Here is how you can create an effective essay outline:


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This article was co-authored by . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University.

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This article has been viewed 555,547 times. Essay outlines provide structure and guidance for writers as they begin the drafting process. An outline should briefly summarize the intended content of your essay and organize that content in a sensible, coherent manner. Knowing how to outline is an important skill for students, since some instructors require students to turn in outlines before submitting their papers. Keep reading to learn more about how to develop an effective outline for your paper. To write an essay outline, start with a section about your introduction that includes an introductory sentence and your thesis statement. Then, make a section about the body of your essay that has subsections for each paragraph you'll be writing. Within each subsection, include the main point of the paragraph and any evidence you'll be presenting to support it. Finally, create a section about your essay's conclusion that includes a final sentence. This is an outline of what a five-paragraph essay looks like. To view a “written text” version of a five-paragraph essay/outline, click here: Five Paragraph Essay Sample and Outline. For example, consider this example from the : While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake”(54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well”(51) is less convincing. Once you have broken down your thesis into main claims, you can then think about what sub-claims you will need to make in order to support each of those main claims. That step might look like this:

Essay Outline on Gender Discrimination PDF

Essays can be daunting. How do you know what part goes where? When should I make this point? How do these two ideas connect to each other? Outlines help you answer these questions, and that’s why writing a good essay outline can be key to essay success. We’ll see if we can outline our argument for you here.

Let's take a look at outline examples of different essay types:

You probably have quite a lot of knowledge or research that you’re bringing to this project. And you likely know that your essay needs a beginning, middle and end—or more precisely, an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. What an outline can do for you is to help you figure out the order of concepts or information. Why is this important?

Argumentative Essay Outline PDF

Imagine that an essay outline is like building a blueprint for a house: it lays the foundation and framework for your ideas. An outline helps you organize your thoughts, ensuring that each section of your essay supports your main argument.Â

Take a look at this outline for this type of essay:

By mapping out your introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion in advance, you can see the big picture and make sure all your points are connected. Let’s see why an essay outline is an important part of the writing process, as well as discover better ways to perform this task.

Here is an essay outline example:

An essay outline is a structured plan that organizes an essay's main ideas and supporting points before the writing process begins. It serves as a framework, breaking down the essay into key sections: the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.Â

Here is an outline for this essay:

Each section includes brief notes or bullet points detailing what will be covered, helping to ensure a logical flow of ideas and coherence in the final piece. By providing a clear overview of the essay's structure, essay outlines make the writing process more efficient and help maintain focus on the central argument or thesis.