Outlining and Organizing

							Organizing and
  Outlining
      Why Organize?
• Brainstorming helps you come up with
  lots of ideas about your topic.
• Not all your ideas are keepers!
• Brainstorms are often scattered all
  over and difficult to read.
How To Organize (1)
 • Look at your brainstorm.
 • Choose the 3-4 most
   important ideas from it.
 • Ignore the rest of the
   brainstorm.
   Why Outline?
• An outline is like a
  skeleton. It identifies the
  basic shape of your
  writing.

• Once you know the basic
  form, you only need to add
  muscles to bring it to life!
      Outlining
• If you start with a web, it
  is EXTREMELY easy to
  create an outline.
• You don’t HAVE to start
  with a web.
• You can create an outline
  for ANY piece of writing
        Outlining (1)

• Start by writing your focus (the
  idea at the center of your web)
  at the top of the page
“Mr. T is the best teacher ever.”
        Outlining (2)
•  Main ideas (balloons attached to your
   web’s center) begin with Roman
   numerals (I, II) [“topic sentences”
   for paragraphs]
“Mr. T is the Best Teacher Ever”
         I) He’s funny               II    III




                                 I

        II) He gives easy work
                                          IV




        III) His room is interesting
         Outlining (3)
•   Subheadings (balloons attached to
    your web’s main idea balloons)
    begin with capital letters (A, B, C)
    [supporting sentences]
“Mr. T is the Best Teacher Ever”    B
                                            A

                                            II       A
                                                          III
                                                              B



I) He’s funny
                               A

     A) makes class interesting
                                        I                IV
                                                 A
                                B                    B

     B) weird voices help me remember
      Outlining NOTE
• You CANNOT have a “I”
  without a “II”, or an “A”
  without a “B”
“Mr. T is the Best Teacher Ever”            A                 B
                                    B                A
  I) He’s funny
                                            II            III



     A) makes class interestingA
                                        I
                                                 A       IV


     B) weird voices help me remember
                                B                    B



  II) He gives easy work
         Outlining (4)
• Sub-subheadings begin with
  numbers (1, 2, 3)

Main topic
                                               A                 B

 I) Section topic                      B       II       A
                                                             III


    A) Subsection topic      1
                                   A
                                           I
                             2                              IV

         1) Sub-subsection topic
                                                    A
                                   B                    B
         Outlining (5)
• Sub-sub-subheadings begin
  with lowercase letters (a, b,
  c)
Main topic                                      A                 B
                                        B                A
 I) Section topic
                                                II            III

                            a

    A) Subsection topic
                                1
                        b           A
                                            I
                                2                            IV
                                                     A

         1) Sub-subsection topic
                                    B                    B



              a) Sub-sub-subsection topic
         Outlining (6)
• Sub-sub-sub-subheadings begin with
  lowercase Roman numberals (i, ii, iii, iv, v)
Main topic
  I) Section topic
                                                     A                 B
                        i       ii           B       II       A
                                                                   III

     A) Subsection topic    b
                                a
                                     1
                                         A

          1) Sub-subsection topic
                                                 I
                                     2                            IV
                                                          A
                                         B                    B

               a) Sub-sub-subsection topic
                    i) Sub-sub-sub-subsection
    Outlining NOTE 2
• If you get to sub-sub-sub-
  subheadings, you have WAY too
  much detail!
Jobs I’ve held          i       ii           B
                                                     A
                                                              A
                                                                       B
                                                     II

 I) Postal worker
                                                                   III

                                a
                                     1

    A) Got chased by dog
                            b            A
                                                 I
                                     2                            IV
                                                          A
                                         B

          1) Dog was brown
                                                              B




               a) Dog had fleas
                    i) There were 342 fleas
   How to Organize (2)
• Once you have put together your
  outline, think about the following:
  – Does the order make sense? Am I
    starting with the most important
    information first?
  – Did I provide enough
    information/details? Too much?
• Feel free to change your outline – re-
  arrange the order, add or delete info.