Outlining

What it is, Why it is important, and How to

do it
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1) Explain why outlining is an important academic tool;

2) Classify major and minor ideas;
3) Describe the format of an outline; and
4) Enumerate the steps in making an outline.
Values of Outlining
Doing an outline requires you to:

1. Read and analyze the ideas expressed;

2. Classify them into major and minor ideas;
3. Determine which minor ideas belong to each major idea;
4. Restate the ideas for consistency;
5. Arrange the ideas in outline form.
 Activity. Group the words according to a shared characteristic. Then,
identify the group which best defines the word “outline.”

silhouette, synopsis, figure, cut-out, condensation, sketch,

framework, summary, structure, schema, shadow, diagram

Group A Group B Group C Group D

___________ condensation ___________ framework
shadow ___________ ___________ ___________
___________ synopsis sketch ___________
 Activity. Group the words according to a shared characteristic. Then,
identify the group which best defines the word “outline”.

Group A Group B Group CGroup D

cut-out condensation diagram framework

shadow summary figure schema
Silhouette synopsis sketchstructure

Group D best defines the word “outline.”

Outline defined
Lays out the relationships among ideas in a piece of writing

Reveals how all these main and subordinate parts contribute

final relevance to the central idea of a composition

Can be formal or informal

Outlining enables us to:
distinguish between the
“heart of the matter” and
its minor issues
Let’s organize and classify ideas:

Provide each group with a main idea (a more general

term or name or topic) that is precise and particular,
yet broad enough to include all terms in the set as
subtopics.
1) Parliamentary
Oligarchy
Presidential
Dictatorial
2) Influenza
Tuberculosis
Bronchitis
Pneumonia
3) Increased hunger for salty, fatty foods
Slower thought processes
Difficulty learning new tasks
Lack of imagination or originality
Blurred vision and hallucinations
Slurred speech
This time, you will give the subtopics:

The following could serve as main ideas. Provide at least

three possible subtopics which relate to the main idea
either as examples, illustrations, stages or steps, or
elements or parts.
Levels of communication

1. Intrapersonal

2. Interpersonal

3. Mass communication
Qualities of an effective paragraph

1. Unity

2. Coherence

3. Emphasis
Kinds of UP students

1.

2.

3.
We will now sort out the items, and come up
with an outline.

Below is a group of jumbled topics that are parts of an outline,

including (1) a title, (2) main ideas, and (3) subordinate ideas.

Make sure you classify all pertinent subtopics under their proper
main headings and arrange the entire outline in the best order.
Transporting by truck
Selling eggs
Packaging eggs for retail sale
Grading eggs for weight
The egg industry
Transporting by rail
Producing high quality eggs
Grading eggs for quality
Packaging eggs for shipment
Transporting by parcel post
 The egg industry
I. Producing high quality eggs
A. Grading eggs for quality
B. Grading eggs for weight
II. Selling eggs
A. Packaging eggs for retail sale
B. Packaging eggs for shipment
C. Transporting by truck
D. Transporting by rail
E. Transporting by parcel post
Format of an Outline
“Levels” in outlining
 the degrees or planes of subordination or ranking through which
the various relationships among the facts and concepts, particulars
and generalizations which make up an expository piece of writing
are immediately reflected

Or simply…

 arrangement of the topics to show the main and subordinate ideas

One-level Outline
 enumerates only the main divisions

I First main idea

II Second main idea
III Third main idea
IV Fourth main idea
Two-level Outline
 enumerates the main divisions together with the subtopics that compose each main
division

I First main idea

A. First subtopic
B. Second subtopic
C. Third subtopic
II Second main idea
A. First subtopic
B. Second subtopic
C. Third subtopic
etc…
 Three-level Outline
 enumerates the main divisions and their subtopics, together with the supporting details of these subtopics

I. First main idea

A. First subtopic
1. First supporting detail
2. Second supporting detail
3. Third supporting detail
B. Second subtopic
1. First supporting detail
2. Second supporting detail
3. Third supporting detail
II. Second main idea
A. First subtopic
1. First supporting detail, etc…
Two Types of Outline
Topic Outline
Thesis statement: Anime has traditions and features that distinguish it
from American cartoons and make it sophisticated enough to appeal
to adults.
I. Anime qualities
A. Quick images
B. Jazz and rock soundtracks
C. Character eyes and features
D. Colorful, complicated art
1. Samurai X as example
2. Samurai X about nineteenth-century warrior
3. Samurai X art like old Japanese prints
Sentence Outline
Thesis statement: Anime has traditions and features that distinguish it
from American cartoons and make it sophisticated enough to appeal
to adults.

I. Complex plots are but one of the distinctive features of anime.

A. Anime images move quickly, with a style often more frantic
than in American cartoons.
B. Their soundtracks frequently use jazz and rock music rather
than symphonic music.
Sentence Outline, cont’d
C. Most striking are the large eyes and sharp features of the characters.
D. The drawing is more colorful, more complicated, and often more
abstract than that in most American cartoons.
1. A TV series called Samurai X is one of the most popular anime
series with both American and Japanese audiences.
2. Samurai X is set in the nineteenth century and tells the story of
one warrior’s life.
3. Samurai X art is drawn beautifully to look both like older
Japanese art prints and like contemporary movies such as Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Making an Outline
1-2 Get the central
3-4 Isolate the topic
sentence, and note
5-6 Provide a “class
name” and these
will serve as main
idea. its mode of
divisions of the
development
outline

Group topic
sentences Further break down
Pick out key words
according to their the subtopics into
in each paragraph
“family supporting details
resemblances”
 “Frozen Sleep”: New Frontier in Surgery
by J.D. Ratcliff
Not long ago, French physicians reported a case of a woman,
seven months with child, struck with eclampsia, the dread
convulsions of pregnancy. The one slender hope of saving her life
was surgical delivery of her infant, and in such cases the chances of
saving the baby’s life are virtually nil. To calm the convulsions and
to increase her chances of surviving surgery, the doctor used
hypothermia, “frozen sleep.” Unavoidably, the infant was also
cooled. Not only did the mother recover; the baby lived, too.
 How does hypothermia work? Patients are first put to sleep by
conventional methods and then cooled. When body temperature is
dropped from a normal 98.60, oxygen requirements are cut
approximately in half, and all bodily activity jogs along at well
below its normal rate. Normally, brain cells, the most sensitive in
the body, cannot get along without oxygen for more than three or
four minutes without damage. With mild hypothermia, the time can
be doubled or tripled – thus giving, in operations where the heart is
stopped, for instance, more time for major repair work.
 Suggestions that hypothermia might be of value in the operating
room first came from observations in the animal world. Faced with
stress situations such as wintertime food shortages, many animals
hibernate, reducing the flame of life to a flicker. Their body
temperatures may drop at times to a few degrees above freezing;
their heart action may slow down to two or three beats per minute;
metabolism may be reduced to on fiftieth of normal. A ground
squirrel during a week of hibernation may use no more than three
calories – about the number contained in one-fourth teaspoon of
sugar! Yet, after months of hibernation, animals awake vigorous and
unharmed.
 Key words per paragraph
1. eclampsia 2. how hypothermia works
calm convulsions patients sleep, cooled
hope of saving life body temperature dropped
hypothermia: frozen sleep bodily activity below normal
mother, baby lived more time for major repair

3. idea of hypothermia use in surgery

animal hibernation
temperature dropped, heart action slow
animals awake unharmed
Topic per paragraph

Par 1. A report of a successful surgical use of hypothermia

Par 2. How hypothermia works
Par 3. Origin of the idea of hypothermia
Thesis statement:

Hypothermia, first suggested by observations on animal behaviour,

has been successfully used in surgery to slow down the human
body’s normal activities by lowering bodily temperature.
Sentence outline
I. Tried out on a mother suffering from eclampsia, hypothermia
saved her and her baby through the operation.

II. Hypothermia is a means by which body temperature of a patient

who is first put to sleep is lowered in order to slow down his
bodily activities and allow time for major surgical repair work on
the patient.

III. Suggestions that hypothermia might be of value in the operating

room first came from observations in the animal world.
Remember!
Never mix the two styles (topic and sentence)
in one outline.
Ensure parallelism.
Observe consistency.
Observe the mechanics and format of a clear
and orderly outline.
References

Dadufalza, C.D. (1996). Reading into Writing I. Makati Bookmark Inc.

Troyka, L.Q. & Hesse, D. (2009). Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers. New Jersey:
Pearson Education, Inc.

Communication Skills 1. UP Open University.

Taking Effective Notes. (2013, August). Retrieved August 2, 2013, from

http:www.austincc.edu/support/advising/workshops/notetaking/NotesOnNotetakingprint.html.