Creating an essay outline is by all means the most effective and
motivating way of learning the writing assignment, organising your ideas
on the essay topic, and positioning your own point of view.
The importance of essay outline in writing process is hard to
underestimate. It is the solid foundation of a well-structured and
considered essay with enchanting essay topic, logically organised
paragraphs, strong thesis statements, and unforgettable conclusions. The
essay outline helps you put your thoughts together, and have a clear
idea of what the essay should be all about.
I could go on, but
the point is: when you write your essay outline first, the process of
essay writing becomes a piece of cake! However, to make a truly
effective and well-organized essay outline, you need to follow these
important preparatory steps:
1. Read the Question of Your Essay and Decode It
The first and most important step you should take before writing an
essay is to understand what your professor wants to see in your essay
wanted from you, thus to decode the writing assignment. The solution to
this riddle can be found in your essay question, which asks you either
to discuss, compare, contrast, or summarise certain issues. When you
know what is expected from you, you know which way of writing an essay
to choose.
Just to play safe, here are the definitions of the essay questions, so that you could refresh your memory:
1. "compare" in an essay question means to list in an extended way points of similarity between two or more things;
2. "contrast" asks to dwell on the differences of several things;
3. when "summarising" you are supposed to write down all you know on the essay topic;
4. a "discussion" requires putting the cases for or against some proposition and end with stating your own position;
5. "consider" means to describe a certain subject and say how effective it is.
Once you know what you ought to do, you can get down to creating the essay outline.
2. Verify the Assignment Requirements
But before you do so, you need to verify the requirements for your
essay. In the department's guidelines you shall find the deadlines, the
requirements for the essay length and presentation. If some points are
not clear to you, do not hesitate to verify them with your teacher. The
more you know the better chances your have to write an outstanding
essay.
3. Write a Thesis Statement at the Top of Your Paper
You must know that a thesis statement is a single declarative sentence
that contains the focus of your essay and tells the readers what it will
be all about. But except for helping your readers with understanding
your essay, it is of great help to you as well.
A thesis statement helps you think through your ideas and their overall presentation to the readers.
Moreover, it is the wishful salvation each time you get sidetracked
from the main idea of your essay, and want to come back to the initial
point.
Your should not skip the process of writing a thesis
statement at the top of your paper, right after your essay outline.
Thus, be sure you compose a strong thesis statement for your essay
outline.
4. Brainstorm Ideas for Your Essay
Once a
thesis statement is ready, you should start brainstorming your ideas
that relate to your thesis statement. Write down all ideas that come to
your mind and are related to your topic, even if they are seemingly
bizarre or outlandish. You should let your ideas flow as rapidly and
spontaneously as possible. When you have collected all your ideas, be
sure to revisit them and discard the ones that seem useless.
5. Gather Evidence
It goes without saying that all ideas in your essay must be supported
with some evidence that should consist of specific examples or opinions
of others. The supporting evidence should prove your thesis statement.
Thus, it must be relevant, reliable and presentable.
So, you
need to sweat a bit and gather relevant information on your essay topic
and select the materials that will come in handy. It is advised not to
neglect the basic sources you use every day. Thus, start examining your
lecture notes, core texts and handouts. They usually include a
sufficient amount of useful information that will supply you with great
ideas for the essay outline.
If you want to deepen into the
essay topic, you can pick some other sources with detailed information
on your essay topic. For instance, articles in journals, or texts
referred to by your teacher can provide you with extremely valuable
information. But be selective, and do not fall on the first source that
you come across. Make a thorough and painstaking search. 6. Organise Your Essay Ideas
Once you have collected the information, you need to think through the
structure of your essay and create the first draft. Your essay must be
planned in the way that it has a coherent and logical structure.
So far there are no universal standards for organising ideas in essays.
However, all your ideas must be arranged in the logical way. For
instance, the logical sequence of your facts could be presented in a
simple to complex form, be specific or general, etc. Either way, choose
which is most appropriate in your case.
When structuring your
ideas, do not be too wordy; write down your points in brief one-line
sentences that are arranged in a series of headings and subheadings. Use
bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain.
7. Keep References
In the process of gathering information and brainstorming you must
remember to write down everything you have consulted as you go along in
order to be able to create a bibliography or list of references. Have a
notebook where you can put down the information you will need later.
Such trick will help you avoid the needless headache when you will be
writing an essay.
This is your seven-point plan that you should
carry out before writing an essay. The outline with your properly
organised ideas, notes, a thesis statement and references will be
indispensable when the direct writing process will take place. This
action plan will help you prepare your essay outline and save you from
many hurdles of essay writing.
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