How to Create a Research Paper Outline

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How to Create a Research Paper Outline

• (or How creating an effective Outline saved my
  life and lowered my cholesterol.).

Compiled from the Purdue OWL website at
http//owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/03/
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Why create an outline?

• Aids in the process of writing
• Helps you organize your ideas
• Presents your material in a logical form
• Shows the relationships among ideas in your
  writing
• Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
• Defines boundaries and groups

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How do I create an outline?

• Determine the purpose of your paper.
• Determine the audience you are writing for.
• Develop the thesis of your paper.

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Then

• Brainstorm List all the ideas that you want to
  include in your paper.
• Organize Group related ideas together.
• Order Arrange material in subsections from
  general to specific or from abstract to concrete.
• Label Create main and sub headings.

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Sample Outline

• Thesis
• (Thesis statement goes here)
• Main heading
• Subheading
• Detail
• Subheading
• Detail
• Detail
• Detail
• Main heading
• Subheading
• Detail
• Detail
• Subheading
• Subheading

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Sample Outline

• Thesis
• With the exception of Eastern European Jews, no
  group suffered more indignant persecution by the
  Nazis than homosexuals, who were tortured,
  striped of all their worldly possessions, and
  dehumanized in an orderly, state sponsored
  campaign.
• Nazi attitudes towards homosexuals
• History
• Contributions of homosexuals to German culture
• Acceptance in society
• Change in societal acceptance
• Germany prior to 1933
• Germany after 1933
• Crackdown on homosexuals
• Forms of persecution
• Physical abuse
• Beatings
• Torture
• Loss of material possessions
• Dehumanization

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Remember

• Include your final thesis statement at the top of
  your outline.
• You cannot have an I without a II, or an A
  without a B, etc.
• Main headings describe the topic, subheads
  describe the main headings, details describe the
  subheading, etc.
• Creating an outline before writing your paper
  will make organizing your thoughts a lot easier.
  Whether you follow the suggested guidelines is up
  to you, but making any kind of outline (even just
  jotting down some main ideas) will be beneficial
  to your writing process.

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The Endor is it?
Tune in next week for Parenthetical citations
friend or foe?
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