- Full Sentence Outline Example Apa
- Full Sentence Outline Example Political Science Examples
- Full Sentence Outline Sample
- Full Sentence Outline Template Apa
- Full Sentence Outline
Outlining is generally considered to be a particularly useful activity in academic writing as a means to help structure and organize the content of your paper and to visualize the logical progression of your argument. Begin with a working outline, often referred to as an informal or scratch outline, which serves to connect your preliminary research with the gradual formation of your ideas.
Examples of this: startling statistics, stories, rhetorical questions, quotations, scenarios, etc. This point should be more than one sentence long. Reason to Listen: Why should the audience listen to your speech, make it personal to each of them. Thesis Statement: Exact same statement as above. Credibility Statement: 1.
A working outline helps you to shape your paper in relation to your purpose in writing and to have a better understanding of the relationship among the various sections. Your outline is continuously revised during the research process as you formulate your topic and point of view, enlisting common organizing principles such as chronology, cause and effect, and process as well as deductive and inductive logic.
Once you frame an appropriate thesis statement for your paper, you can begin to transform a working outline into a formal outline that categorizes the information you have gathered into levels of subordination, showing main points, supporting ideas, and specific details. A formal outline serves as an organizational plan that accentuates the development of your paper; likewise, it provides an opportunity to review the progression of your argument and to evaluate whether the presentation of your research is logical, coherent, and effective.
STANDARD OUTLINE FORMAT
Whereas a working or informal outline can take many forms, a formal outline usually follows standard guidelines regarding format and content, including elements of division and subdivision, indentation, capitalization and punctuation, and parallel grammatical form. The most common forms of outlining are the topic outline (using short phrases) or the sentence outline (using complete sentences).
Elements of Division and Subdivision
Begin your formal outline with your thesis statement: the single sentence that formulates the topic of your paper and your point of view. The primary divisions of your paper that list your major points are indicated by roman numerals (I, II, III). These points are subdivided by using in descending order: capital letters (A, B, C), arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), lower-case letters (a, b, c), and further subdivision, if necessary, using arabic numerals and lower-case letters in parentheses.
- In this screencast, you'll examine writing a sentence outline using complete sentences for headings, subheadings, main points, and subpoints.Thanks for viewi.
- This example contains several outline samples for you to relate on. To give you a brief easy-to-understand guide, simply read this one. Decimal Outlines. Similar to the alphanumeric outline and full-sentence outline, the decimal outline utilizes the same format but just with the use of decimals to note each heading and subheading.
Note: It is important to remember that logic requires that there be a 'II' to complement a 'I,' a 'B' to complement an 'A,' and so forth.
Sample Format: Labeling Parts of an Outline
Thesis:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Indentation
The primary divisions of an outline (roman numerals) are set flush with the left-hand margin. Align like-numbered or like-lettered headings under one another. Each subdivision (as listed above) is indented five spaces or tabbed from the previous element. When a heading runs more than one line, the second line is indented as far as the first word of the preceding line:
- The photoelectric cell, known as the 'electric eye,' has been put to a variety of everyday, practical uses.
- It is used in elevator floors to enable the elevator to stop at exactly the right level.
Avoid overelaborate and confusing outlines. For in-class writing and short papers, division by two levels of headings is usually sufficient. Even for longer, more complex papers, there is rarely any need to go further than the third subdivision (a, b, c).
Punctuation and Capitalization
In a topic outline, capitalize only the first letter of the word beginning the heading (and all proper nouns); do not use end punctuation because these headings are not complete sentences.
- Present need for physicists
- In private industry
- In government projects
In a sentence outline, punctuate every heading just as you would the sentences in your paper: begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Except for proper nouns, the words in the heading are not capitalized (a heading is not a title).
- Although a general course of study may allow students to more fully explore their educational options, the advantages of specialization in college are many.
- Students can practice setting professional goals.
- They can obtain more knowledge about their subjects.
Parallel Grammatical Form
Each heading in an outline should be specific and meaningful. Headings such as 'Introduction,' 'Body,' and 'Conclusion' are not useful unless you indicate what material belongs in the sections. Instead of using general labels such as 'Causes' and 'Results,' provide more detailed information. Putting headings in the form of questions or in statements that will have to be filled in later is not an efficient habit. The necessary information will have to be supplied when you write, so you might as well supply it in the planning stage.
Indefinite | Definite |
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Avoid using unnecessary divisions under a single heading. Each division should be logical and informative.
Unnecessary division | Logical division |
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The heads of an outline should represent equally important divisions of the subject as a whole, and should be parallel in grammatical form and tense. In a topic outline, if 'I' is a noun, 'II' and 'III' are also nouns; if 'I' is a prepositional phrase, so are 'II' and 'III.' The same principle applies to subdivisions. Likewise, a sentence outline should use complete sentences throughout and not lapse into topic headings.
Unequal headings | Equal headings |
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The subdivisions should also designate equally important and parallel divisions of one phase of the main divisions.
Thesis:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Indentation
The primary divisions of an outline (roman numerals) are set flush with the left-hand margin. Align like-numbered or like-lettered headings under one another. Each subdivision (as listed above) is indented five spaces or tabbed from the previous element. When a heading runs more than one line, the second line is indented as far as the first word of the preceding line:
- The photoelectric cell, known as the 'electric eye,' has been put to a variety of everyday, practical uses.
- It is used in elevator floors to enable the elevator to stop at exactly the right level.
Avoid overelaborate and confusing outlines. For in-class writing and short papers, division by two levels of headings is usually sufficient. Even for longer, more complex papers, there is rarely any need to go further than the third subdivision (a, b, c).
Punctuation and Capitalization
In a topic outline, capitalize only the first letter of the word beginning the heading (and all proper nouns); do not use end punctuation because these headings are not complete sentences.
- Present need for physicists
- In private industry
- In government projects
In a sentence outline, punctuate every heading just as you would the sentences in your paper: begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Except for proper nouns, the words in the heading are not capitalized (a heading is not a title).
- Although a general course of study may allow students to more fully explore their educational options, the advantages of specialization in college are many.
- Students can practice setting professional goals.
- They can obtain more knowledge about their subjects.
Parallel Grammatical Form
Each heading in an outline should be specific and meaningful. Headings such as 'Introduction,' 'Body,' and 'Conclusion' are not useful unless you indicate what material belongs in the sections. Instead of using general labels such as 'Causes' and 'Results,' provide more detailed information. Putting headings in the form of questions or in statements that will have to be filled in later is not an efficient habit. The necessary information will have to be supplied when you write, so you might as well supply it in the planning stage.
Indefinite | Definite |
---|---|
|
|
Avoid using unnecessary divisions under a single heading. Each division should be logical and informative.
Unnecessary division | Logical division |
---|---|
|
|
The heads of an outline should represent equally important divisions of the subject as a whole, and should be parallel in grammatical form and tense. In a topic outline, if 'I' is a noun, 'II' and 'III' are also nouns; if 'I' is a prepositional phrase, so are 'II' and 'III.' The same principle applies to subdivisions. Likewise, a sentence outline should use complete sentences throughout and not lapse into topic headings.
Unequal headings | Equal headings |
---|---|
|
|
The subdivisions should also designate equally important and parallel divisions of one phase of the main divisions.
Unequal subheads | Equal subheads |
---|---|
|
|
Headings of equal rank should not overlap; what is in 'II' should exclude what is covered in 'I'; 'B' should be clearly distinct from 'A.'
Overlapping | Accurate |
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An outline is a map of your essay. It shows what information each section or paragraph will contain, and in what order. Most outlines use numbers and/or bullet points to arrange information and convey points.
Why create an outline?
Outlining is a tool we use in the writing process to help organize our ideas, visualize our paper's potential structure, and to further flesh out and develop points. It allows the writer to understand how he or she will connect information to support the thesis statement and the claims of the paper. 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. Note: the outline might help inform the thesis, and therefore your thesis might change or develop within the outlining process.
Organize your outline in whatever format fits into the structure needed for the type of paper you are writing. One common outline format uses Roman numerals, letters, and numbers. Other outlines can use bullet points or other symbols. You can use whatever organizational patterns work best for you and your paper, as long as you understand your own organizational tools. Outlines can be written using complete sentences or fragments or a mix of the two.
Remember! After creating your outline, you may decide to reorganize your ideas by putting them in a different order. Furthermore, as you are writing you might make some discoveries and can, of course, always adjust or deviate from the outline as needed.
Sample Outlines:
As you can see in the outline below, the writer chose to separate the outline by topics, but could have utilized a different structure, organizing the outline by separate paragraphs, indicating what each paragraph will do or say.
Full Sentence Outline Example Apa
Example 1:
- Introduction
A. Background information
B. Thesis - Reason 1
A. Use quotes from x
B. Use evidence from y - Reason 2
A. Counterargument
1. They might say…
2. But… - Conclusion
A. Connect back to thesis
B. Answer the 'so what' or 'what now' question
C. End on a memorable note
Note: The sample outline above illustrates the structure of an outline, but it is quite vague. Your outline should be as specific as possible.
Proposal Outline:
- Summary/ Synopsis of proposed project
• Rationale
• Specific aims and objectives
• Experimental approaches to be used
• The potential significance - Specific Aims
• X
• Y
• Z - Background and Significance
• Background
• Significance to current project
• Significance to long-term research objectives
• Critical evaluations of existing knowledge
• Forward progress - Preliminary Data
• Description of prelim data to justify the rationale
• Demonstrate feasibility of the project - Experimental Design and Methods
• Details of design and procedures
• Protocols
• Means of data analysis and interpretation
• New methodology and its advantages
• Potential technical difficulties or limitations/ alternative approaches - References
• Citations
Full Sentence Outline Example Political Science Examples
Note: Outlines can look quite different. You might use Roman numerals to indicate the main point or function of that section, and then letters to indicate separate sub-points, and then even bullet points or numbers to indicate specific information, like using certain quotes, sources, evidence, or examples.
Full Sentence Outline Sample
Adapted From:
Los Angeles Valley College Writing Center, 'How to Make an Outline' 2/2/15
Full Sentence Outline Template Apa
Northwestern University Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences, 'A Basic Proposal Outline'
Full Sentence Outline
San Jose State University Writing Center, 'Essay Planning: Outlining with a Purpose' Spring 2014