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Defining An Outl-WPS Office

An outline is a structured summary that highlights the essential features of a text, helping to organize ideas for reading or writing. There are two types of outlines: reading outlines, which summarize existing texts, and writing outlines, which serve as a guide for drafting essays. The document provides detailed steps for creating both types of outlines, emphasizing the importance of organizing main ideas, subtopics, and supporting details logically.

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17 views4 pages

Defining An Outl-WPS Office

An outline is a structured summary that highlights the essential features of a text, helping to organize ideas for reading or writing. There are two types of outlines: reading outlines, which summarize existing texts, and writing outlines, which serve as a guide for drafting essays. The document provides detailed steps for creating both types of outlines, emphasizing the importance of organizing main ideas, subtopics, and supporting details logically.

Uploaded by

saimahrandi16
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Defining an Outline

An outline is a summary that gives the essential features of a text. It shows how the parts of a text are
related to one another as parts that are of equal importance, or sections that are subordinate to a main
idea.

There are two kinds of outlines: the reading outline and writing outline.

a. Reading outline is used to get the main ideas of a text that is already written. It helps you understand
the text's structure more critically because you will have to find the text's thesis statement and support.
You will better understand how a writer connects and sequences the information in the reading.

b. Writing outline - is a skeletal version of your essay. It is used as a guide to organize your ideas. It is
usually done before you write the first draft of your essay.

Creating a Reading Outline

A reading outline is highly structured. Below are some steps that you can follow in creating a reading
outline.

1. Read the entire test first. Skim the text afterward. Having an overview of the reading's content will
help you follow its structure better.

2. Locate the main idea or thesis of the whole essay.

>Look at the title of the text.

>Look for heading if any.


>Look for information that answers the question.

3. Look for key phrases in each paragraph of the essay.

4. Locate the topic sentence of each paragraph.

5. Depending on the length of the text, look at the topic sentences and group those with related ideas
together.

6. To logically organize information, the contents of the reading are arranged according to levels. A level
refers to the number of ranks in the hierarchy of information in the reading.

7. Provide a general group name for each group of topic sentences. These will be the main divisions of
your outline or the first level. Label these with a Roman numeral. The topic sentences will be the
subtopics, or the second level. Label these with capital letters.

8. Evaluate the supporting details provided. These will be the third level of your outline. Label these with
Arabic numerals

9. Go back to the text after you have finished your outline. Check whether you have followed its
sequence closely, and that you have not missed any important information.

Creating a Writing Outline

A writing outline, again, is basically a skeletal overview of your draft, which contains your fundamental
points and the different ideas that support them. It determines the boundaries of your draft; how much
of your subject you will need to cover without lacking or exceeding in details.
An outline is a writing aid that will show you how to present your points from start to end.

Suggestions in Creating your Outline

1. Determine what your purpose is for writing the thesis, who your reading audience is, and what point
of view and tone you would like to assume in delivering your message.

2. Begin your outline with a thesis statement. Keep in mind that it should encompass everything in your
outline.

3. Review your notes. Remove any idea that does not support your thesis or does not conform to your
chosen writing purpose, audience, point of view, and tone. Add in any new ideas as necessary.

4. Group together similar ideas and thoughts. Then name each group with a heading that also serves as
a main topic supporting your thesis.

5. Label all the main topics with Roman numerals. Note that they will be your outline's first level. Make
sure your main topics are logically sequenced.

6. Identify subtopics and classify them under the correct main topics. Label these subtopics with
uppercase letters. Note that they will be your outline's second level.

7. Identify supporting points (such as illustrations and examples) and classify them under the correct
subtopics. Indent and label them with Arabic numbers. Note that they will be your outline's third level.
8. Identify particular details (such as statistics, quotes, and other secondary information) and classify
them under the correct supporting points. Indent and label them with lowercase letters. Note that they
will be your outline's fourth level.

9. Check your outline for unsupported evidence. Omit it, or add in new supporting details as necessary

10. Re-examine all your main topics, subtopics, supporting points, and particular details to see that they
all develop your thesis, and are logically sequenced. Also check that all levels in the outline have parallel
wording and sound grammatical structure.

11. Show your proposed outline to a number of people such as your teacher, your classmates, your
friends, or even your family. Get feedback from them on what to improve in your outline.

Two kinds of Generally Accepted Outlines

1. Scratch (or topic) outline. A scratch outline is a simple list of ideas that take the form of words and
phrases.

2. Sentence (or formal) outline. It uses sentences to define the subject matter.

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