An Outline is a “blueprint” or “plan” for

your paper. It helps you to organize your

thoughts and arguments.
•The sentence outline is done in full sentences.
It is normally used when your paper focuses
on complex details.

•The sentence outline is especially useful for this

kind of paper because sentences themselves
have many of the details in them..
Benefits of writing a sentence outline
include:

CLARITY
FLOW OF ARGUMENT
EFFICIENCY
WRITING TO LENGTH
TIME
 STEPS TO WRITING A SENTENCE OUTLINE

Before you begin creating your

sentence outline, you should be clear
about the following:
•Determine the purpose of your paper.
•Determine the audience you are
writing for.
•Develop the thesis of your paper.
1.Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in
your paper onto notecards (gathered through research,
either through reading or direct research).
2. Organize: Group related ideas together. This may be
accomplished by using notecards and sorting them into
groups.
3. Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to
specific or from abstract to concrete (e.g., organize the
groups notecards into logical order).
4. Label: Create main and sub headings for each group
• Keep Your Outline Flexible
EXAMPLE
A Topic Outline arranges your ideas
hierarchically ( showing which are main and
sub-points), in the sentence you want , and
shows what you will talk about.

List word or phrase

AN EFFECTIVE OUTLINE
See that all the parts of the outline are there--main
headings, and subordinate headings.
Use the proper outline form.
Make your outline reasonably specific, particularly in your
main headings ( I, II, III, etc.).
Check the outline for logic. Do all the parts fit together?
Does every supporting point firmly fit your thesis?
Check the outline for the proper order- that is , for a
sensible sequence or organization of ideas
EXAMPLE