Planning & Outlining Your Draft

By Mary Petty

A story of your research• Not as a mystery, with a claim revealed at the end • Readers care about what you found, not every step

it took you to get there. Ex. The first issue was . . . Then I compared . . . Finally I conclude . . .

Patch together quotations, summaries of sources, or downloads from the web

• Your thinking needs to be seen not others• Avoid reports that read like a collage of web

screens. – Do that, and you'll seem not only an amateur

but, worse, a plagiarist

Mechanically organize your paper around the terms of your assignment OR the most obvious elements of your topic.

• don't think you must address them in the order given.

Ex. If you decide to compare and contrast Freud's and Jung's analyses of the imagination, avoid organizing your report in the two most obvious parts, the first on Freud, the second on Jung. Break those two big topics into their parts, then organize your report around them.

DO NOT ORGANIZE YOUR DRAFT OR OUTLINE THIS WAY

Best Tools for Planning Your Draft

• Outline• Bibliography

Notecards• Topic (skeletal)

outline or storyboard

• Sentence Outline

• Start with writing:– Topic– Yard Length Research

Question– Thesis statement using

main points– Topic Outline– Add full sentences

under it numbered II, III . . ., each of which states a reason

EXAMPLE TOPIC OUTLINE Under each reason, use capital letters to list sentences summarizing your evidence; then list by numbers the evidence itself. For example (the data are invented for the illustration):

I. Introduction: Value of classroom computers for writing is uncertain. II. Different uses have different effects.

A. All uses increase number of words produced.  1. Study 1: 950 vs. 780   2. Study 2: 1,103 vs. 922

B. Labs allow students to interact.III. Studies show limited benefit on revision.

B. Study A: writers on computers are more wordy. 1. Average of 2.3 more words per sentence2. Average of 20% more words per essay B. Study

C. writers need hard copy to revise effectively.1. 22% fewer typos when done on hard copy vs. computer screen

2. 2.26% fewer spelling errors

IV. Conclusion: Too soon to tell how much computers improve learning.

A. Few reliable empirical studies

B. Little history because many programs are in transition

Example –Outlines should be several pages long due to the length of your paper.Suzy JonesMrs. PettyENG 102, Section 39967April 15, 2013Topic: Yard-Length Research Question: Thesis Statement: I. Introduction-Man-made pollution is the primary cause of global warming.A. Greenhouse gas emissions are widely identified by the scientific community to be harmful.1. The burning of coal and fossil fuels are the primary releasers of hazardous greenhouse gases.II. Body-Main Point 1-A.

1.2.

a.b. III. Body-Main Point II-A.

1.2.

a.b. IV. Body-Main Point III-A.

1.2.

a.b. CITATIONS: (alphabetical order and in MLA or APA format)

SENTENCE OUTLINEMake the Outline 1. Identify the topic and thesis. • Topic of your paper is important. • Sum up the point of your paper in one sentence or phrase. • Help your paper stay focused on the main points of your thesis 2. Identify the main categories. • What main points will you cover? • The introduction paragraph introduces all of your main points• Rest of paper can be spent developing those points. 3. Create the first category. • What is the first point you want to cover?• If the paper centers around a complicated term, a definition is

often a good place to start. • Paper about a particular theory, giving a general background on

the theory can be a good place to begin. 4. Create subcategories. • After you have the main point create points under it that provide

support for the main point. • The number of categories that you use depends on the amount of

information that you are going to cover;• There is no right or wrong number to use.

TOPIC OUTLINE ACTIVITYNow you will create an outline of a researchers article.

1. LOCATE the article you read for your bibliography assignment from last class.

2. LIST the topic, possible research question, and thesis statement at the top

3. CREATE a 1-2 page TOPIC outline for the article.

4. UTILIZE the formatting from the PowerPoint presentation.

5. INCLUDE the citations, using both MLA or APA formatting.

Under each reason, use capital letters to list sentences summarizing your evidence; then list by numbers the evidence itself. For example (the data are invented for the illustration):

Topic:

Research Question:

Thesis Statement:

I. Introduction: Value of classroom computers for writing is uncertain.

II. Different uses have different effects. A. All uses increase number of words produced.  

1. Study 1: 950 vs. 780   2. Study 2: 1,103 vs. 922

B. Labs allow students to interact.III. Studies show limited benefit on revision.

B. Study A: writers on computers are more wordy. 1. Average of 2.3 more words per sentence2. Average of 20% more words per essay B. Study

C. writers need hard copy to revise effectively.1. 22% fewer typos when done on hard copy vs.

computer screen

2. 2.26% fewer spelling errors

IV. Conclusion: Too soon to tell how much computers improve learning.

A. Few reliable empirical studies

B. Little history because many programs are in transition

CREATE A PLAN FOR YOUR READERS' NEEDS

• Some fields require a preset plan for a report. Readers in the experimental sciences, for example, expect reports to follow some version of this:

• Introduction—Methods and Materials—Results—Discussion—Conclusion

• To create a visible form, go back to your storyboard or outline.

HOMEWORK:

SENTENCE OUTLINE ASSIGNMENT