How to Write an Essay in Outline Format
Writing your essay in outline form helps you stay organized and on-topic. In addition, it helps you identify areas of your essay that need more information and research, and areas that have too much information. If you put enough effort into your outline, writing the entire essay will be a much easier task.
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Instructions
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Start with your introduction. Label it with a Roman numeral "I" on your page. Points A and B under your introduction should be a brief summary of your main ideas and your thesis statement or purpose in writing the essay.
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2
Outline the main body of your essay, labeling it with a Roman numeral "II". Each of your main points should be labeled with a capital letter starting with A and continuing through as many main points as your essay will have. Each of these points represents one paragraph in your essay.
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3
Go back through your main points and add supporting information or sub-points. Label this information with numbers (1, 2, 3 and so on). You should aim for having your paragraphs similar in length. If you notice most of your main points have three points or sub-points and one main point has seven supporting points, you may want to break up that section into two smaller paragraphs instead.
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End your outline with a conclusion section, marked with a Roman numeral "III". Point A under this conclusion will be a summary of the points made throughout the essay. Point B will be the conclusion based on the facts presented.
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List citations under Roman numeral "IV" if desired or required for the assignment. Each point under this section is one of the sources used in the research during the writing process.
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References
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