OUTLINES

Purpose and how to create an outline

In technical writing, outlines can serve multiple purposes.
One is to help the writer organize ideas and evidence, and
the other to communicate your plan of development clearly
to the person who has the authority to move your project
forward. Therefore, the various parts of your outline should
make sense to you and communicate your ideas clearly to
your audience.
Outlines for technical reports are usually hard to handle solely in your
mind; it's a little like trying to add a list of large numbers in your mind.
You must get report outlines on paper in order to think about the
arrangement of the topics within them. A good working outline serves
you in at least four important ways:

• It shows you which areas of information to investigate and gather

information on.
• It shows you which areas you can safely ignore (thus saving you
plenty of time).
• It enables you to schedule your work into manageable units of time.
• It gives you a "global" view of your report project, an overall sense of
the contents, parts and organization of the report.
As you begin to outline your report:

– Indicate main idea/thesis at top.

– Name and number the major sections of the
report at the left margin.
• Add details for each section underneath the major section.
Write in complete sentences when presenting details.
• Indent the details related to each section underneath the
names of major sections.
– Alternate between numbers and letters to indicate different
levels: I. A. 1. a. 1) a)
Outline Patterns
One of the most common patterns in outlining is the
chronological one. In a historical background section of an
outline, the chronological approach is just about the only one
you can use. Here is an outline excerpt concerning the
historical background of nuclear research:
In some outlines, however, you almost don't notice the
chronological pattern. For example, effects come after
causes; solutions, after problems; or findings, after research
method. The chronological pattern is most important in a
research proposal outline:
Another common outlining pattern is to start with an object
at rest, motionless as if in a photograph, and then to move
to a discussion of it in operation, in action as if in a motion
picture.
Some outlines move from a specific, close-up focus to a
more general, panoramic focus. They seem to start with a
microscope, examining the minute details of a subject, and
end with a telescope, considering the subject from a
distance in relation to other things. (This pattern can also be
reversed.)
In this next outline, the focus broadens after part III,
changing to aspects related to computerized voice
recognition technology:
Elements in outlines can also be arranged rhetorically, in
other words, according to what is most effective for the
reader. Here are some examples of rhetorical patterns:

1. Simple to complex
2. Least important to most important (or vice versa)
3. Least controversial to most controversial
4. Most convincing to least convincing (or vice versa)
5. Most interesting to least interesting
Types of Outlines and Samples
Alphanumeric Outlines

This is the most common type of outline and usually

instantly recognizable to most people. The formatting
follows these characters, in this order:

1. Roman Numerals
2. Capitalized Letters
3. Arabic Numerals
4. Lowercase Letters
If the outline needs to subdivide beyond these divisions,
use Arabic numerals inside parentheses and then
lowercase letters inside parentheses.
 THE COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESS
I. CHOOSE DESIRED COLLEGES
A. Visit and evaluate college campuses
B. Visit and evaluate college websites
1. Look for interesting classes
2. Note important statistics
II. PREPARE APPLICATION
A. Write personal statement
1. Choose interesting topic
a. Describe an influential person in your life
(1) Favorite high school teacher
(2) Grandparent
b. Describe a challenging life event
2. Include important personal details
a. Volunteer work
b. Participation in varsity sports
B. Revise personal statement
Full Sentence Outlines

The full sentence outline format is essentially the same as

the Alphanumeric outline. The main difference (as the title
suggests) is that full sentences are required at each level of
the outline. This outline is most often used when preparing
a traditional essay. Select the "Sample Outlines" PDF in the
Media Box above to download the sample of this outline.
 Full Sentence Outline

I. Man-made pollution is the primary cause of global warming.

A. Greenhouse gas emissions are widely identified by the
scientific community to be harmful.
1. The burning of coal and fossil fuels are the primary
releasers of hazardous greenhouse gases.

Full sentence outlines are often accompanied with an APA reference

list on a separate page. Quotes within the outline must also utilize APA
in-text citations.
Decimal Outlines
The decimal outline is similar in format to the alphanumeric
outline. The added benefit is a system of decimal notation
that clearly shows how every level of the outline relates to
the larger whole.

1.0 Choose Desired College

1.1 Visit and evaluate college campuses
1.2 Visit and evaluate college websites
1.2.1 Look for interesting classes
1.2.2 Note important statistics