Some researchers begin with a tentative, or working, outline that guides the choice of research materials; others let the outline grow from their research and writing. If you develop an outline in advance, it should remain open to change as you read and take notes. Formulating and revising an outline throughout the process of researching and writing can help you give your paper a logical and meaningful structure. After you have written a draft of your paper, you should either check it against an existing outline or attempt to make an outline from the draft.
Creating a final outline involves making decisions about the thesis statement, the principle of organization, the type of outline, and the format of the outline.
Your working outline may consist of casual
jottings, but the outline you present to your instructor either in the middle of
your research or with your final paper should be formal and consistently
developed. You may choose either a
topic outline or a sentence outline, depending on your preference and that of
your instructor.
TOPIC OUTLINE The entries in a topic outline are words, phrases, or clauses: they are not complete sentences. The entries should be parallel; they all should take the same grammatical form. It you use a noun phrase for one entry, you should continue using noun phrases consistently. You may have to rework some of your entries to make them parallel, but paying attention to grammatical form often leads to clear and logical thinking.
SENTENCE OUTLINE
The entries in a sentence outline are complete sentences. The process of writing a research paper involves writing
sentences from the topics in the topic outline, in effect producing a sentence
outline. A sentence outline
therefore serves as a beginning for the paper and as a test of the logic of the
outline.
The two basic formats for an outline are the
number-letter sequence and the decimal pattern. The number-letter sequence is shown in the following example:
I. The
two reasons for…
A. The
first reason…
1. The
women…
a. They
could…
(1) The
time…
(a) The
technology…
i) The
latest development…
ii) The
plans for…
(b) The
receptive public…
(2) The
place…
b. They
could…
2. The
men…
B. The
second reason…
II. The
reasons against…
The sequence for a decimal
outline proceeds as follows:
1. The
two reasons for…
1.1 The first reason…
1.1.1 The
women…
1.1.1.1
They could...
1.1.1.1.1
The time…
1.1.1.1.2
The receptive public…
1.1.1.2
They could…
1.1.2 The
men…
1.2 The second reason…
2. The
reasons against…
With either format, logic requires that there be at
least two items at each level or subdivision; that is; an A must not appear
without a B and a 1.1.1 must not appear without a 1.1.2 because nothing can be
divided into fewer than two parts. When
you have only one subdivision for a section, you should either restate the major
heading to include the subdivision or search for another logical division for
the heading.
Elements in an outline or list, as well as chapter titles, subtitles, and headings should be parallel – that is, they should take the same grammatical form. If you use a noun or noun phrase (such as “Effective Regulations”) for one chapter title, the next chapter title should also be a noun phrase (“Adequate Screening” rather than, for example, “To Provide Adequate Screening,” an infinitive phrase). Similarly, in a sentence outline, all entries must be complete sentences.
The entries in the following outline are not
parallel. Entry I is a complete
sentence. Entry I.A is a noun
phrase. Entry I.B is a participial
phrase.
I. Nuclear
Opponents Cite Dangers
A. Nuclear
Accidents Involving Leakage
B. Disposing
of Nuclear Waste
C. Groups
That Threaten Sabotage
II. Protecting
Against Nuclear Accidents
A. Sound
Design and Construction
B. Monitoring
Systems
C. Automatic
Devices for Correcting Problems
The entries in the
following outline are parallel; they are all noun phrases:
I. Dangers
of Nuclear Power Plants
A. Leakage
of Radiation
B. Disposal
of Nuclear Waste
C. Sabotage
by Terrorist Groups
II. Safety
Features of Nuclear Power Plants
A. Sound
Design and Construction
B. Monitoring
Systems
C. Automatic Correction Devices
You may use other constructions in an outline as long as each entry takes the same form. In the next outline, each entry is a complete sentence.
I. Emerson expounded a political theory close to anarchism.
A. He
believed that individuals should govern themselves.
B. He
believed that the state should not be concerned with property.
II. Emerson
disapproved of the educational system.
A. He
found fault with methods of instruction.
B. He
criticized the curriculum.
III. Emerson
sought to abolish established religion.
The requirement for parallelism is not exclusively a grammatical one, but a logical one as well. Grammatical inconsistencies often signal problems in logic. Logical consistency requires headings at the same level of an outline to have approximately equivalent importance and to refer to similar categories of ideas. For example, three headings designating historical periods and a fourth at the same level designating procedural difficulties would not be logically consistent. Moreover, each heading at a given level should represent the same degree of generalization and refer to approximately the same kind of information. The following set of headings is logically unbalanced:
I. U.S.
secondary schools during the nineteenth century
II. Changes
in secondary school programs in Pennsylvania from 1890 to 1930
III. Nature
of secondary school curricular changes from 1930 to 1970
IV. Percentages of teenagers enrolled in high schools
The fourth heading is considerably narrower in focus than the others and calls for purely statistical information rather than interpretation. In addition, the scope of the inquiry changes from national in the first heading to local in the second.
Home | Handouts and Worksheets
| Writing
Advice | Bibliography Formats |
Research Tools
Regents Exam | Videos
| Dept. of Writing and Linguistics
| GSU | Links
| E-mail Us!
This page is maintained by the Georgia
Southern University Writing Center
Please send comments and corrections to the webmaster.
This page last updated on 2/06/03.