Outline Your Research Essays or Papers: The Prewriting Stage

Outlining, or planning the structure of an essay or research paper, is part of the prewriting stage of essay writing. Prewriting is often neglected in writing a paper, but it can make a big difference in the success of the essay.

There are three times you can outline papers or essays:

1. Outline before you research. This prewriting essay outline shows the main topics that you expect to research for your paper. For example, if you are studying the bombing of Pearl Harbor, you could expect to find information on the geography of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese forces, the US forces, the state of the war, the attack itself, and the effects of the attack. This time the outline helps direct the research.
2. Outline after you research. After you have researched information for your paper, it’s time to sort the information and structure it in some logical way. This essay outline will probably be more developed and quite different from the first outline. The prewriting outline you write here will act as the blueprint for the first draft of the paper or essay.
3. Outline after the first draft. Outlining a research paper or essay is usually considered a prewriting activity, but it can also be used to revise. After an essay is written, put away the first outline you wrote and don’t look at it for this next task. Reread the essay or paper and outline what you actually wrote. At this point there are probably two essays: the research paper you planned and the research paper you wrote. Probably, these essays don’t match up, because it’s hard to write everything exactly right on the first try. Now, take out the first outline and compare. The comparison will give you a place to start revisions on the research paper.

Getting Started Outlining

Let’s assume you have researched the topics for your essay. Now, continue the prewriting process by sorting the research into categories. Read through the information and decide how to sort the information. It might fit onto a time line. Or you might sort it into categories. The specific categories will vary depending on the topic and the information you have gathered. Usually there are several right ways to categorize and you must think about what is best for your paper. Consider the assignment, the type of essay you are writing, and the audience to decide on the best categories for your essay. Also consider if you have information that doesn’t fit neatly into any category. This is a good time to set aside those facts because they won’t work in your essay.

Look at each category carefully:

• Do you have enough facts in each category to support your ideas?
• Does each category have about the same amount of facts. If you have 100 facts for one category and only 2 for the next category, you probably need to choose the best facts from the 100 and do more research on the later category.

Types of Outlines for Research Essays or Papers

1. Chronological outline. Using a timeline, outline the facts according to when it happened in time. Time order is the easiest way to outline: first, second, next, last.
2. Spatial outline. This organization is based on how things are organized in space. For example, you might describe a room this way: the north wall, east wall, south wall, west wall, floor, ceiling.
3. Topical outline. When you sorted the information, you put it into categories. Each large category is one topic to be discussed in your research paper.
4. Outlines for specific purposes. Persuasive essays often require a special outline. Depending on your grade level, you might just give reasons why you agree or disagree with a topic. Or, you might need to consider the opposite side of a topic and answer each objection. Compare and contrast essays need to consider the best way to organize the paper so the reader understands the differences among things or ideas.

First Draft of the Essay Outline

Decide on the type outline you need and put the information into the right categories. Label each category and use that label as one of the major points of the essay. Write a thesis statement that matches the facts and outline you created.

	Thesis Statement:
	I. Major idea or topic
		A. Major Sub-topic
		B. Major Sub- topic
	II. Major idea or topic
		A. Major Sub-topic
		B. Major Sub- topic

WRITING TIP: Paper Lightning: Prewriting Activities to Spark Creativity recommends an Agreement/Disagreement Wall for writing a thesis statement.

Revise the Essay Outline

Don’t stop now! You still have a couple important prewriting tasks before the essay outline is finished. Look over all the facts you researched. What facts are the most interesting and would catch a reader’s attention? Which facts give a good picture of the big ideas of the paper or essay? These facts are probably good ones for your introduction or conclusion.

You’ll wind up with an outline for your research essays or papers like this:

I. Introduction
		A. Interesting Fact
		B. Interesting Fact
		C. Thesis Statement
	II. Body
		A. Major idea or topic
			1. Major sub-topic
			2. Major sub-topic
		B. Major idea or topic
			1. Major sub-topic
			2. Major sub-topic
	III. Conclusion
		A. Interesting Fact

One last thing to consider in writing an outline is the order of facts under each of the main or sub-topics. Make sure you have each fact in the right topic. Within a topic think about how to put the facts in order so the reader will understand better.

Prewriting, especially outlining, happens best when there is lots of time available. The prewriting stage of writing is the time to think long and hard about your topic. Don’t rush the process of gathering information, sorting it and creating an outline for your research paper or essay. The more time spent on doing this step well, the better the essay will be.

ORDER NOW

Order on Amazon