Making An Outline- CRLS Research Guide

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CRLS Research Guide

Making An Outline

Tip Sheet 14

Ask these questions:

What is it?

An outline is an abbreviated picture of the parts of your paper or project and the order in which they will come. You can think of it as a "road map" of your journey toward making a final product.

Why do it?

It helps you to...

stay on course and not get off-track when you put your final product together.
see if you have enough (or too much) material to support your Thesis Statement.
figure out the order in which your subtopics will appear in your final product.

An outline might be just for your own use, or your teacher may require that you hand it in while you are working on your project, so they can get an idea of where you are headed. It gives them a chance to help you head towards a good final destination.

How to do it:

Figure out the most logical flow of information, the best order for the information to be in, using the subtopics you created earlier. You can put your note cards in this order now. There is always more than one way to do this, so figure out what you like best.

Put your subtopics with the key points that support them, in words or short phrases, into a list or diagram that shows how they will flow from beginning to end. There are many different types of outline diagrams. You can use the Inspiration program on a CRLS Library computer to create webbing diagrams or flow charts. If you are not a student at CRLS there are two ways you can get started working on your outline.

1. Use this model for a formal outline which is the type that most teachers expect to see if they ask for one.

2. Use one of the CRLS Interactive Outline Makers.

Start with an introduction and end with a conclusion.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE:

Tip Sheet 15: Creating the Body of your Project
www.crlsresearchguide.org/07_Finding_Info_In_Sources.asp

Got an outline done? Now you can start writing the content from your notes. If you are using another format, like a talk, presentation or something else, you can create that now.

Tip Sheet 7: Finding Information Within Sources
www.crlsresearchguide.org/07_Finding_Info_In_Sources.asp

Once you have made an outline, you may discover that you need more evidence or examples. You should have at least three for each subtopic. If you need more, go find them now.

You may have to find more sources for your examples if you cannot find them in the sources you have already chosen to use.This is also the place where you may decide you have too much information and want to cut some out.

Worksheets:

Model form for a formal outline
www.crlsresearchguide.org/worksheets/outline worksheet.htm

Print and fill in this form to use later as a guide on how to organize your information into a formal outline.

Create your Outline right now online
www.crlsresearchguide.org/worksheets/OutlineInput.asp

Here is an interactive Outline form. You type in your Thesis Statement, Subtopics and Supporting Evidence etc and press submit. This will produce a printable outline with all your words in the right places.

CRLS RESEARCH GUIDE OUTLINE MAKER
www.crlsresearchguide.org/NewOutlineMaker/NewOutlineMakerInput.aspx

Try the all version.

Like the one above, It will help you create your outline, but it is more flexible and fun to use because it lets you add new points and supporting evidence.

This is worth a look!

Improved CRLS RESEARCH GUIDE OUTLINE MAKER
www.crlsresearchguide.org/ImprovedOutlineMaker/NewDefaultOutline.aspx

Or try the IMPROVED version.

As requested, this improved version, is more even MORE flexible and fun to use. Now you will be able to add more supporting evidence to all your points.

Check it out!

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Last update: April 2018