1. Formal Sentence Outlines
Rubi Vasquez
Lizette Gonzalez
Richard Nieto
Modified by Pamela Fox

2. What Is an Outline?
An outline is a summarizing list: it reduces a body of material to its essential parts
An outline reflects logical thinking and clear classification.

3. More about Outlines… Outlines are: A logical, general description
A summary
An organizational pattern
A visual and conceptual design of your writing.

4. And still more…
Outlining is not just busywork; it is a way of thinking.
An outline is not a separate step in writing a research paper; it should influence every decision from the choice of topic to revision of the final draft.

5. How are outlines helpful?
Judge the relevance of facts and opinions
Organize ideas in a paragraph
Determine most effective order
Show relationships among ideas in your writing
Construct an ordered overview of your writing
Define boundaries and groups

6. Outlining Process
Brainstorm: List all ideas that you want to include in your paper.
Organize: Group related ideas together.
Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.
Label: Create main and sub headings.

7. Types of Outlines There are two main forms of outlines:
Informal outlines
Formal outlines
Our focus is on the formal sentence outline.

8. Steps to Writing an Outline
Write the title of your paper (centered) at the beginning of your outline.
Following the title should be your thesis statement
The words “Thesis Statement” in italics should be written before the actual statement with colon marks following it.

9. Correct Format Continued…
Use complete sentences for all parts of the outline. (Make sure you use a period)
Use Roman numerals for main topics followed by a period
Use capital letters for subtopics, followed by period.
Symbols should appear in pairs.
Ex: Where there’s an A there should be a B, a 1 there should be a 2…etc.
IMPORTANT: NO Questions should be asked in an outline!!!!

10. Grammar and Punctuation Tips
Be consistent!
Use parallel and consistent grammatical structure throughout outline.
Capitalize the first letter of every word that follows a number or letter.
All symbols should be vertically aligned.
Outline must be double spaced!!

11. Correct Example Thesis Statement:
I.  First main idea (topic sentence for first body paragraph)
      A.  First subdivision of the main idea
           1.  First reason or example
           2.  Second reason or example
                a   First supporting detail    
   
b.  Second supporting detail
      B.  Second subdivision of the main idea
II.   Second main idea (topic sentence for second body
paragraph)