Before you begin writing an essay, you might be asked to create an essay outline as a separate assignment. But, even if you aren’t required to do so, creating an outline as part of the writing process is a smart idea.
Here are few reasons why you should write an essay outline:
- It will assist you in organizing your thoughts. While researching information for your essay, you will come across a lot of material that is difficult to recall.
- ️ You’ll be able to decipher the essay flow and structure it appropriately.
- It will assist you in not missing anything when writing your essay, and you will have a fully prepared manuscript.
Essential parts of an essay
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Introduction
Your essay’s introduction and thesis statement will be stated here. As you may know, essays cannot exist without a thesis statement; thus, including a thesis statement in your outline will help you in supporting it in each paragraph of your essay’s body.
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Body paragraphs
Write a topic sentence with a statement related to your thesis for each paragraph, along with all the supporting evidence: statistics, facts, explanations, and other evidence you’ll need to prove the topic sentence of this paragraph.
Don’t forget to make use of transition sentences and transition words, as well as suitable headings, and correct capitalization.
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Conclusion
Here’s where you’ll put the final touches on your paper. Reaffirm your thesis and the purpose of your paper in your conclusion.
You need to include all these parts in your outline.
Essay outline example
This is how the structure of your outline is supposed to look. You need to multiply the steps in the body if you have more than one body paragraph.
Introduction
- Your topic
- Your thesis statement
Body Paragraphs
- Create a topic sentence (what the paragraph will be talking about)
- Provide evidence to back up your claim: Statistics, facts, examples…
- Describe how they relate to your thesis statement
Conclusion
- Make a list of all the key topics
- Reaffirm your thesis statement
- Have a call to action: what you want readers to do when they’ve finished reading your essay.
Pro tip
You do not have to form complete sentences in your outline. It’s just an outline, so arrange claims and facts in whichever way seems most natural and understandable to you.- If you need it to be reviewed by a professor, use sentences. It will assist them in comprehending the points and proofs you will provide in your essay.
- Just make sure the outline is clear so that you can see if some parts are redundant or repetitive.
Now that we clearly know what to expect when we create an essay outline, we can continue with the steps for creating one. Before you start outlining, there are a few things you should do.
Steps on writing an outline
Step 1: Understand your assignment
First and foremost, thoroughly read your writing assignment. Make sure you know:
- What kind of essay you need to write
- How many arguments you can use
- How long your essay should be
Step 2: Decide on the purpose of your essay
Step 3: Identify the audience
Yes, your essay will be read and evaluated by a teacher; but, who do you actually choose to read your essay?
- Do you write for your classmates? Strangers, perhaps?
- What do they know about the subject you’ve chosen?
- Do they agree with your point of view?
- How do you think they’ll respond to the details you’ve given them?
Pro tip
To find references for your essay, use reputable sources such as Google Scholar or JSTOR. You will need to include them in your outline.Step 4: State your thesis statement
Present your thesis statement so that you can see what topic sentences to use in your essay’s outline.
Important
A thesis statement should be debatable and contain enough information to tempt readers to become emotionally invested in your writing.Choose an outline structure
There are two main structures for an essay outline: alphanumeric and decimal structures.
In the example provided above, we have used the alphanumeric format since it is more common.
However, if you want to illustrate how your theories are connected, you can use a decimal structure for your outline. Let’s compare these two.
Alphanumeric structure
This is the most popular outline structure, and most people will recognize it right away. You apply the formatting in the following order:
- Level 1: Roman Numbers (I, II, III, IV, V, etc.)
- Level 2: Capitalized Letters (A, B, C, D, E, etc.)
- Level 3: Arabic Numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.)
- Level 4: Lowercase Letters (a, b, c, d, e, etc.)
Alphanumeric structure example
Decimal Structure
A decimal outline is a structure of outlining that indicates how each section of a paper connects to the others. Transition sentences are quite useful with this type.
Decimal Structure Example
Organize your outline
It’s now time to fill in the sections on your essay outline.
Start by outlining your introduction
- Introduce your thesis statement with a sentence about your subject.
- You should also have an essay hook here, which is a sentence that will pique the reader’s curiosity in reading your essay.
Outline the body of your essay
- A topic sentence
- List of the supporting facts you’ll use in your essay
- Explanation on how it relates to the topic and your study
The more information you have in your outline, the easier it will be to form your thoughts when you write.
You should also compose a transition sentence for each paragraph to have a smooth structure and overview.
Outline your essay’s conclusion
Write a closing sentence, which is a sentence that discusses the significance of your thesis and offers answers to the issue you discussed in the essay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Thank you for reading. If you need further information, feel free to have a look at our essay samples or contact us at live chat.
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