An essay outline is simply an essay’s skeleton, a written representation of an essay’s thesis and significant supporting points.
An essay outline serves numerous goals, including helping its writer organize their thoughts before they start writing, offering readers a rapid description of the essay, and functioning as a path for the writer to follow as they move through their supporting paragraphs. We’ll guide you through the process of creating an essay outline in this blog article.
An essay outline: Overview
As we have discussed earlier, an essay outline is a graphic representation of an essay. There are only a few main points in each essay, making it easy for readers to get a fast essay of what you’re trying to express. However, an essay outline isn’t simply for the benefit of your readers; it also aids you in visualizing your final essay before you start writing it.
A crucial part of the writing process is outlining. It’s where you arrange all the concepts and insights you brainstormed into a clear roadmap to follow while you write. Your outline will help you get back on track if you stray off the path while writing your essay.
Before beginning their essays, educators frequently ask their students to provide essay outlines. Usually, this is so the professor can check that each student is on the right track in picking an essay topic with a suitable quantity of sources to reference, that it matches the project’s restrictions and that the student understands the task.
Basic aspects of an essay
Although every essay is unique, they nonetheless conform to the same fundamental essay framework. At least one body paragraph substantiates the points presented in the introductory part. Finally, a conclusion paragraph restates the author’s thesis and repeats what was said earlier in the essay.
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Introduction
The first portion of your essay is called the introduction. As this name indicates, here is where you introduce the themes you’ll be addressing throughout your essay. It’s also where you present your thesis, the ultimate statement where you make your argument obvious.
An effective essay opening grabs the reader’s attention right away.
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Sections of the body
It is possible that you want two supporting paragraphs for your essay or that you require four or five (or more). It’s up to you how many body paragraphs your article has unless your professor specifies otherwise.
If you’re supporting your thesis with several sources, a basic rule to follow is one body paragraph per source referenced. A detour may be necessary, depending on the sort of essay you’re writing. One part (at least one paragraph long) is required for each comparison and contrast you offer, as in a compare and contrast essay. Each point you make to support your thesis will be the subject of a separate body paragraph in your analytical essay.
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Conclusion
Once you reach your conclusion, you’re almost there! This is the area of your essay where you tie it up and summarise the points you made in your body paragraphs. If you have any concluding views or opinions you want to impress your reader before they finish reading your essay, this is where you make them.
Stages for drafting an essay outline
So you’re sitting at your desk, ready to compose your outline. Great!
What’s the first step?
Creating an outline streamlining the remainder of the writing process is as simple as following these four steps.
Decide what you want to achieve
Think about your thesis statement. Even if you don’t have precise words, you should have a rough notion of the argument you want to convey and support in your essay. Having a defined goal helps you work through your brainstorming notes and build an outline addressing all the critical points you need to keep that purpose.
Filter out the fluff
When you brainstormed, you investigated every possible route in your writing and every prospective piece of material to add.
Now it’s time to look over your brainstorming notes and select the points that will most successfully achieve your goal for your essay. “How does this support my argument?” for each bit of information you scribbled down. If you can answer that question with a clear, considered response, add it to your list of points to convey in your essay.
What would you say in each section?
Using the list of points you typed down, determine the primary arguments you’ll make in your essay. These will be your body portions. For example, in an argumentative essay discussing why your school needs to add more water fountains, you may make points like:
- Providing water fountains helps students save money
- Fountains minimize plastic waste
- Heat exhaustion incidences can be reduced if water is readily available.
Jot down the facts, stories, and statistics supporting each point. For example, in your section, you may quote the number of throwaway water bottles recovered from college grounds last year on how water fountains minimize plastic waste. These supporting points are part of your essay plan.
Write your outline using a typical template
It’s time to compose your outline with your main ideas and supporting points well determined. Using a template for the sort of essay you’re writing (more on that in the following section); structure your major issues into a clear, orderly frame that you’ll flesh out with information when you write your first draft.
Writing well is a process that begins with outlining
Once you’re through drafting your outline, follow the remainder of the writing process stages to complete your essay. When it’s time to edit your work, LiveWebTutors Essay Helper UK can help you polish your manuscript into a fully publishable piece of writing.
