Research Paper/Speech: Working Outline

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Research Paper/Speech Working Outline

• A general guide to outlining!

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Starting my outline

• My paper is about education. My big topics are
  going to be as follows
• the history of why and how people educate the
  public,
• the development of new educational initiatives,
• the changes that these have made in the system
  (both intentional and unintentional),
• the problems that have arisen through these
  changes, and
• the potential solutions for some of the problems.

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Working Outline as List

• History
• Egyptians
• Puritans
• Plantations
• Curriculum Movements
• Elitist Pool of Knowledge
• Basic Skills
• International Competition
• NCLB

• Problems
• Needs Change
• Finances
• Unrealistic Expectations
• Solutions
• Choice
• School
• Course of Study
• Finances
• Accountability
• Parent
• Student
• Teacher

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Outline

• History
• A. Egyptians
• B. Puritans
• C. Plantations
• 1. Boys
• 2. Girls
• Curriculum Movements
• A. Elitist Pool of Knowledge
• B. Basic Skills
• C. International Competition
• D. NCLB

• Problems
• A. Needs Change
• B. Finances
• C. Unrealistic Expectations
• Solutions
• A. Choice
• 1. School
• 2. Course of Study
• B. Finances
• C. Accountability
• 1. Parent
• 2. Student
• 3. Teacher

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Which number or letter do I use?
Start by using capital Roman numerals, then
capital letters, and then numbers. Start over
again with lower case letters and then subscript
numerals in parenthesis. See me if you want to
subdivide further, but if you keep subdividing,
its probably more detail than is necessary for
this assignment!

• History
• A. Egyptians
• B. Puritans
• 1. Purpose in education
• a. Productivity
• b. Indoctrination
• (1) Church
• (2) Society
• 2. Institutions of learning
• II. Developments

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Parallelism Its not just for math anymore!

• If you start your heading using a noun, then
  start ALL headings and sub headings with a noun.
  
• If you start your heading using a verb, then
  start ALL headings and sub headings with a verb.

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Parallelism Example 1

• I. History
• A. Egyptians
• B. Puritans
• C. Plantations
• 1. Boys
• 2. Girls
• Developments
• Changes
• Problems
• Solutions
• (Notice They are all nouns.)

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Parallelism Example 2

• I. Know the process
• A. Read the instructions
• B. List needed supplies
• C. Schedule the required time
• II. Practice the skills
• A. Use scrap materials
• B. Continue to practice until achieving desired
  result
• III. Buy the supplies
• IV. Work consistently
• V. Complete the project
• (Notice that these start with verbs!)

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Subdivisions Theyre not just for dwellings any
more!

• Each subheading should be to subdivide the
  heading.
• Start with the broad idea and divide down to more
  specific ideas.
• CAUTION It works like fractions, though. If
  you subdivide a heading, you must divide it into
  at least two parts!

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My main topics

• Ive divided the broad topic of education into
  five main subtopics
• (I cannot have just one subtopic because 1 main
  topic divided into 1 subtopic is still 1.)
• Seeits just like fractions! Can there be three
  subtopics? Yes! Any number other than 1 will
  work!

• History
• Developments
• Changes
• Problems
• Solutions

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Subdivisions Example

• History
• A. Egyptians
• B. Puritans
• 1. Purpose in education
• a. Productivity
• b. Indoctrination
• (1) Church
• (a) Values
• (b) Laws
• (2) Society
• 2. Institutions of learning
• a. Home
• b. Church
• c. College
• II. Developments

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It shouldnt be that hard!

• The problem is that there is a specific format.
  Sometimes, it feels like a difficult task to get
  your information to fit into that format.
• As youre outlining, just think of each heading
  as a pie to be divided into pieces! ?
• CAUTION WORD does not correctly outline for
  you. You need to be able to do this on your own!
  

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A Twist on the Outline

• On your outlines, I want to you write your thesis
  statement at the top of the page. Your thesis
  should answer my question What is this student
  going to tell me about _____________________?
  (insert subject)
• Also, you must annotate use parenthetical
  citation to tell me which of your resources
  provided you with your information. More on this
  later.

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Thesis Example

• Even though history has shown curricula to
  reflect the needs of society, American curricula
  constantly changes in design with new problems
  being addressed with each approach and posed
  solution.

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Does this thesis reflect what is to be discussed
in the paper?

• First, we should look back to the outline to
  review the topics.

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• Even though history has shown curricula to
  reflect the needs of society, American curricula
  constantly changes in design with new problems
  being addressed with each approach and posed
  solution.

• History
• Developments
• Changes
• Problems
• Solutions

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Its in there!

• Yes, each topic is referenced!
• Do I need to develop a thesis that covers the
  subtopics?

• No, that would be giving far too much detail!
• Now, one last look

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Thesis Even though history has shown curricula
to reflect the needs of society, American
curricula constantly changes in design with new
problems being addressed with each approach and
posed solution.

• History
• A. Egyptians
• B. Puritans
• C. Plantations
• 1. Boys
• 2. Girls
• Developments
• A. Curricula
• B. Structure
• C. Facilities

• Changes
• A. Programs
• B. Laws
• 1. EIA
• 2. ADA
• 3. NCLB
• a. Intentions
• b. Outcomes
• C. Studies

• Problems
• A. Funding
• B. Accountability
• C. Problems within the school
• Solutions
• A. Choice
• B. Incentives

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Annotations sources for your information should
be listed in your outline parenthetically.

• History (World Book)
• A. Egyptians
• B. Puritans (Carpenter 48-51)
• C. Plantations
• 1. Boys
• 2. Girls
• Developments (Dewey)
• A. Curricula (Marzano 668)
• B. Structure
• C. Facilities (Jones 920-925)

• NOTE you will not have an annotation for every
  item, but for many.
• If the majority of your information for main idea
  comes from the same source then put the
  annotation with the main idea.
• If you information from an additional source for
  a subtopic or detail put an annotation with that.

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Good Luck

• A wonderful resource for you is available at
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/
• Google OWL with the topic, such as OWL commas
  and it will take you to the desired subsection.
  Outlining is available at
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/