outline sentence in essay

Trying to devise a structure for your essay can be one of the most difficult parts of the writing process. Making a detailed outline before you begin writing is a good way to make sure your ideas come across in a clear and logical order. A good outline will also save you time in the revision process, reducing the possibility that your ideas will need to be rearranged once you've written them.

The First Steps

Before you can begin outlining, you need to have a sense of what you will argue in the essay. From your analysis and close readings of primary and/or secondary sources you should have notes, ideas, and possible quotes to cite as evidence. Let's say you are writing about the 1999 Republican Primary and you want to prove that each candidate's financial resources were the most important element in the race. At this point, your notes probably lack much coherent order. Most likely, your ideas are still in the order in which they occurred to you; your notes and possible quotes probably still adhere to the chronology of the sources you've examined. Your goal is to rearrange your ideas, notes, and quotes—the raw material of your essay—into an order that best supports your argument, not the arguments you've read in other people's works. To do this, you have to group your notes into categories and then arrange these categories in a logical order.

Generalizing

The first step is to look over each individual piece of information that you've written and assign it to a general category. Ask yourself, "If I were to file this in a database, what would I file it under?" If, using the example of the Republican Primary, you wrote down an observation about John McCain's views on health care, you might list it under the general category of "Health care policy." As you go through your notes, try to reuse categories whenever possible. Your goal is to reduce your notes to no more than a page of category listings.

Now examine your category headings. Do any seem repetitive? Do any go together? "McCain's expenditure on ads" and "Bush's expenditure on ads," while not exactly repetitive, could easily combine into a more general category like "Candidates' expenditures on ads." Also, keep an eye out for categories that no longer seem to relate to your argument. Individual pieces of information that at first seemed important can begin to appear irrelevant when grouped into a general category.

Now it's time to generalize again. Examine all your categories and look for common themes. Go through each category and ask yourself, "If I were to place this piece of information in a file cabinet, what would I label that cabinet?" Again, try to reuse labels as often as possible: "Health Care," "Foreign Policy," and "Immigration" can all be contained under "Policy Initiatives." Make these larger categories as general as possible so that there are no more than three or four for a 7-10 page paper.

With your notes grouped into generalized categories, the process of ordering them should be easier. To begin, look at your most general categories. With your thesis in mind, try to find a way that the labels might be arranged in a sentence or two that supports your argument. Let's say your thesis is that financial resources played the most important role in the 1999 Republican Primary. Your four most general categories are "Policy Initiatives," "Financial Resources," "Voters' Concerns," and "Voters' Loyalty." You might come up with the following sentence: ÒAlthough McCain's policy initiatives were closest to the voters' concerns, Bush's financial resources won the voters' loyalty.Ó This sentence should reveal the order of your most general categories. You will begin with an examination of McCain's and Bush's views on important issues and compare them to the voters' top concerns. Then you'll look at both candidates' financial resources and show how Bush could win voters' loyalty through effective use of his resources, despite his less popular policy ideas.

With your most general categories in order, you now must order the smaller categories. To do so, arrange each smaller category into a sentence or two that will support the more general sentence you've just devised. Under the category of "Financial Resources," for instance, you might have the smaller categories of "Ad Expenditure," "Campaign Contributions" and "Fundraising." A sentence that supports your general argument might read: "Bush's early emphasis on fundraising led to greater campaign contributions, allowing him to have a greater ad expenditure than McCain."

The final step of the outlining process is to repeat this procedure on the smallest level, with the original notes that you took for your essay. To order what probably was an unwieldy and disorganized set of information at the beginning of this process, you need now only think of a sentence or two to support your general argument. Under the category "Fundraising," for example, you might have quotes about each candidate's estimation of its importance, statistics about the amount of time each candidate spent fundraising, and an idea about how the importance of fundraising never can be overestimated. Sentences to support your general argument might read: "No candidate has ever raised too much money [your idea]. While both McCain and Bush acknowledged the importance of fundraising [your quotes], the numbers clearly point to Bush as the superior fundraiser [your statistics]." The arrangement of your ideas, quotes, and statistics now should come naturally.

Putting It All Together

With these sentences, you have essentially constructed an outline for your essay. The most general ideas, which you organized in your first sentence, constitute the essay's sections. They follow the order in which you placed them in your sentence. The order of the smaller categories within each larger category (determined by your secondary sentences) indicates the order of the paragraphs within each section. Finally, your last set of sentences about your specific notes should show the order of the sentences within each paragraph. An outline for the essay about the 1999 Republican Primary (showing only the sections worked out here) would look something like this:

I. POLICY INITIATIVES

II. VOTERS' CONCERNS

III. FINANCIAL RESOURCES

A. Fundraising

a. Original Idea

b. McCain Quote/Bush Quote

c. McCain Statistics/Bush Statistics

B. Campaign Contributions

C. Ad Expenditure

IV. VOTERS' LOYALTY

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8.2 Outlining

Learning objectives.

Identify the steps in constructing an outline.
Construct a topic outline and a sentence outline.

Your prewriting activities and readings have helped you gather information for your assignment. The more you sort through the pieces of information you found, the more you will begin to see the connections between them. Patterns and gaps may begin to stand out. But only when you start to organize your ideas will you be able to translate your raw insights into a form that will communicate meaning to your audience.

Longer papers require more reading and planning than shorter papers do. Most writers discover that the more they know about a topic, the more they can write about it with intelligence and interest.

Organizing Ideas

When you write, you need to organize your ideas in an order that makes sense. The writing you complete in all your courses exposes how analytically and critically your mind works. In some courses, the only direct contact you may have with your instructor is through the assignments you write for the course. You can make a good impression by spending time ordering your ideas.

Order refers to your choice of what to present first, second, third, and so on in your writing. The order you pick closely relates to your purpose for writing that particular assignment. For example, when telling a story, it may be important to first describe the background for the action. Or you may need to first describe a 3-D movie projector or a television studio to help readers visualize the setting and scene. You may want to group your support effectively to convince readers that your point of view on an issue is well reasoned and worthy of belief.

In longer pieces of writing, you may organize different parts in different ways so that your purpose stands out clearly and all parts of the paper work together to consistently develop your main point.

Methods of Organizing Writing

The three common methods of organizing writing are chronological order , spatial order , and order of importance . You will learn more about these in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” ; however, you need to keep these methods of organization in mind as you plan how to arrange the information you have gathered in an outline. An outline is a written plan that serves as a skeleton for the paragraphs you write. Later, when you draft paragraphs in the next stage of the writing process, you will add support to create “flesh” and “muscle” for your assignment.

When you write, your goal is not only to complete an assignment but also to write for a specific purpose—perhaps to inform, to explain, to persuade, or for a combination of these purposes. Your purpose for writing should always be in the back of your mind, because it will help you decide which pieces of information belong together and how you will order them. In other words, choose the order that will most effectively fit your purpose and support your main point.

Table 8.1 “Order versus Purpose” shows the connection between order and purpose.

Table 8.1 Order versus Purpose

Writing a Thesis Statement

One legitimate question readers always ask about a piece of writing is “What is the big idea?” (You may even ask this question when you are the reader, critically reading an assignment or another document.) Every nonfiction writing task—from the short essay to the ten-page term paper to the lengthy senior thesis—needs a big idea, or a controlling idea, as the spine for the work. The controlling idea is the main idea that you want to present and develop.

For a longer piece of writing, the main idea should be broader than the main idea for a shorter piece of writing. Be sure to frame a main idea that is appropriate for the length of the assignment. Ask yourself, “How many pages will it take for me to explain and explore this main idea in detail?” Be reasonable with your estimate. Then expand or trim it to fit the required length.

The big idea, or controlling idea, you want to present in an essay is expressed in a thesis statement . A thesis statement is often one sentence long, and it states your point of view. The thesis statement is not the topic of the piece of writing but rather what you have to say about that topic and what is important to tell readers.

Table 8.2 “Topics and Thesis Statements” compares topics and thesis statements.

Table 8.2 Topics and Thesis Statements

The first thesis statement you write will be a preliminary thesis statement, or a working thesis statement . You will need it when you begin to outline your assignment as a way to organize it. As you continue to develop the arrangement, you can limit your working thesis statement if it is too broad or expand it if it proves too narrow for what you want to say.

Using the topic you selected in Section 8.1 “Apply Prewriting Models” , develop a working thesis statement that states your controlling idea for the piece of writing you are doing. On a sheet of paper, write your working thesis statement.

You will make several attempts before you devise a working thesis statement that you think is effective. Each draft of the thesis statement will bring you closer to the wording that expresses your meaning exactly.

Writing an Outline

For an essay question on a test or a brief oral presentation in class, all you may need to prepare is a short, informal outline in which you jot down key ideas in the order you will present them. This kind of outline reminds you to stay focused in a stressful situation and to include all the good ideas that help you explain or prove your point.

For a longer assignment, like an essay or a research paper, many college instructors require students to submit a formal outline before writing a major paper as a way to be sure you are on the right track and are working in an organized manner. A formal outline is a detailed guide that shows how all your supporting ideas relate to each other. It helps you distinguish between ideas that are of equal importance and ones that are of lesser importance. You build your paper based on the framework created by the outline.

Instructors may also require you to submit an outline with your final draft to check the direction of the assignment and the logic of your final draft. If you are required to submit an outline with the final draft of a paper, remember to revise the outline to reflect any changes you made while writing the paper.

There are two types of formal outlines: the topic outline and the sentence outline. You format both types of formal outlines in the same way.

Place your introduction and thesis statement at the beginning, under roman numeral I.
Use roman numerals (II, III, IV, V, etc.) to identify main points that develop the thesis statement.
Use capital letters (A, B, C, D, etc.) to divide your main points into parts.
Use arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) if you need to subdivide any As, Bs, or Cs into smaller parts.
End with the final roman numeral expressing your idea for your conclusion.

Here is what the skeleton of a traditional formal outline looks like. The indention helps clarify how the ideas are related.

Introduction

Thesis statement

Main point 1 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 1

Main point 2 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 2

Main point 3 → becomes the topic sentence of body paragraph 3

In an outline, any supporting detail can be developed with subpoints. For simplicity, the model shows them only under the first main point.

Formal outlines are often quite rigid in their organization. As many instructors will specify, you cannot subdivide one point if it is only one part. For example, for every roman numeral I, there must be a For every A, there must be a B. For every arabic numeral 1, there must be a 2. See for yourself on the sample outlines that follow.

Constructing Topic Outlines

A topic outline is the same as a sentence outline except you use words or phrases instead of complete sentences. Words and phrases keep the outline short and easier to comprehend. All the headings, however, must be written in parallel structure. (For more information on parallel structure, see Chapter 7 “Refining Your Writing: How Do I Improve My Writing Technique?” .)

Here is the topic outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing. Her purpose is to inform, and her audience is a general audience of her fellow college students. Notice how Mariah begins with her thesis statement. She then arranges her main points and supporting details in outline form using short phrases in parallel grammatical structure.

Writing an Effective Topic Outline

This checklist can help you write an effective topic outline for your assignment. It will also help you discover where you may need to do additional reading or prewriting.

Do I have a controlling idea that guides the development of the entire piece of writing?
Do I have three or more main points that I want to make in this piece of writing? Does each main point connect to my controlling idea?
Is my outline in the best order—chronological order, spatial order, or order of importance—for me to present my main points? Will this order help me get my main point across?
Do I have supporting details that will help me inform, explain, or prove my main points?
Do I need to add more support? If so, where?
Do I need to make any adjustments in my working thesis statement before I consider it the final version?

Writing at Work

Word processing programs generally have an automatic numbering feature that can be used to prepare outlines. This feature automatically sets indents and lets you use the tab key to arrange information just as you would in an outline. Although in business this style might be acceptable, in college your instructor might have different requirements. Teach yourself how to customize the levels of outline numbering in your word-processing program to fit your instructor’s preferences.

Using the working thesis statement you wrote in Note 8.32 “Exercise 1” and the reading you did in Section 8.1 “Apply Prewriting Models” , construct a topic outline for your essay. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and arabic numerals and capital letters.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your outline. Point out areas of interest from their outline and what you would like to learn more about.

Constructing Sentence Outlines

A sentence outline is the same as a topic outline except you use complete sentences instead of words or phrases. Complete sentences create clarity and can advance you one step closer to a draft in the writing process.

Here is the sentence outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing.

The information compiled under each roman numeral will become a paragraph in your final paper. In the previous example, the outline follows the standard five-paragraph essay arrangement, but longer essays will require more paragraphs and thus more roman numerals. If you think that a paragraph might become too long or stringy, add an additional paragraph to your outline, renumbering the main points appropriately.

PowerPoint presentations, used both in schools and in the workplace, are organized in a way very similar to formal outlines. PowerPoint presentations often contain information in the form of talking points that the presenter develops with more details and examples than are contained on the PowerPoint slide.

Expand the topic outline you prepared in Note 8.41 “Exercise 2” to make it a sentence outline. In this outline, be sure to include multiple supporting points for your main topic even if your topic outline does not contain them. Be sure to observe correct outline form, including correct indentions and the use of Roman and arabic numerals and capital letters.

Key Takeaways

Writers must put their ideas in order so the assignment makes sense. The most common orders are chronological order, spatial order, and order of importance.
After gathering and evaluating the information you found for your essay, the next step is to write a working, or preliminary, thesis statement.
The working thesis statement expresses the main idea that you want to develop in the entire piece of writing. It can be modified as you continue the writing process.
Effective writers prepare a formal outline to organize their main ideas and supporting details in the order they will be presented.
A topic outline uses words and phrases to express the ideas.
A sentence outline uses complete sentences to express the ideas.
The writer’s thesis statement begins the outline, and the outline ends with suggestions for the concluding paragraph.

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Types of Outlines and Samples

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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:

Roman Numerals
Capitalized Letters
Arabic Numerals
Lowercase Letters

If the outline needs to subdivide beyond these divisions, use Arabic numerals inside parentheses and then lowercase letters inside parentheses. Select the "Sample Outlines" PDF in the Media Box above to download the sample of this outline.

The sample PDF in the Media Box above is an example of an outline that a student might create before writing an essay. In order to organize her thoughts and make sure that she has not forgotten any key points that she wants to address, she creates the outline as a framework for her essay.

What is the assignment?

Your instructor asks the class to write an expository (explanatory) essay on the typical steps a high school student would follow in order to apply to college.

What is the purpose of this essay?

To explain the process for applying to college

Who is the intended audience for this essay?

High school students intending to apply to college and their parents

What is the essay's thesis statement?

When applying to college, a student follows a certain process which includes choosing the right schools and preparing the application materials.

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.

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. Select the "Sample Outlines" PDF in the Media Box above to download the sample of this outline.

Essay Writing Guide

Essay Outline

Last updated on: Jun 10, 2023

A Complete Essay Outline - Guidelines and Format

By: Nova A.

13 min read

Reviewed By: Melisa C.

Published on: Jan 15, 2019

To write an effective essay, you need to create a clear and well-organized essay outline. An essay outline will shape the essay’s entire content and determine how successful the essay will be.

In this blog post, we'll be going over the basics of essay outlines and provide a template for you to follow. We will also include a few examples so that you can get an idea about how these outlines look when they are put into practice.

Essay writing is not easy, but it becomes much easier with time, practice, and a detailed essay writing guide. Once you have developed your outline, everything else will come together more smoothly.

The key to success in any area is preparation - take the time now to develop a solid outline and then write your essays!

So, let’s get started!

On this Page

What is an Essay Outline?

An essay outline is your essay plan and a roadmap to essay writing. It is the structure of an essay you are about to write. It includes all the main points you have to discuss in each section along with the thesis statement.

Like every house has a map before it is constructed, the same is the importance of an essay outline. You can write an essay without crafting an outline, but you may miss essential information, and it is more time-consuming.

Once the outline is created, there is no chance of missing any important information. Also, it will help you to:

Organize your thoughts and ideas.
Understand the information flow.
Never miss any crucial information or reference.
Finish your work faster.

These are the reasons if someone asks you why an essay outline is needed. Now there are some points that must be kept in mind before proceeding to craft an essay outline.

Easily Outline Your Essays In Seconds!

Prewriting Process of Essay Outline

Your teacher may ask you to submit your essay outline before your essay. Therefore, you must know the preliminary guidelines that are necessary before writing an essay outline.

Here are the guidelines:

You must go through your assignments’ guidelines carefully.
Understand the purpose of your assignment.
Know your audience.
Mark the important point while researching your topic data.
Select the structure of your essay outline; whether you are going to use a decimal point bullet or a simple one.

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How to Write an Essay Outline in 4 Steps

Creating an essay outline is a crucial step in crafting a well-structured and organized piece of writing. Follow these four simple steps to create an effective outline:

Step 1: Understand the Topic

To begin, thoroughly grasp the essence of your essay topic.

Break it down into its key components and identify the main ideas you want to convey. This step ensures you have a clear direction and focus for your essay.

Step 2: Brainstorm and Gather Ideas

Let your creativity flow and brainstorm ideas related to your topic.

Jot down key pieces of information, arguments, and supporting evidence that will strengthen your essay's overall message. Consider different perspectives and potential counterarguments to make your essay well-rounded.

Step 3: Organize Your Thoughts

Now it's time to give structure to your ideas.

Arrange your main points in a logical order, starting with an attention-grabbing introduction, followed by body paragraphs that present your arguments.

Finally, tie everything together with a compelling conclusion. Remember to use transitional phrases to create smooth transitions between sections.

Step 4: Add Depth with Subpoints

To add depth and clarity to your essay, incorporate subpoints under each main point.

These subpoints provide more specific details, evidence, or examples that support your main ideas. They help to further strengthen your arguments and make your essay more convincing.

By following these four steps - you'll be well on your way to creating a clear and compelling essay outline.

Essay Outline Format

It is an easy way for you to write your thoughts in an organized manner. It may seem unnecessary and unimportant, but it is not.

It is one of the most crucial steps for essay writing as it shapes your entire essay and aids the writing process.

An essay outline consists of three main parts:

1. Introduction

The introduction body of your essay should be attention-grabbing. It should be written in such a manner that it attracts the reader’s interest. It should also provide background information about the topic for the readers.

You can use a dramatic tone to grab readers’ attention, but it should connect the audience to your thesis statement.

Here are some points without which your introduction paragraph is incomplete.

To attract the reader with the first few opening lines, we use a hook statement. It helps engage the reader and motivates them to read further. There are different types of hook sentences ranging from quotes, rhetorical questions to anecdotes and statistics, and much more.

Are you struggling to come up with an interesting hook? View these hook examples to get inspired!

A thesis statement is stated at the end of your introduction. It is the most important statement of your entire essay. It summarizes the purpose of the essay in one sentence.

The thesis statement tells the readers about the main theme of the essay, and it must be strong and clear. It holds the entire crux of your essay.

Need help creating a strong thesis statement? Check out this guide on thesis statements and learn to write a statement that perfectly captures your main argument!

2. Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs of an essay are where all the details and evidence come into play. This is where you dive deep into the argument, providing explanations and supporting your ideas with solid evidence.

If you're writing a persuasive essay, these paragraphs will be the powerhouse that convinces your readers. Similarly, in an argumentative essay, your body paragraphs will work their magic to sway your audience to your side.

Each paragraph should have a topic sentence and no more than one idea. A topic sentence is the crux of the contents of your paragraph. It is essential to keep your reader interested in the essay.

The topic sentence is followed by the supporting points and opinions, which are then justified with strong evidence.

3. Conclusion

When it comes to wrapping up your essay, never underestimate the power of a strong conclusion. Just like the introduction and body paragraphs, the conclusion plays a vital role in providing a sense of closure to your topic.

To craft an impactful conclusion, it's crucial to summarize the key points discussed in the introduction and body paragraphs. You want to remind your readers of the important information you shared earlier. But keep it concise and to the point. Short, powerful sentences will leave a lasting impression.

Remember, your conclusion shouldn't drag on. Instead, restate your thesis statement and the supporting points you mentioned earlier. And here's a pro tip: go the extra mile and suggest a course of action. It leaves your readers with something to ponder or reflect on.

5 Paragraph Essay Outline Structure

An outline is an essential part of the writing as it helps the writer stay focused. A typical 5 paragraph essay outline example is shown here. This includes:

State the topic
Thesis statement
Introduction
Explanation
A conclusion that ties to the thesis
Summary of the essay
Restate the thesis statement

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Essay Outline Template

The outline of the essay is the skeleton that you will fill out with the content. Both outline and relevant content are important for a good essay. The content you will add to flesh out the outline should be credible, relevant, and interesting.

The outline structure for the essay is not complex or difficult. No matter which type of essay you write, you either use an alphanumeric structure or a decimal structure for the outline.

Below is an outline sample that you can easily follow for your essay.

Essay Outline Sample

Essay Outline Examples

An essay outline template should follow when you start writing the essay. Every writer should learn how to write an outline for every type of essay and research paper.

Essay outline 4th grade

Essay outline 5th grade

Essay outline high school

Essay outline college

Given below are essay outline examples for different types of essay writing.

Argumentative Essay Outline

An argumentative essay is a type of essay that shows both sides of the topic that you are exploring. The argument that presents the basis of the essay should be created by providing evidence and supporting details.

Persuasive Essay Outline

A persuasive essay is similar to an argumentative essay. Your job is to provide facts and details to create the argument. In a persuasive essay, you convince your readers of your point of view.

Compare and Contrast Essay Outline

A compare and contrast essay explains the similarities and differences between two things. While comparing, you should focus on the differences between two seemingly similar objects. While contrasting, you should focus on the similarities between two different objects.

Narrative Essay Outline

A narrative essay is written to share a story. Normally, a narrative essay is written from a personal point of view in an essay. The basic purpose of the narrative essay is to describe something creatively.

Expository Essay Outline

An expository essay is a type of essay that explains, analyzes, and illustrates something for the readers. An expository essay should be unbiased and entirely based on facts. Be sure to use academic resources for your research and cite your sources.

Analytical Essay Outline

An analytical essay is written to analyze the topic from a critical point of view. An analytical essay breaks down the content into different parts and explains the topic bit by bit.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Outline

A rhetorical essay is written to examine the writer or artist’s work and develop a great essay. It also includes the discussion.

Cause and Effect Essay Outline

A cause and effect essay describes why something happens and examines the consequences of an occurrence or phenomenon. It is also a type of expository essay.

Informative Essay Outline

An informative essay is written to inform the audience about different objects, concepts, people, issues, etc.

The main purpose is to respond to the question with a detailed explanation and inform the target audience about the topic.

Synthesis Essay Outline

A synthesis essay requires the writer to describe a certain unique viewpoint about the issue or topic. Create a claim about the topic and use different sources and information to prove it.

Literary Analysis Essay Outline

A literary analysis essay is written to analyze and examine a novel, book, play, or any other piece of literature. The writer analyzes the different devices such as the ideas, characters, plot, theme, tone, etc., to deliver his message.

Definition Essay Outline

A definition essay requires students to pick a particular concept, term, or idea and define it in their own words and according to their understanding.

Descriptive Essay Outline

A descriptive essay is a type of essay written to describe a person, place, object, or event. The writer must describe the topic so that the reader can visualize it using their five senses.

Evaluation Essay Outline

Problem Solution Essay Outline

In a problem-solution essay, you are given a problem as a topic and you have to suggest multiple solutions on it.

Scholarship Essay Outline

A scholarship essay is required at the time of admission when you are applying for a scholarship. Scholarship essays must be written in a way that should stand alone to help you get a scholarship.

Reflective Essay Outline

A reflective essay is written to express your own thoughts and point of view regarding a specific topic.

Getting started on your essay? Give this comprehensive essay writing guide a read to make sure you write an effective essay!

With this complete guide, now you understand how to create an outline for your essay successfully. However, if you still can’t write an effective essay, then the best option is to consult a professional academic writing service.

Essay writing is a dull and boring task for some people. So why not get some help instead of wasting your time and effort? 5StarEssays.com is here to help you. All your do my essay for me requests are managed by professional essay writers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three types of outlines.

Here are the three types of essay outline;

Working outline
Speaking outline
Full-sentence outline

All three types are different from each other and are used for different purposes.

What does a full-sentence outline look like?

A full sentence outline contains full sentences at each level of the essay’s outline. It is similar to an alphanumeric outline and it is a commonly used essay outline.

What is a traditional outline format?

A traditional essay outline begins with writing down all the important points in one place and listing them down and adding sub-topics to them. Besides, it will also include evidence and proof that you will use to back your arguments.

What is the benefit of using a traditional outline format and an informal outline format?

A traditional outline format helps the students in listing down all the important details in one palace while an informal outline will help you coming up with new ideas and highlighting important points

As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.

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How to Write an Essay Outline + Essay Outline Examples

Download for free, how to write an essay outline + essay outline examples .

Writing an essay can seem like a daunting task, but one of the best ways to tackle this challenge is to organize your ideas into a well-structured essay outline. This guide will walk you through the process of creating an essay outline, complete with essay outline examples, to ensure your next essay is a masterpiece.

We’ve compiled a variety of essay outline examples to help you understand how to structure your own essay. We'll cover persuasive essays, narrative essays, descriptive essays, expository essays, and even provide a sample research paper outline. Each example will provide you with an idea of how to lay out the structure and details for each type of essay.

Looking for a printable list of essay outline examples? Our printable PDF features essay outline examples and templates that your students can use as examples when writing research papers, or as a supplement for an essay-writing unit

Why write an essay outline?

An outline serves as the skeleton of your essay, giving you a clear and organized path to articulate your thoughts. Not only does it make writing an essay significantly easier, but it also allows you to present your arguments coherently and effectively.

An essay outline will help you organize your main ideas and determine the order in which you are going to write about them.

Student receives essay feedback A+ . Essay outline examples.

Types of essay outlines

Several types of essay outlines can be used when writing an essay. The two most common types are the alphanumeric outline and the decimal outline.

An alphanumeric outline typically uses Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals, and lowercase letters, in that order. Each level provides a different level of specificity. This structure is a very effective way to think through how you will organize and present the information in your essay. It also helps you develop a strong argumentative essay.

Alternatively, a decimal outline uses only numbers, and each subsection is a decimal subdivision of the main section. This type of outline is often used in scientific papers.

Persuasive essay outline example

In the following section, we'll explore a persuasive essay outline example on competitive swimming. The purpose of a persuasive essay is to convince the reader of a particular point of view or idea, using compelling arguments and evidence.

In this case, the argument is that competitive swimming is an ideal sport for kids. The essay will present a series of arguments to support this view, demonstrating the various benefits of competitive swimming for children.

Competitive Swimming, an Ideal Sport for Kids

Introduction

Start your argumentative essay outline by stating your point of view and/or presenting your persuasive argument.

Thesis: Competitive swimming is a great alternative to other youth sports.

Body Paragraph 1

Introduce your primary persuasive argument and provide supporting details in your argumentative essay outline.

Topic Sentence: Competitive swimming provides the same benefits as other sports.

Detail Sentence 1: It is good exercise and builds muscular strength.
Detail Sentence 2: It promotes cooperation among team members, especially in relays.

Body Paragraph 2

Introduce a secondary argument and provide supporting details.

Topic Sentence: Competitive swimming provides some unique additional benefits.

Detail Sentence 1: Swimming is an important skill that can be used forever.
Detail Sentence 2: Swimming poses a reduced risk of injury.
Detail Sentence 3: Each swimmer can easily chart his or her own progress.

Conclude your essay writing with a summary of the thesis and persuasive arguments. Brainstorming details that support your point-of-view is a great way to start before creating your outline and first draft.

Concluding Sentence: There are many reasons why competitive swimming is a great alternative to other youth sports, including...

Narrative essay outline example

In the following section, we will examine a narrative essay outline example titled "How Losing a Swim Meet Made Me a Better Swimmer." Narrative essays aim to tell a story, often about a personal experience, to engage the reader and convey a particular point or lesson.

In this case, the narrative revolves around the author's personal journey of improvement and self-discovery through swimming. The essay will illustrate how an initial setback served as a catalyst for significant improvement and personal growth.

How Losing a Swim Meet Made Me a Better Swimmer

Introduce the subject of your narrative essay using a thesis statement and a plan of development (POD).

Thesis: The first time I participated in a competitive swim meet, I finished in last place. With more focused training and coaching, I was able to finish 2nd in the State Championship meet.

Plan of development: I was very disappointed in my results from the first meet, so I improved my training and fitness. This helped me swim better and faster, which helped me to greatly improve my results.

Set the scene and provide supporting details. Again, start by brainstorming different ways to begin; then go ahead and craft an outline and a first draft.

Topic Sentence: I was embarrassed at finishing last in my first competitive swim meet, so I began working on ways to improve my performance.

Detail Sentence 1: I spent extra time with my coach and the team captains learning how to improve my technique.
Detail Sentence 2: I started running and lifting weights to increase my overall fitness level.

Provide additional supporting details, descriptions, and experiences to develop your general idea in your essay writing.

Topic Sentence: Over time, my results began to improve and I was able to qualify for the state championship meet.

Detail Sentence 1: My technique and fitness level made me faster and able to swim longer distances.
Detail Sentence 2: I steadily got better, and I began winning or placing in the top 3 at most of my meets.
Detail Sentence 3: My results improved to the point that I was able to qualify for the state championship meet.

Body Paragraph 3

The next step in the writing process is to provide additional supporting details, descriptions, and experiences. You can then divide them up under different headings.

Topic Sentence: With my new confidence, techniques, and fitness level, I was able to finish 2nd at the state championship meet.

Detail Sentence 1: I was able to swim well against a higher level of competition due to my training and technique.
Detail Sentence 2: I was no longer embarrassed about my last-place finish, and was able to use it as motivation!

Conclude the narrative essay with a recap of the events described or a reflection on the lesson learned in the story. Briefly summarize the details you included under each heading.

Concluding Sentence: I used my last-place finish in my first competitive swim meet as motivation to improve my performance.

Descriptive essay outline example

We will now delve into a descriptive essay outline example. Descriptive essays aim to create a vivid and detailed description of a person, place, object, or event to paint a picture for the reader. The intention is to immerse the reader in the subject matter fully.

In this case, the essay provides an in-depth description of a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The essay will use sensory and descriptive details to create a vivid and memorable experience for the reader.

Visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame

Introduce the subject of your descriptive essay with a thesis statement covering the person, place, object, etc. you are writing about.

Thesis: The Hockey Hall of Fame is full of sights, sounds, and experiences that will delight hockey fans of all ages.

Set the scene and provide factual details.

Topic Sentence: The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Canada and features exhibits from amateur and professional hockey.

Detail Sentence 1: The Hall is located in downtown Toronto and is visited by 1 million people every year.
Detail Sentence 2: You can see exhibits ranging from the early beginnings of the sport to the modern NHL and Olympics.

Provide additional sensory details, descriptions, and experiences.

Topic Sentence: There are many types of exhibits and shows, including activities you can participate in.

Detail Sentence 1: Player statues, plaques, and jerseys decorate the walls in every room of the Hall.
Detail Sentence 2: Many of the exhibits have movies and multimedia activities that make you feel like you're part of the game.
Detail Sentence 3: You can even practice shooting pucks on virtual versions of some of the game's greatest goalies!

Conclude the essay with a paragraph that restates the thesis and recaps the descriptive and sensory details.

Concluding Sentence: The Hockey Hall of Fame is an experience that combines the best sights, sounds and history of the game in Toronto.

Expository essay outline example

In the following section, we will explore an example of an expository essay. An expository essay aims to explain or describe a topic using logic. It presents a balanced analysis of a topic based on facts—with no references to the writer’s opinions or emotions.

For this example, the topic is "Why The School Year Should be Shorter". This essay will use logic and reason to demonstrate that a shorter school year could provide various benefits for students, teachers, and school districts.

Why The School Year Should be Shorter

Introduce the primary argument or main point of an expository essay, or other types of academic writing, using a thesis statement and context.

Thesis: The school year is too long, and should be shortened to benefit students and teachers, save districts money, and improve test scores and academic results. Other countries have shorter school years, and achieve better results.

Describe the primary argument and provide supporting details and evidence.

Topic Sentence: A shorter school year would benefit students and teachers by giving them more time off.

Detail Sentence 1: Students and teachers would be able to spend more time with their families.
Detail Sentence 2: Teachers would be refreshed and rejuvenated and able to teach more effectively.

Provide additional supporting details and evidence, as in this essay outline example.

Topic Sentence: A shorter school year would save school districts millions of dollars per year.

Detail Sentence 1: Districts could save money on energy costs by keeping schools closed longer.
Detail Sentence 2: A shorter school year means much lower supply and transportation costs.
Detail Sentence 3: Well-rested and happy students would help improve test scores.

Provide additional or supplemental supporting details, evidence, and analysis, as in the essay outline example.

Topic Sentence: Shortening the school year would also provide many benefits for parents and caregivers.

Detail Sentence 1: A shorter school year would mean less stress and running around for parents.
Detail Sentence 2: Caregivers would have more balance in their lives with fewer days in the school year.

Conclude the essay with an overview of the main argument, and highlight the importance of your evidence and conclusion.

Concluding Sentence: Shortening the school year would be a great way to improve the quality of life for students, teachers, and parents while saving money for districts and improving academic results.

Sample research paper outline

Now let’s dive into a research paper outline. Unlike a typical essay, a research paper presents a thorough and detailed study on a specific topic. However, it shares the same foundation with an essay in terms of structuring the ideas logically and coherently. The outline for a research paper includes an introduction, a series of topic points that cover various aspects of the main topic, and a conclusion.

This research paper will explore the background of Mt. Everest, the major explorers who attempted its summit, and the impact of these expeditions on Mt. Everest and the local community.

The Conquest of Mt. Everest

Location of Mt. Everest
Geography of the Surrounding Area
Height of the mountain
Jomolungma (Tibetan name)
Sagarmatha (Nepalese name)
The number of people who have climbed Everest to date
First to reach the summit (1953)
Led a team of experienced mountain climbers who worked together
Norgay was an experienced climber and guide who accompanied Hillary
Sherpas still used to guide expeditions
Leader of the failed 1996 expedition
Led group of (mainly) tourists with little mountain climbing experience
Loss of trees due to high demand for wood for cooking and heating for tourists.
Piles of trash left by climbing expeditions
Expedition fees provide income for the country
Expeditions provide work for the Sherpas, contributing to the local economy.
Introduction of motor vehicles
Introduction of electricity

The Everest essay outline template is based on a research paper submitted by Alexandra Ferber, 9th grade.

Happy writing!

Writing an essay outline is a crucial step in crafting a well-structured and coherent essay. Regardless of the type of essay - be it persuasive, narrative, descriptive, expository, or a research paper - an outline serves as a roadmap that organizes your thoughts and guides your writing process. The various essay outline examples provided above serve as a guide to help you structure your own essay. Remember, the key to a great essay lies not just in the content but in its organization and flow. Happy writing!

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Now that you’ve narrowed down your topic, done your research, and created your thesis, it’s time to start writing, right? Instead of jumping right in…pause for a few moments before beginning to amass your information into a first draft. Return to your statement(s) of purpose. Have any of the elements (voice, audience, message, tone, attitude, reception) changed as a result of your research? If so, write up an intermediate statement of purpose, and use it as a guide as you draft and as the basis for a writer’s memo you may be asked to submit with your draft.

Once you think you have an ample supply of materials, read through your subtopic files and consider the order of the different pieces. Consider the points you want to make in relation to the information you have found and begin typing comments between your notes to assure you have a solid plan in place when you start to make your outline.

Create an outline that begins with your thesis (or message). Include the subtopics as key elements. Under each subtopic, list your supporting points you have researched as well as the ideas you plan to add.

Writing an Outline

Creating an outline might seem like an unnecessary step. However, outlines ensure that your argument is well-organized and stays on topic. In addition, a well-thought out outline can save hours of writing time. After all, it’s much easier to re-organize an outline than to re-write an entire essay!

An outline can be either informal or formal. An informal outline outlines the parts of a paper without a specific structure. An author might use bullet points, letters, numbers, or any combination of these things. On the other hand, a formal outline has a very specific structure. Main points are listed using Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc). Secondary points use capital letters (A, B, C, etc). The third level of points uses Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc), and the final level uses lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc).

Below is an example of both an informal and a formal outline side by side. In an actual essay outline, each item would include specific details about the essay instead of general headings. Instead of Point 1, for example, the outline would state the actual point.

Image created by Dr. Karen Palmer and licensed under CC BY NC SA .

When you are finished, evaluate your outline by asking questions such as the following:

Do I want to tweak my planned thesis based on the information I have found?
Do all of my planned subtopics still seem reasonable?
Did I find an unexpected subtopic that I want to add?
In what order do I want to present my subtopics?
Are my supporting points in the best possible order?
Do I have enough support for each of my main subtopics? Will the support I have convince readers of my points?
Do I have ample materials for the required length of the paper? If not, what angle do I want to enhance?
Have I gathered too much information for a paper of this length? And if so, what should I get rid of?
Did I include information in my notes that really doesn’t belong and needs to be eliminated? (If so, cut it out and place it in a discard file rather than deleting it. That way, it is still available if you change your mind once you start drafting.)
Are my planned quotations still good choices?

Sentence Outlines

You may be asked by your instructor to create a sentence outline, which takes a regular outline to another step. In this type of outline, each and every single line should be a complete sentence. Instead of using a short phrase or word, you should have full sentences.

Key points about a sentence outline:

An outline is a way of organizing key ideas
An outline helps to set up an essay or a research paper
An outline is a tool to help revise an essay or research paper.
An outline can be a study tool to help you summarize key ideas in reading
A formal outline shows, in logical order, what you will be writing about.
A formal outline helps you separate main ideas and supporting ideas
A formal outline gives you a foundation from which to build an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
A formal outline often changes after you write your first draft. It will show you where you need to add more research or make other changes.
Each line of your outline should be a complete sentence.
The more detailed your outline, the easier it will be to write your essay.

Example Sentence Outline:

Southern Local-Color in “Désirée’s Baby” and “A Rose for Emily”

I. Intro for The Application of a Literary Critical Model to a Short Story

A. Local-color is a form of regionalism which exploits the speech, dress, mannerism, and habits of a specific region.

B. Southern local-color portrays life of the Old South.

“Southern writers were nostalgic for a sense of place distinctly and exclusively Southern” (Lecture 5).
“Southern Renaissance writers can also be said to transcend its specific regional settings and address universal themes of human suffering, isolation, prejudice, alienation, connection, and intimacy” (Lecture 5).

C. Kate Chopin wrote “Désirée’s Baby” and William Faulkner wrote “A Rose for Emily.”

Both stories focus on the role of women in Southern culture and the relationship between men and women.
The main female protagonist in each story is Désirée and Emily.

H. Thesis: Due to their old Southern culture, both Désirée and Emily experience gender inequality, their stories utilize Southern dialect and garments, and they are examples of what happens to women and other minorities when they are not given social freedom.

II. Désirée and Emily experience gender inequality due to their Southern culture.

A. “Désirée’s Baby” takes place in Louisiana before the American Civil War.

The culture was created around the existence of slaves.
Their plantations and economy relied on this racial caste system.
The expectations of females limited their roles in this society.

B. Armand falls instantly in love with the young and beautiful Désirée when he sees her standing outside her wealthy plantation.

C. Désirée’s past is unknown, she was found as a baby and raised by the loving plantation owner.

Armand purchases her fine clothes and gifts from Paris and soon the two are married, he now sees her as his property, he bought her with his wealth.

B. Armand is racist and often cruel to his slaves and treats them as property.

When their baby is born showing African American genetic traits, Désirée is accused of being partially black and shunned by her husband.
Désirée is so heartbroken, that she takes herself and her baby to the bayou to die.

C. After their deaths, Armand burns her fancy possessions and he finds a letter from his deceased mother who confesses that she carries the African American genetic traits.

This confirms that Armand is the one who is partially black, not Désirée.

Choose the best choice for each question:

1. Once you are finished taking notes, you should

start writing immediately.
read through your notes and put them in an order that will work.
make sure, when you write, to use all the information you have found.

2. Your outline should begin with

your thesis (or message).
your best quotation.
your most interesting subtopic.

3. If you have notes that are relevant, but do not fit within the planned subtopics

delete those notes.
you know that you did unneeded research.
consider adding a subtopic.

4. Once you begin to make your outline, you should

tweak your thesis based on information you have learned.
eliminate all information that does not directly support your thesis.
use only your original ideas.

Attributions

“ Managing Information ” licensed under CC BY NC SA .
“ Outlining ” written by Dr. Karen Palmer and licensed under CC BY NC SA .
“Sentence Outline,” created by Dr. Sandi Van Lieu and licensed under CC BY NC SA 3.0 .

The RoughWriter's Guide Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Karen Palmer and Dr. Sandi Van Lieu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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There are potentially as many different types of outlines as there are writers. That's because all an outline really has to be is some type of list, whether in a Word document or on a dinner napkin, that serves as a strategy for writing your first draft.

You Mean Like the Harvard Outline?

We do not. Producing a "Harvard Outline," with its perfect pattern of Roman numerals, capital letters, and lower-case letters is tantamount to writing the paper itself. Such outlines can be helpful after the project is written, but few writers consider it a viable model for a working outline.

Then What Do You Suggest?

Simply put, we encourage anything that works for you . The more you write, the more you will know what type of outline best fits your needs for any given writing project, from a scratch list to an organized hierarchy of ideas and details. However, when it comes to writing the basic academic response essay (often called the expository essay), there is a type of outline that can be helpful for this particular assignment: the "sentence outline."

The Sentence Outline Explained

A sentence outline usually consists of at least four sentences. Keep in mind that, depending on the length of the assignment, there could be more. The first sentence that you should write is your thesis statement—the sentence that contains your overall controlling idea, your position or slant on the topic assigned to you. It is this overall idea that will be developed throughout the essay.

Then, based upon that thesis, your job as a writer is to come up with at least three main points to support the thesis. Each of these points will be expressed in topic sentences. A "topic sentence" will be the first sentence of the body paragraph that discusses the main point.

An important part of this outlining is to use sequence words to signal the beginning of a new body paragraph. Words like "first," "second," and "third" are common. But other words and phrases like "to begin," "next," "finally," or any combination will achieve your purpose: to signal the beginning of a topic sentence.

Academic Essay: The Sentence Outline (with signpost and echo words)

Thesis: Earning a degree online has been harder but more satisfying than my other school experiences

Topic Sentence 1: The first reason online study is harder is that the student works in isolation.

Topic Sentence 2: The second reason studying online is harder is that it requires more writing, reading and computer skills.

Topic Sentence 3: The third reason the online experience is harder is that the student is expected to be an adult professional at the same time.

Image Still for Video: Topic Sentence Outlines for the Basic Academic Essay

How to Create and Use Topic Sentence Outlines

Watch the video from Professor David Taylor.

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A Beginner’s Guide to IELTS
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How to Write an Essay Outline [IELTS Writing]

Posted by David S. Wills | Jun 6, 2022 | IELTS Tips , Writing | 0

In IELTS writing task 2, you will need to write a clear and coherent introduction . This should be comprised of several parts, one of which is a sentence that tells the reader what your essay will say or do. This is often called an essay outline , although you may hear it referred to by other names, such as “thesis statement.”

What your essay outline should say will depend upon the exact essay that you have to write, so it is a complicated issue, but this article will tell you everything you need to know.

What is an Essay Outline?

First of all, let’s briefly discuss what an essay outline is because it’s not 100% clear to everyone. The word “outline” means:

a general description or plan showing the essential features of something but not the detail

Therefore, in the context of IELTS writing task 2, an essay outline could be defined as a sentence at the end of your introduction that tells the reader what will come next.

This sentence should simply and effectively give information about what the reader will encounter in the coming paragraphs but without any of the detail that will come later. For example:

This essay will look at both sides of the issue but argue that it is best to fix problems and reach for a better situation.

Here, my sentence has made it very clear to the reader that this essay will do three things:

Look at one side of an issue
Look at the other side of that issue
Argue in favour of fixing problems

In just twenty-five words, it has offered an effective outline of my essay. It has prepared my reader for what will come next, guiding them conveniently through the essay.

Do you Need an Essay Outline?

For a task 2 essay, it is generally good to have a sentence that explains the rest of your essay. This helps with both Task Response and Coherence and Cohesion . However, its necessity actually depends on the kind of question you are answering.

For any question that requires an opinion, you must include an essay outline that gives your opinion. If you don’t, you won’t get a good score for Task Response. That is because, in order to get a band 7 or higher, your essay needs to:

present a clear position throughout the response Source: IELTS band descriptors

Thus, you must make your position (ie your opinion) clear in the introduction, the body paragraphs, and the conclusion .

If you don’t need to give an opinion, then it is less important but it is still a very good idea to include an essay outline. I would strongly suggest that you write a sentence that tells the reader what you will do next.

Here are some examples…

Essay Outline Templates

The following are examples of sentences you could use for the different IELTS writing question types. Obviously, they depend on the exact question asked and your intended answer.

Agree/Disagree Questions

This essay will disagree with the notion that _____.
This essay will argue that ____.

Note: People often make a huge mistake in agree/disagree questions because they paraphrase the question and then give their opinion. This means that they present the opinion as their own and then either agree or disagree with themselves! This is a very serious error. You can read more about it here .

Discussion Questions

This essay will examine both sides of the issue and conclude that…
This essay will look at both perspectives and argue that…
This essay will look at both viewpoints and then argue that…

Advantages/Disadvantage Questions

If you are asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages :

This essay will explore the advantages and disadvantages of…
This essay will explain the advantages and disadvantages of…

If you are asked to weigh the advantages and disadvantages:

This essay will argue that the advantages of ___ outweigh the disadvantages.
This essay will argue that the disadvantages of ___ outweigh the advantages.

Problem/Solution Questions

This essay will first look at the causes of ___ and will then suggest several solutions.
This essay will explore the causes of ____ and also will present a possible solution.

Note: As always, your essay outline will depend on what you want to say. You may have one solution or many. Make sure that your outline matches the content.

Two-Part Questions

This essay type is harder to approach in terms of essay outline because it would depend 100% on the actual questions. However, your structure for a two-part question will usually be the same and your outline should clearly reflect this.

Here is a sample two-part question:

Some parents buy their children whatever they ask for and allow their children to do whatever they want. Is this a good way to raise children? What consequences could this style of parenting have for children as they get older?

And here is how I would write my outline:

This essay will explore why this is not a good way to raise children and why it will have negative impacts upon them in future.

As you can see, it is split into two parts: the first question is addressed and then the second. It is simple and effective.

Should you Write “This essay will” or “I will”?

You may have noticed that in all my examples above, I wrote “This essay will…” That’s because it is a little more formal to drop the personal element . Even though some questions explicitly ask for your personal opinion, you can still answer them without personal pronouns. For example:

I believe that countries should protect their seas and I will explain why in this essay.
This essay will explain why countries should protect their seas.

Both of these sentences are fine, but using the more neutral and objective perspective is better. It avoids being personal, which is slightly informal. However, if you feel more comfortable saying “I think/believe/feel/etc.,” then go ahead and keep doing that.

Common Mistakes

There are some problems that I see when doing my IELTS writing correction service . Some are big problems and some are small.

The worst problem, which I already mentioned above, is when people agree/disagree with themselves. This is actually a problem with the first sentence rather than the outline sentence, but still it is the outline that appears wrong. For example:

City councils should band the construction of buildings that are in a different architectural style to the traditions of that area. I completely disagree with this notion.

This is a huge problem! The author has disagreed with himself because the first sentence is presented as his own perspective. It is very important that you never do this in IELTS. Instead, you should frame the viewpoint as someone else’s:

Some people argue that city councils should band the construction of buildings that are in a different architectural style to the traditions of that area. This essay will completely disagree with this notion.

I have fixed the first sentence and now changed the second to be a bit more formal.

Another problem concerns discussion questions. People often mix up words like this:

This essay will explain both sides of view.
This essay will look at both sides of the view.

Basically, they have misunderstood the word “view.” A view and a side are pretty much the same thing here. We can just say “both views” or “both sides of the issue/argument/debate.”

A very common problem is to say the same thing twice, like this:

In my opinion, I think that…
From my viewpoint, I think that…

Keep in mind that both the first and second parts of those sentences mean the same thing!

Finally, we need to remember that an essay can do some things but it cannot do others.

There are other words that can only apply to people (ie using “I”). For example:

In other words, your essay is not conscious and so it cannot do feel anything. It can only present ideas on your behalf.

Do you Always Need an Essay Outline?

Are essay outlines always necessary? The short answer is: no. However, omitting them is a quite advanced technique and so it is generally best to include one.

If you leave out an essay outline, then your introduction must be sophisticated enough to hint at later ideas and your body paragraphs must follow on very intuitively from the intro. The benefit of doing this is that you show a subtle and intelligent grasp of cohesion whilst also avoiding formulaic language.

Here is an example:

The tourism industry has grown enormously over the last fifty years, and there are few places which are unaffected by it. However, tourism rarely benefits the countries which tourists visit. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Introduction:

Tourism has been around for millennia, but in the late twentieth century it exploded in popularity. Nowadays, millions of people take off on holiday during their summer and winter vacations, often to foreign countries. It generally considered a positive phenomenon, bringing the people of the world closer together and boosting the economies of developing countries. However, there are some drawbacks.

Instead of following the usual approach of saying “This essay will…” or “I think that…” I have simply said that “It is generally considered a positive phenomenon,” and then hinted at my perspective by saying “there are some drawbacks.” This shows balance and in the body paragraphs I will present both the positives and negatives , finally coming to a conclusion, which is that I neither wholly agree nor disagree. Remember: you do not always need to give a strong opinion. Balance is fine.

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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How to write a full sentence outline: a complete guide for nursing students, carla johnson.

October 27, 2023
How to Guides

Nursing students, on their educational journey, are often required to complete various writing assignments, such as research papers, essays, and case studies . One essential tool that can significantly aid in the process of composing well-structured and coherent papers is a full sentence outline. In this article, we will explore on how to write a full sentence outline, its importance, and how nursing students can create one to enhance their writing skills and produce high-quality academic papers. At the end, we’ll also introduce you to professional writing services that can assist you in your academic endeavors.

What You'll Learn

Understanding the Full Sentence Outline

Before delving into the specifics of creating a full sentence outline, it is crucial to understand what it is. A full sentence outline is a structured framework that presents the main ideas and supporting details of your paper in complete sentences. Unlike traditional outlines that often use short phrases or keywords , a full sentence outline provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of your paper’s content, making it an invaluable tool for organizing your thoughts.

The Importance of a Full Sentence Outline

Creating a full sentence outline offers numerous benefits for nursing students and can significantly improve the quality of their academic work. Here are some reasons why this tool is indispensable:

Clarity and Organization

A full sentence outline helps you structure your paper logically. Each main point and supporting detail is clearly articulated, ensuring your paper flows smoothly and that your ideas are well-organized. This, in turn, makes it easier for your readers to follow your argument and understand the content.

Efficient Writing Process

When you have a full sentence outline in place, you essentially have a roadmap for your paper. This roadmap makes the writing process more efficient by providing a clear path to follow. You won’t need to waste time wondering what to write next, reducing writer’s block and procrastination.

Identifying Gaps and Weaknesses

A full sentence outline allows you to see the overall structure of your paper and identify any gaps or weaknesses in your argument or supporting evidence. This enables you to make necessary revisions before you start writing the paper, saving you time and improving the quality of your work.

Concise and Comprehensive Writing

By having a comprehensive outline , you’re less likely to veer off-topic or include irrelevant information in your paper. This results in a more concise and focused piece of writing, which is essential for academic papers in the field of nursing.

Creating a Full Sentence Outline

Now that you understand the significance of a full sentence outline, let’s explore how nursing students can create one effectively:

Choose a Topic

Begin by selecting a specific topic for your paper. This topic should be relevant to your nursing coursework and research interests. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of what you want to write about before you proceed with the outline.

Identify the Main Points

Think about the key arguments or main points you want to make in your paper. For nursing students, this could involve discussing specific medical conditions, treatment options, healthcare policies , or research findings. List these main points in a logical order, as they will serve as the backbone of your outline.

Develop Supporting Details

Under each main point, create a list of supporting details or evidence that will bolster your argument. These could be statistics, case studies, medical research findings, or expert quotes. Ensure that these details are relevant and directly support the main point they are linked to.

Write Full Sentences

Now, transform your main points and supporting details into full sentences. This step is crucial, as it forces you to articulate your ideas clearly and concisely. Your full sentences should provide a complete thought and be grammatically correct.

Follow a Logical Structure

Organize your full sentences in a logical order, ensuring that your ideas flow naturally from one point to the next. This structure is vital for maintaining coherence and guiding your readers through your paper.

Review and Revise

After you have created your full sentence outline, take the time to review and revise it. Check for consistency, clarity, and completeness. Make sure that your outline accurately reflects the content you intend to include in your paper.

In conclusion, a full sentence outline is an invaluable tool for nursing students as they navigate their academic writing assignments. It provides clarity, organization, and efficiency in the writing process, helping students create well-structured and focused papers. By following the steps outlined above, nursing students can enhance their writing skills and produce high-quality academic work.

As you embark on your academic journey, it’s important to remember that writing can be a challenging task, and seeking professional assistance is a valid and wise choice. Whether you’re facing tight deadlines, struggling with complex topics, or need help with editing and proofreading, our writing services are here to support you. Our team of experienced writers understands the unique demands of nursing education and can provide you with well-researched, well-structured, and plagiarism-free papers that meet your academic requirements.

1. What is a full sentence outline example?

A full sentence outline example is a structured representation of an academic paper’s main points and supporting details written in complete sentences. It serves as a clear roadmap for organizing and writing a well-structured paper.

2. What is a sentence outline?

A sentence outline is a type of outline that uses complete sentences to detail the main ideas and supporting information for a paper, providing a comprehensive overview of the content and structure.

3. What is the sentence outline process?

The sentence outline process involves selecting a topic, identifying main points, creating supporting details, writing these elements in complete sentences, organizing them logically, and reviewing for clarity and completeness.

4. What are the 3 types of outlines?

The three types of outlines are the full sentence outline (using complete sentences), the topic outline (using short phrases or keywords), and the alphanumeric outline (using a combination of numbers and letters to indicate hierarchy and structure).

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Justice Dept. Nears Settlement Over F.B.I.’s Failure to Investigate Larry Nassar

The deal, which could be announced in coming weeks, would bring an end to one of the last major cases stemming from a horrific sports scandal.

Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichols stand behind a table, with officials nearby.

By Juliet Macur and Glenn Thrush

Reporting from Washington

The Justice Department is nearing a $100 million settlement over its initial failure to investigate Lawrence G. Nassar, the former U.S.A. Gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing girls under his care, according to people familiar with the situation.

The deal, which could be announced in coming weeks, would bring an end to one of the last major cases stemming from a horrific sports scandal, with around 100 victims in line to receive compensation.

The approach of a settlement comes two and a half years after senior F.B.I. officials publicly admitted that agents had failed to take quick action when U.S. national team athletes complained about Mr. Nassar to the bureau’s Indianapolis field office in 2015, when Mr. Nassar was a respected physician known for working with Olympians and college athletes. He has been accused of abusing more than 150 women and girls over the years.

The broad outline of the deal is in place, but it has not yet been completed, according to several people with knowledge of the talks, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss continuing negotiations.

The details of the settlement deal were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal .

It would be the latest in a series of big payouts that reflect the inability of institutions to protect hundreds of athletes — including the Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman — from a doctor who justified his serial sexual abuse by claiming he was using unconventional treatments.

In 2018, Michigan State University, which employed Mr. Nassar, paid more than $500 million into a victim compensation fund, believed to be the largest settlement by a university in a sexual abuse case. Three years later, U.S.A. Gymnastics and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee reached a $380 million settlement .

Many of the girls and women abused by Mr. Nassar have battled mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and some have attempted suicide because of the abuse, which Mr. Nassar perpetrated under the guise of medical treatment.

A 2021 report by the Justice Department’s inspector general found that senior F.B.I. officials in the Indianapolis field office failed to respond to the allegations “with the utmost seriousness and urgency that they deserved and required” and that the investigation did not proceed until after the news media detailed Mr. Nassar’s abuse.

F.B.I. officials in the office also “made numerous and fundamental errors when they did respond” to the allegations and failed to notify state or local authorities of the allegations or take other steps to address the threat posed by Mr. Nassar, the inspector general’s report said.

In heart-wrenching testimony two months later, former members of the national gymnastics team described how the F.B.I. had turned a blind eye to Mr. Nassar’s abuse as the investigation stalled and children suffered. Some, including Ms. Raisman, said that agents moved slowly to investigate even after they presented the bureau with graphic evidence of his actions.

The revelations prompted an extraordinary apology from the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, who did not oversee the bureau when the investigation began. “I am sorry that so many people let you down over and over again, and I am especially sorry that there were people at the F.B.I. who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015,” he said.

“It never should have happened, and we are doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again,” he added.

The impending settlement is one of several that the Justice Department has reached over the past decade.

The others have involved victims of mass shootings. Families of 26 people killed in a 2017 shooting at a church in Texas received $144.5 million. The mass shooting in Parkland, Fla. , resulted in the Justice Department paying families $127.5 million.

Mr. Nassar is serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison in Florida, where he was stabbed multiple times by an inmate in July . He suffered a collapsed lung but survived his injuries.

Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice. He joined The Times in 2017 after working for Politico, Newsday, Bloomberg News, The New York Daily News, The Birmingham Post-Herald and City Limits. More about Glenn Thrush

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COMMENTS

How to Write an Essay Outline
An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph, giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold. You'll sometimes be asked to submit an essay outline as a separate assignment before you ...
Outlining
With these sentences, you have essentially constructed an outline for your essay. The most general ideas, which you organized in your first sentence, constitute the essay's sections. They follow the order in which you placed them in your sentence. The order of the smaller categories within each larger category (determined by your secondary ...
The Writing Center
An outline provides the writer with a space to consider ideas easily without needing to write complete paragraphs or sentences. Creating your outline: Before beginning an outline, it is useful to have a clear thesis statement or clear purpose or argument, as everything else in the outline is going to work to support the thesis.
How to Write an Outline for an Essay (Examples and Template)
Compare and contrast essays examine the similarities and differences between two subjects, offering a balanced view. For example, a compare and contrast essay on "Online Learning vs. Traditional Classroom" might follow this outline: I. Introduction. A. Discuss the rise of online learning platforms.
8.2 Outlining
Constructing Sentence Outlines. A sentence outline is the same as a topic outline except you use complete sentences instead of words or phrases. Complete sentences create clarity and can advance you one step closer to a draft in the writing process. Here is the sentence outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing.
How to Create a Clearly Structured Essay Outline
An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. In just 3 minutes, this video will show you how to organize your ...
How to Structure an Essay
The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body. This article provides useful templates and tips to help you outline your essay, make decisions about your structure, and ...
Types of Outlines
What is the essay's thesis statement? When applying to college, a student follows a certain process which includes choosing the right schools and preparing the application materials. Full Sentence Outlines. The full sentence outline format is essentially the same as the Alphanumeric outline.
Outlining
Example of Constructing Sentence Outlines. A sentence outline is the same as a topic outline except you use complete sentences instead of words or phrases. Complete sentences create clarity and can advance you one step closer to a draft in the writing process. Here is the sentence outline that Mariah constructed for the essay she is developing.
How to Write an Essay Outline: 5 Examples & Free Template
3. Expository essay outline. An expository essay outline requires you to provide a detailed overview of a subject from all angles. It is used to test your knowledge of a particular subject. The purpose of this essay outline is to inform, explain, or describe a topic or idea, rather than to persuade the reader or share personal opinions.
How to Write an Essay Outline
Step 4: Add Depth with Subpoints. To add depth and clarity to your essay, incorporate subpoints under each main point. These subpoints provide more specific details, evidence, or examples that support your main ideas. They help to further strengthen your arguments and make your essay more convincing.
How to Write an Essay Outline + Essay Outline Examples
Provide additional or supplemental supporting details, evidence, and analysis, as in the essay outline example. Topic Sentence: Shortening the school year would also provide many benefits for parents and caregivers. Detail Sentence 1: A shorter school year would mean less stress and running around for parents.
How to Outline an Essay: Basic Essay Outline Template
How to Outline an Essay: Basic Essay Outline Template. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 3 min read. Essay outlines are excellent tools for organizing your writing. A strong outline can turn a meandering essay into a focused, persuasive piece of writing.
Creating an Outline
In this type of outline, each and every single line should be a complete sentence. Instead of using a short phrase or word, you should have full sentences. Key points about a sentence outline: An outline is a way of organizing key ideas; An outline helps to set up an essay or a research paper; An outline is a tool to help revise an essay or ...
The Sentence Outline
Academic Essay: The Sentence Outline (with signpost and echo words). Thesis: Earning a degree online has been harder but more satisfying than my other school experiences Topic Sentence 1: The first reason online study is harder is that the student works in isolation. Topic Sentence 2: The second reason studying online is harder is that it requires more writing, reading and computer skills.
PDF Essay Outline Template
Offer some more specific background information (as needed). 3. Provide the title of the piece and the author's name if the essay is about a specific book/poem/article/passage. C. Thesis Statement 1. State your topic and position. Remember that a thesis = claim + reasons. 2. Outline your main points and ideas.
How To Write a Research Paper Outline (With Examples and Tips)
Add the ideas—or full sentences—for at least two sentences that summarize your essay. ... Some people prefer to write in full sentences to outline their introduction, conclusion and the first sentence of each body paragraph. Others may use words or short phrases to provide direction. Use whichever format works best for you, unless you're ...
How to Write an Essay Outline [IELTS Writing]
In IELTS writing task 2, you will need to write a clear and coherent introduction. This should be comprised of several parts, one of which is a sentence that tells the reader what your essay will say or do. This is often called an essay outline, although you may hear it referred to by other names, such as "thesis statement.".
How To Write A Full Sentence Outline: A Complete Guide
Clarity and Organization. A full sentence outline helps you structure your paper logically. Each main point and supporting detail is clearly articulated, ensuring your paper flows smoothly and that your ideas are well-organized. This, in turn, makes it easier for your readers to follow your argument and understand the content.
How to Write Topic Sentences
Step 2: Make an essay outline and draft topic sentences. Next, you should make an outline of your essay's structure, planning what you want to say in each paragraph and what evidence you'll use. At this stage, you can draft a topic sentence that sums up the main point you want to make in each paragraph. The topic sentences should be more ...
Sentence Outline for the Mid-Term Essay Exam
Module 2: Assignment - Sentence Outline for the Mid- Term Essay Exam Due Mar 4 by 11:59pm Points 25 Submitting a file upload New Attempt Purpose Examining a novel for a particular theme will help you develop a stronger eye for analysis in reading and writing. Writing a sentence outline for the essay you will write for the mid-term essay exam will provide you the opportunity to critically think ...
Justice Dept. Nears $100 Million Settlement to Larry Nassar Victims
The Justice Department is nearing a $100 million settlement over its initial failure to investigate Lawrence G. Nassar, the former U.S.A. Gymnastics team doctor convicted of sexually abusing girls ...

8.2 Outlining

Organizing Ideas

Methods of Organizing Writing

Writing a Thesis Statement

Writing an Outline

Constructing Topic Outlines

Writing at Work

Constructing Sentence Outlines

Key Takeaways

Types of Outlines and Samples

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

Alphanumeric Outlines

What is the assignment?

What is the purpose of this essay?

Who is the intended audience for this essay?

What is the essay's thesis statement?

Full Sentence Outlines

Decimal Outlines

A Complete Essay Outline - Guidelines and Format

What is an Essay Outline?

Prewriting Process of Essay Outline

How to Write an Essay Outline in 4 Steps

Step 1: Understand the Topic

Step 2: Brainstorm and Gather Ideas

Step 3: Organize Your Thoughts

Step 4: Add Depth with Subpoints

Essay Outline Format

5 Paragraph Essay Outline Structure

Essay Outline Template

Essay Outline Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a full-sentence outline look like?

What is a traditional outline format?

What is the benefit of using a traditional outline format and an informal outline format?

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How to Write an Essay Outline + Essay Outline Examples

Why write an essay outline?

Types of essay outlines

Persuasive essay outline example

Introduction

Body Paragraph 1

Body Paragraph 2

Narrative essay outline example

Body Paragraph 3

Descriptive essay outline example

Expository essay outline example

Sample research paper outline

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