subheadings are numbered Arabic numerals.
4. If a more detailed outline is desired, 1., 2., 3. or a., b., c. or a), b), c), or (1), (2), and (3) are used.

Outline Format

Thesis Statement:
Statement of Purpose/Claims:

I. Major heading one B. Heading two

A. Heading one 1. Subheading one
1. Subheading one 2. Subheading two
2. Subheading two
B. Heading two III. Major heading three
1. Subheading one A. Heading one
2. Subheading two 1. Subheading one
II. Major heading two 2. Subheading two
A. Heading one
1. Subheading one
2. Subheading two B. Heading two

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 1. Subheading one 2. Subheading two
2. Subheading two
V. Major heading five
IV. Major heading four A. Heading one
A. Heading one 1. Subheading one
1. Subheading one 2. Subheading two
2. Subheading two B. Heading two
B. Heading two 1. Subheading one
1. Subheading one 2. Subheading two

Sample Outline

I. Introduction
A. The Nature of Plastic Packaging
B. The Issues on Packaging

II. Body
A. The Extent and Trends in Packaging

1. Characteristics of plastic
2. Social changes
3. High marketability

B. The Environment Consequences of the Disposal of Plastic Packaging

1. Impact on landfills
2. Effects of incineration

C. The Economic Evaluation of the Use of Plastic Packaging

1. Most efficient distribution of the real costs and incentives

2. Actual distribution of the real costs and incentives

D. The Environmental Relief in Recycling of Plastic Packaging

1. The Kinds of Recyclability

a. Bringing back to original use
b.Producing other goods
c. Creating fuel or chemicals
d.Recovering energy by incineration
2. The Legal Aspects
3. The Extent of Recycling and Current Trends

III. Conclusion