Outlining
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The document discusses the use and creation of outlines to organize information when writing. It explains that outlines help map out ideas, show how they relate to each other, and ensure all key points are covered without excess detail. Guidelines are provided for creating effective reading and writing outlines using different levels of indentation and numbering to signal topic relevance and structure.
Outlining
- 1. Prepared by: JOEY F. VALDRIZ The Writing Process
- 2. To use a topic and sentence outline in selecting and organizing information
- 3. “If I try to articulate every little detail in a drawing, it would be like missing the forest for the trees, so it’s just about getting the outline of the forest.” ~Jeff Koons
- 4. 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.
- 5. 1. Reading outline is used to get the main ideas of a text that is already written. 2. Writing outline is a skeletal overview of your draft, which contains your fundamental points and the different ideas that support them.
- 6. 1. Read the entire text first. Skim the text afterward. 2. Locate the main idea or thesis of the whole essay. 3. Look for key phrases in each paragraph of the essay. 4. Locate the topic sentence of each paragraph. 5. Look at the topic sentences and group those with related ideas together. 6. The contents of the reading are arranged according to levels. 7. Evaluate the supporting details provided. 8. Go back to the text to check whether you have followed its sequence closely and that you have not missed any important information.
- 7. The outline came from a short text entitled “The Spanish Legacy,” written by a local historian Bonifacio Sibayan. The text talks briefly about how the Spanish influenced Philippine languages and Philippine life in the old times. Note that a sentence outline was used, so that each point can be succinctly explained. Also note that a couple of the main points contain up to four levels of supporting details. See how each level decreases in topic relevance, and how each level was properly numbered and indented to signal this. Lastly, note that the writing purpose, the reading audience, the tone, the point of view, and the thesis statement were all identified before the line itself.
- 10. An outline works like a map; it shows you where each of your ideas is placed in your writing; how all of them fit together; and how each leads to the central idea of your writing. It also determines the boundaries of your draft; how much of your subject you will need to cover without lacking or exceeding in details.
- 11. I. MAIN IDEA A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I 1. Subsidiary idea to B 2. Subsidiary idea to B a) Subsidiary idea to 2 b) Subsidiary idea to 2. II. MAIN IDEA A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II. B. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II.
- 12. 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. 3. Review your notes. 4. Group together similar ideas and thoughts. 5. Label all the main topics with Roman numerals (This will be your outline’s first level). 6. Identify subtopics and classify them under the correct main topics. Label these subtopics with uppercase letters (This will be your outline’s second level).
- 13. 7. Identify supporting points, such as illustrations and examples), and classify them under the correct subtopics. Indent and label them with Arabic numbers (This 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 (This will be your outline’s fourth level). 9. Check your outline for unsupported evidence. Omit it, or add in new supporting details as necessary.
- 14. 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 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.
- 15. 1. Scratch outlines are a simple list of ideas that take the form of words and phrases. They are good for their brevity. 2. Sentence outlines use sentences to define the subject matter. They are good for their use of specific detail.
- 16. Below is a list of topics that could serve as main ideas. Provide each main idea with three possible subtopics that relate to the main idea as examples, stages or steps, or parts. 1. The process of photosynthesis 2. The events leading up to the Philippine revolution against Spain 3. The parts of a basketball court 4. The people that became famous through YouTube 5. The applications on a smartphone useful in your studies.
- 17. Select a short reading assignment in any of your other classes. Afterward, create a reading outline of that assignment, applying the guidelines you have learned from this lesson.
- 18. Rodriguez, Maxine Rafaella C. and Marella Therese A. Tiongson. 2016. Reading and Writing Skills. Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.