Organizing your evidence. MLA formatting. Outlining Organizing your evidence. MLA formatting.

Goals: -To learn an Outline format -To Practice Structured Organization of Ideas

Why Bother? Outlining ensures that Outlining is suggested on You have enough information to fill the length of the paper You have enough information to prove your thesis You have ideas in a reasonable order --VISUAL-- Outlining is suggested on Regents Exams Especially the text-based argument College entrance tests like the SAT Often is required in college papers

Mla fORMAT See PURDUE OWL

Alphanumeric Outline—Harvard Outline From the Purdue OWL: 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 Introduction (could be the title of the paragraphs) Main Supporting Point Sub point to support it Smaller detail to support the sub point

More Outlining Tips Anything with the same type of label (Roman Numeral, Uppercase Letter, etc.) should have the same level of specificity. The only time this may vary is in your introduction and conclusion. I. This is. II. As specific as this.

More Outlining Tips Points go in pairs. A. If you have an A. B. You need a B. 1. The same goes. 2. For points within points.

More Outlining Tips Parallel Structure. Colleges may get fussy with this point. Basically, keep your consistency. All or none in full sentences. All punctuated or none punctuated. All in the same type of sentences.

What you will Complete: A Simple Version of a Harvard Outline

From Evidence Page to Outlines You need to have finished the other steps first: Finding sources page Supporting evidence sheet Then you can think about how to order the evidence. **If you are still behind, it is your responsibility to get caught up. You need to use study halls and/or time after school wisely.** **We will NOT slow down for time wasted in the library or for sitting around and not asking for help.**

From Evidence Page to Outlines How to find order From the evidence sheet, you should look for major ideas. These will become what your body paragraphs are about. They should get the “topics” position in the outline (Roman Numerals) In your paper, these ideas are introduced in topic sentences. Find the evidence to support it. Place those as subpoints. Include the author’s last name and the page number even if it is not a direct quote. Use this as a chance to edit down quotes and to get rid of evidence that does not fit. Do not force the evidence into one of these topics. Do not write anything in the outline that does not support your thesis statement as you have edited it.

What Not to do Never organize information by text. You likely will end up with summaries of the texts. Remember: your purpose always will be to prove your thesis (that sentence you should have at the end of your introduction). You likely will repeat information. Good sources cover a lot of ground. You likely will find the same points in multiple texts. Group these points. It also helps your credibility since that information essentially then can be considered “cross-referenced.”

Use the outline skeleton and the example to help you. Your Turn! Use the outline skeleton and the example to help you.