SENTENCE OUTLINES

Senior Research Paper

What and Why?

• The outline is a general plan of your paper, written BEFORE the rough draft

• Think of it as the “blueprint” for your paper.

• Full Sentence Outlines make writing the rough draft MUCH easier.

How do I begin?

• Gather your notecards together. Sort them by subtopic, and put in piles.

• Ideally you should have no more than SIX piles of subtopics.

• Each subtopic will be a Roman Numeral in your Outline (e.g. I, II, III, IV, and so on)

• Decide how you want to organize each pile (main points, subordinate points)

HOW DO I USE MY NOTECARDS?

• The primary purpose of your notecards in the outline is to organize and gather your points.

• You will NOT be writing down everything on your notecards in your outline. That’s what the rough draft is for.

Introduction and Thesis

• You will be writing out your full introduction as the first item (Roman Numeral I) in your outline. The thesis statement will be a separate item, underlined in red.

• Sometimes it is easier to write the introduction AFTER you’ve written the rest of your outline.

• Example on next slide:

I. INTRODUCTION.

Was Elizabeth and Robert Browning’s love always so perfect? Before they started dating, Elizabeth had a lot of doubts about Robert. She was hesitant as to whether or not to fall in love with this man because of her history of being hurt by the men in her life. While Elizabeth’s unstable romantic history was one of the main reasons why she was so insecure in her ability to give and receive love, she finally decided to give love a chance.

The romance between Elizabeth and Robert Browning is now considered one of the greatest love stories of all time.

Subtopics

II. Elizabeth Barrett Browning had a troublesome early childhood.

A. Browning was the daughter of David and Catherine Browning.

B. Browning was born into a large family in Durham, England.

C. Browning’s parents burdened Elizabeth with adult responsibilities.

The ProcessThe ProcessSupporting Details

Under the topic sentence for each paragraph,list some of the supporting details, examples,or ideas you want to include in each paragraph.

A. Elizabeth Browning was the daughter of David and Catherine Browning. (THIS IS YOUR TOPIC SENTENCE)

1. David and Catherine were eager to start a family immediately after marrying. (SUPPORTING DETAIL)

2. Elizabeth was born two months premature and not expected to live. (SUPPORTING DETAIL)

B. Browning was born into a large extended family in Durham, England. (THIS IS YOUR TOPIC SENTENCE)

1. The Brownings were the prominent family in town.

2. The eldest child, Browning was the first born of 12

C. Browning’s parents burdened Elizabeth with adult responsibilities at an early age. (THIS IS YOUR TOPIC SENTENCE)

1. After her mother’s death, Elizabeth became the surrogate mother to her siblings.

ROMAN NUMERALS

• I = 1 XI= 11• II= 2 XII= 12• III= 3 XIII= 13• IV= 4 XIV= 14• V= 5 XV= 15• VI= 6• VII= 7• VIII= 8• IX= 9• X= 10

Conclusion

The conclusion does NOT need to be written out in full in your outline – only the introduction does.

Example:

IX. CONCLUSION. Restate thesis.