english 102 essay outline

Environmental Rhetoric

Christine Jones

Welcome to English 102 Open

This textbook is an English 102 text that includes a focus on contextualized topics while using rhetoric and approaches to research.

There are hundreds of wonderful, free writing resources available online, yet most college writing classes still use expensive textbooks. Students have been frustrated by textbook prices for longer than most instructors have noticed. Your instructor, like many others at the campus, has been actively working to lower that barrier to instruction and learning.

This course uses OER Materials.

OER stands for Open Educational Resources. OER materials are free or low-cost. This book focuses on freely available works under a Creative Commons license. All works here are adaptable; all works here are printable and downloadable for free.  This book CAN be printed if you feel the need for a physical textbook.  Speak to your instructor about how to make that possible or reach out to any  “print on demand” company.

Materials have been organized into “Chapters” which connect to the Modules of the course. They are NOT in the same order that the modules are. However, there are no extra chapters.  You should completely read the textbook by the end of the semester.  The materials include text, videos, and interactive activities that were developed under Creative Commons licensing.

You are expected to read the texts, watch the videos, and participate in interactive activities.  You should complete the reading before coming to class, as I will be teaching with the expectation that you have completed the reading. It is best if you complete your Cornell Notes before the classes so you will be familiar with the information and be able to use them in class.  Many of the in-class assignments are directly related to the information you will find in the book.  Some of the in-book activities will be requested in class!

You may work ahead at any time.

H5P Activities

The videos and activities that are in the book are graded automatically.  If you are reading the textbook for information, you can do that in any format you like, even printed.  If you want the credit for completing the activities, you need to access the textbook using the  “reading” page in Canvas.  This is only required for completing the graded activities.  Here is an example of a graded activity that should show up in Canvas.

Be sure to click “Submit” if there is a submit button.  If there is a print button available, be sure to save a copy to your Google Drive.  I recommend having a folder for the textbook activities in case of technical issues.  Mac, Ipad, and Phone access of the textbook does not always record the grades. Keep that in mind as you plan your study time.

Why, What, When, Where, How, Who?

 by Sybil Priebe

Why Do I Have to Take This Class? Why Do I Have to Improve My Writing?

Students ask me why they have to take my class. They ask me this a lot. A LOT.

Now, I could be a typical teacher and roll my eyes, but I usually try to connect these questions with the REAL WORLD. College instructors are supposed to prepare students for that big scary REAL WORLD, right? So, often, I’ll explain it like this:

“Do the people around you communicate well? Everyone always knows what the other one is saying, thinking, feeling at any given moment? Or, perhaps this is a better question: The people around you never fight or argue?”

Rarely can anyone say they haven’t seen people fight. Here’s a key to why English is important at all levels – communication is super tricky. We create slang on a daily basis, we text people with acronyms, and we still have people not understanding other people even when we don’t use slang or a text message! And don’t forget that if we can’t speak well, we probably aren’t writing well – what does that mean in our future jobs? For our future customers? What does that mean for us as people in relationships, friendships, etc.?

WHAT is Writing All About?

What is composition what is rhetoric what is literature what is linguistics.

These are terms you might only get quizzed on during Jeopardy, but if we start from the smallest level and work our way to the largest, it goes like this: Linguistics is the study of words, Composition is the study of arranging those words into sentences and paragraphs and essays, and then Literature is the study of fully composed pieces of work that may or may not be true (Nonfiction vs. Fiction). That weird word Rhetoric? Yeah, that’s the study of Argument.

At the heart of rhetoric is argument. At the heart of argument is persuasion. Truly understanding rhetoric presents the understanding that it is dependent on the individual judging the argument and finding themselves persuaded.  It is a process of internal deliberation that utilizes the rational, emotional, and deliberative faculties.   Understanding rhetoric also helps refine the mental pathways to recognize and renounce manipulation. It teaches us ethical ways of communicating and a process to improve judgment.  Rhetoric is directly tied to critical thinking, a necessary skill in ALL majors.

WHEN Should We Write? WHERE Should We Write?

All the time and everywhere.

HOW Can You Get Started with Writing?

With this amazing book!

WHO Am I Writing This For?

Okay, so typically, you might only be composing an assignment for your teacher’s eyes only, but if you participate in Peer Review, or will be showing the final product to the public, your audience is more than one person.

Some Comparisons

The keys to success.

Planning Strategies

Time management.

• Setting aside enough time
• Breaking Assignments into manageable chunks

Setting a purpose for reading

• How did my instructor frame the assignment?
• How deeply do I need to understand the reading?
• How does this assignment relate to other course readings or to concepts discussed in class?
• How might I use this text again in the future?

Comprehension Strategies

Reading for information.

• Magazines, newspapers, the latest book in our favorite series, a book about our favorite subject
• Reading is not challenging and can be done passively

Reading for Understanding

• College textbooks and assignments
• Reading is more challenging and requires more effort/deliberate action

Active Reading

• Reading for understanding cannot be done passively
• How much understanding you gain from a text depends on how much activity you put into it
• Active readers engage with a text: ask questions and demand answers
• Active readers can organize the reading and record answers to any questions
• Connect what you read to what you already know. Look for ways the reading supports, extends, or challenges concepts you have learned elsewhere.
• Relate the reading to your own life. What statements, people, or situations relate to your personal experiences?
• Visualize. For both fiction and nonfiction texts, try to picture what is described.
• Pay attention to graphics as well as text. Photographs, diagrams, flow charts, tables, and other graphics can help make abstract ideas more concrete and understandable.
• Understand the text in context. Understanding context means thinking about who wrote the text, when and where it was written, the author’s purpose for writing it, and what assumptions or agendas influenced the author’s ideas
• Plan to talk or write about what you read. Jot down a few questions or comments in your notebook so you can bring them up in class.

Annotate a Text

Develop a system and stick to it!

• I generally underline the Thesis and Topic Sentences
• I use vertical lines in the right margin of a paragraph for important supporting details–note the word, important; I do not highlight small details because annotations should be used for the main ideas and should point you toward what you need to read further.
• I circle unfamiliar words and write their definition above the word or next to it.
• I write notes in the margin if I want to connect the information to something else I have read or an essay I am writing.
• I use an asterisk or exclamation point for startling facts/ statistics or surprising information.

Continuously Monitor Your Comprehension

Summarize the main points

• Topic Sentences

Ask questions and then answer them

Prepare questions for class discussion

Use the SQ3R Strategy

• Survey the text in advance.
• Form questions before you start reading.
• Read the text.
• Recite and/or record important points during and after reading.
• Review and reflect on the text after you read it.

Key Takeaways

• College-level reading and writing assignments differ from high school assignments not only in quantity but also in quality.
• Managing college reading assignments successfully requires you to plan and manage your time, set a purpose for reading, practice effective comprehension strategies, and use active reading strategies to deepen your understanding of the text.
• College writing assignments place greater emphasis on learning to think critically about a particular discipline and less emphasis on personal and creative writing

This textbook was compiled by Mrs. Christine Jones for her English 102 course using multiple OER and Creative Commons licensed materials. A complete guide to the texts used can be found in the Appendix, with links to the Pressbooks and source materials pages. Specific citations and attributions can be found at the bottom of each chapter.

**The memes used in this book are NOT creative commons and are used in a “Fair Use” educational capacity only, intended for this edition of the online textbook.  If you are making a copy of this text, please remove the memes before use.

Media Attributions

• My desk, while writing a paper © Guðmundur D. Haraldsson

Introduction Copyright © 2021 by Christine Jones is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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English 102: Composition

Components of critical reading.

• Annotated Bibliography
• Toulmin - Formal Argument
• Presentation Tools
• What is it?
• Outline/Summerize
• Compare/Contrast
• Library Books

No matter what your major is, one of the most useful skills you can develop as a college student is the ability to read critically, and the earlier you learn to do this, the better.  On the most basic level, reading critically means engaging and interacting with a text - taking notes, asking questions, comparing and contrasting.  Another way to think about it is to consider not just what the text says, but how it works.  

As new college students, you probably find yourself being asked to read more and to do it in shorter amounts of time than you're used to.  Using the strategies listed on this page may seem awkward at first, but with practice they will help you to become more efficient and critical readers.  

• Interrogating Texts: 6 Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard Published by the Lamont Library, Harvard. Written by Susan Gilroy Reference Librarian, Lamont Library, 2004.

Look “around” the text before you start reading. 

Have you ever flipped through a book or article to see how long it was (translation: how much time and energy it would take to read)?  That's one kind of previewing.  But there are a lot of other useful things you can learn about a text before you start reading. 

Previewing helps you to develop a set of  expectations about the scope and purpose  of the text and these impressions offer you a way to focus your reading.  For instance:

• What does the presence of  headnotes , an  abstract , or other  prefatory material  tell you?
• Are you already familiar with the  author ?  If so, how does his (or her)  reputation  or  credentials  influence your perception of what you are about to read? If the author is unfamiliar or unknown, does an editor introduce him or her (by supplying brief biographical information, an assessment of the author’s work, concerns, and importance)?
•  How does the  layout of a text  prepare you for reading? Is the material broken into parts like subtopics or sections?  Are there long and unbroken blocks of text or smaller paragraphs or “chunks” and what does this suggest?  How might the parts of a text guide you toward understanding the line of inquiry or the arc of the argument that's being made? 
• Does the text seem to be arranged according to  certain conventions of discourse ?  Newspaper articles, for example, have characteristics that you can recognize; textbooks and scholarly essays are organized quite differently.  Different texts demand different things of you as you read, so whenever you can, register the type of information you’re presented with.

Annotating puts you actively and immediately into a "dialogue” with an author and the issues and ideas you encounter in a written text.  It's also a way to have an ongoing conversation with yourself as you move through the text and to record what that encounter was like for you.

Make your reading thinking-intensive from start to finish! Here's how: 

• Throw away your highlighter : Highlighting can seem like an active reading strategy, but it can actually distract from the business of learning and dilute your comprehension.  Those bright yellow lines you put on a printed page one day can seem strangely cryptic the next, unless you have a method for remembering why they were important to you at another moment in time.  Pen or pencil will allow you do to more  to  a text you have to wrestle with.  
• Mark up the margins of your text with words and phrases : ideas that occur to you, notes about things that seem important to you, reminders of how issues in a text may connect with class discussion or course themes. This kind of interaction keeps you conscious of the  reasons  you are reading as well as the   purposes  your instructor has in mind. Later in the term, when you are reviewing for a test or project, your marginalia will be useful memory triggers. 
• Develop your own symbol system : asterisk (*) a key idea, for example, or use an exclamation point (!) for the surprising, absurd, bizarre.  Your personalized set of hieroglyphs allow you to capture the important -- and often fleeting -- insights that occur to you as you're reading.  Like notes in your margins, they'll proveindispensable when you return to a text in search of that  perfect passage to use in a paper, or are preparing for a big exam.   
• Get in the habit of hearing yourself ask questions : “What does this mean?” “Why is the writer drawing that conclusion?” “Why am I being asked to read this text?” etc.  Write the questions down (in your margins, at the beginning or end of the reading, in a notebook, or elsewhere. They are reminders of the unfinished business you still have with a text: something to ask during class discussion, or to come to terms with on your own, once you’ve had a chance to digest the material further or have done other course reading.

Outline, summarize, analyze: take the information apart, look at its parts, and then try to put it back together again in language that is meaningful to you. 

The best way to determine that you’ve really gotten the point is to be able to state it in your own words. 

Outlining  the argument of a text is a version of annotating, and can be done quite informally in the margins of the text, unless you prefer the more formal Roman numeral model you may have learned in high school.  Outlining enables you to see the skeleton of an argument: the thesis, the first point and evidence (and so on), through the conclusion. With weighty or difficult readings, that skeleton may not be obvious until you go looking for it.

Summarizing  accomplishes something similar, but in sentence and paragraph form, and with the connections between ideas made explicit.

Analyzing  adds an evaluative component to the summarizing process—it requires you not just to restate main ideas, but also to test the logic, credibility, and emotional impact of an argument.  In analyzing a text, you reflect upon and decide how effectively (or poorly) its argument has been made.  Questions to ask:

• What is the writer asserting? 
• What am I being asked to believe or accept? Facts? Opinions? Some mixture?
• What reasons or evidence does the author supply to convince me? Where is the strongest or most effective evidence the author offers  -- and why is it compelling?
• Is there anywhere that the reasoning breaks down?  Are there things that do not make sense. conclusions that are drawn prematurely, moments where the writer undermines his purposes?

The way language is chosen, used, positioned in a text can be important indication of what an author considers crucial and what he expects you to glean from his argument .  It can also alert you to ideological positions, hidden agendas or biases.   Be watching for:

• Recurring images
• Repeated words, phrases, types of examples, or illustrations
• Consistent ways of characterizing people, events, or issues

Once you’ve finished reading actively and annotating, take stock for a moment  and put it in perspective. When you contextualize, you essential "re-view" a text you've encountered, framed by its historical, cultural, material, or intellectual circumstances.

Do these factors change or otherwise influence how you view a piece? 

Also view the reading through the lens of your own experience. Your understanding of the words on the page and their significance is always shaped by what you have come to know and value from living in a particular time and place.

Set course readings against each other to determine their relationships (hidden or explicit).

• At what point in the term does this reading come?  Why that point, do you imagine?
•  How does it contribute to the main concepts and themes of the course? 
• How does it compare (or contrast) to the ideas presented by texts that come before it?  Does it continue a trend, shift direction, or expand the focus of previous readings?
• How has your thinking been altered by this reading, or how has it affected your response to the issues and themes of the course?

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Eng 102 - The Argumentative Essay: Home

• CQ Researcher
• Issues and Controversies
• Harlem Renaissance

Introduction

The “ Argumentative Paper”

English 102  

Here’s what to consider—carefully!

1. Avoid Pre-formed conclusions about your issue .

• This is our emotional intelligence informing us what we should think about the issue.  While important, it is only a part of the picture/ your argument.

2. So, what to do?

• Examine the data, the facts, and the opposing viewpoints carefully .  With an iceberg, we only see the top— the smallest surface area.  Below lies the mass—the bigger picture. The same holds true for an issue. Below the surface of emotional intelligence is the truer perspective. The one you want to bring to your research. The one that gets you closer to a carefully reasoned conclusion.

3. So, what else to do?

• Set aside sweeping conclusions , be they political, historical, cultural, or social.
• Strive for an objective understanding of the pros and cons of an argument. As such, it is best to examine both sides fairly in your paper, for one cannot be 100% right or 100% wrong. 
• Look for a “middle ground” compromise. This is how you come about to a truly reasoned opinion that builds critical thinking and analytical skills.

This LibGuide embraces a number of helpful library databases, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

CQ Researcher and Issues and Controversies

The CQ Researcher and Issues and Controversies databases serve as an introduction to an issue.  Essentially these two databases are the Walmart of databases for they provide the skeleton essence for the issues they cover in 15 page articles.   

CQ Researcher and Issues and Controversies host only a select few articles related to your issue and the few articles are generally spread out by a number of years for you to witness the evolution in tackling the issue. Both these databases cover the Who, What, Where, When, How, Past, Present, Future, Pro/Con, Statistics and Quotes from Authorities in the Field and Political Figures. Both provide MLA citations for you to copy/paste.

EBSCO   &  JSTOR

Both EBSCO and JSTOR differ from CQ Researcher and Issues and Controversies in that hundreds, if not thousands of articles, will be retrieved by a search.  As such, combinations of keywords using AND to link these keywords will assist in narrowing your search. 

In addition, you may wish to further narrow your search by

• Date of publication,
• Source type (magazine, journal, book, report) or other variables.

An Advanced Search option is also available to assist you in narrowing your search results.

Most EBSCO and all JSTOR articles are available in PDF format.  PDF allows you to cite the exact page for your quotes, statistics, and other data you used from the source material.

• Important Note : As with CQ and Issues and Controversies, JSTOR and EBSCO provide MLA citations to copy/paste. 

Finally, just select your topic and begin to research it in the various databases:

• Take accurate notes
• Identify important “QUOTES”
• Look for telling analogies
• Note relevant examples
• Develop correct citations
• Build your Works Cited or References as a “separate” page
• Organize your paper around your central “for or against” position [thesis]
• Organize your paragraphs using individual paragraph topic ideas to support your thesis

All these databases can be found through the library catalog or the  Library Databases and Journals page .

• Access to the databases is your Canvas/MyTMCC login and password.

Here are 12 Research Paper subjects below.

NOTE: You can argue FOR or AGAINST  either side  of the issue; make sure you adjust the key word[s] accordingly ...

1. A Single Payer Health System is or is not  the best alternative for the United States.  [Key words--"best alternative"]

3. Term Limits for all Senators and Congressmen will or will not insure "real" democracy.  [Key Word--"insure"]

3. Drone Strikes are immoral actions.  [Key Word--"immoral"]

4. Alternative Health Care should be or should not be a vital part of mainstream medicine.  [Key Words--"vital part"]

5. If you study past history, you are studying future history.  Key Words--["past & future"]

6. A College Education is or is not necessary for Happiness.  [Key word--"necessary"]

7.   A Mission to Mars is or is not a waste of Money.  [Key word--"waste"]

8.   Nature must be preserved if we, as a species, expect to survive.  [Key word-- "preserved"]

9. The Internet will or will not create a better world.  [Key word--"Better"]

10. Overpopulation does or does not threaten the world's resources.  [Key word--"threaten"]

11. The Harlem Renaissance added important cultural diversity to America  [Key words--"important cultural diversity"]

12. The Mayan Civilization was less or more advanced than the Egyptian Civilization.  [Key words--"less or more advanced"—pick one] 

SUPER HELPFUL :

USE the  ESSAY OR RESEARCH PAPER "OUTLINE" FORM  located on your Home Page to help write your paper

English 102: Research Paper Assignment  

TYPE OF PAPER: AN ARGUMENT PAPER

Elements of an Argument paper are:

1. Facts, which represent about 75% of the argument

2. Persuasive appeals, which represent no more than 25% of the argument

Primary  “Modes of Paragraph Development” ( ways to illustrate, explain, prove, or argue):

a. Definitions

b. Examples

c. Narration [stories]

d. Descriptions

e. Comparison and Contrast

f. Facts, Statistics, Authority [experts] testimony

g. Persuasive appeals--“emotional-appealing” language

h. Also, discuss OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS for balanced arguments

Reference Librarian

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• Last Updated: Jul 6, 2021 11:12 AM
• URL: https://libguides.tmcc.edu/c.php?g=1026094

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• Knowledge Base
• How to write an essay outline | Guidelines & examples

How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples

Published on August 14, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph , giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold.

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Table of contents

Organizing your material, presentation of the outline, examples of essay outlines, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay outlines.

At the stage where you’re writing an essay outline, your ideas are probably still not fully formed. You should know your topic  and have already done some preliminary research to find relevant sources , but now you need to shape your ideas into a structured argument.

Creating categories

Look over any information, quotes and ideas you’ve noted down from your research and consider the central point you want to make in the essay—this will be the basis of your thesis statement . Once you have an idea of your overall argument, you can begin to organize your material in a way that serves that argument.

Try to arrange your material into categories related to different aspects of your argument. If you’re writing about a literary text, you might group your ideas into themes; in a history essay, it might be several key trends or turning points from the period you’re discussing.

Three main themes or subjects is a common structure for essays. Depending on the length of the essay, you could split the themes into three body paragraphs, or three longer sections with several paragraphs covering each theme.

As you create the outline, look critically at your categories and points: Are any of them irrelevant or redundant? Make sure every topic you cover is clearly related to your thesis statement.

Order of information

When you have your material organized into several categories, consider what order they should appear in.

Your essay will always begin and end with an introduction and conclusion , but the organization of the body is up to you.

Consider these questions to order your material:

• Is there an obvious starting point for your argument?
• Is there one subject that provides an easy transition into another?
• Do some points need to be set up by discussing other points first?

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Within each paragraph, you’ll discuss a single idea related to your overall topic or argument, using several points of evidence or analysis to do so.

In your outline, you present these points as a few short numbered sentences or phrases.They can be split into sub-points when more detail is needed.

The template below shows how you might structure an outline for a five-paragraph essay.

• Thesis statement
• First piece of evidence
• Second piece of evidence
• Summary/synthesis
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement

You can choose whether to write your outline in full sentences or short phrases. Be consistent in your choice; don’t randomly write some points as full sentences and others as short phrases.

Examples of outlines for different types of essays are presented below: an argumentative, expository, and literary analysis essay.

Argumentative essay outline

This outline is for a short argumentative essay evaluating the internet’s impact on education. It uses short phrases to summarize each point.

Its body is split into three paragraphs, each presenting arguments about a different aspect of the internet’s effects on education.

• Importance of the internet
• Concerns about internet use
• Thesis statement: Internet use a net positive
• Data exploring this effect
• Analysis indicating it is overstated
• Students’ reading levels over time
• Why this data is questionable
• Video media
• Interactive media
• Speed and simplicity of online research
• Questions about reliability (transitioning into next topic)
• Evidence indicating its ubiquity
• Claims that it discourages engagement with academic writing
• Evidence that Wikipedia warns students not to cite it
• Argument that it introduces students to citation
• Summary of key points
• Value of digital education for students
• Need for optimism to embrace advantages of the internet

Expository essay outline

This is the outline for an expository essay describing how the invention of the printing press affected life and politics in Europe.

The paragraphs are still summarized in short phrases here, but individual points are described with full sentences.

• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages.
• Provide background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press.
• Present the thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation.
• Discuss the very high levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe.
• Describe how literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites.
• Indicate how this discouraged political and religious change.
• Describe the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg.
• Show the implications of the new technology for book production.
• Describe the rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible.
• Link to the Reformation.
• Discuss the trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention.
• Describe Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation.
• Sketch out the large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics.
• Summarize the history described.
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period.

Literary analysis essay outline

The literary analysis essay outlined below discusses the role of theater in Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park .

The body of the essay is divided into three different themes, each of which is explored through examples from the book.

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question : How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

You will sometimes be asked to hand in an essay outline before you start writing your essay . Your supervisor wants to see that you have a clear idea of your structure so that writing will go smoothly.

Even when you do not have to hand it in, writing an essay outline is an important part of the writing process . It’s a good idea to write one (as informally as you like) to clarify your structure for yourself whenever you are working on an essay.

If you have to hand in your essay outline , you may be given specific guidelines stating whether you have to use full sentences. If you’re not sure, ask your supervisor.

When writing an essay outline for yourself, the choice is yours. Some students find it helpful to write out their ideas in full sentences, while others prefer to summarize them in short phrases.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/essay-outline/

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English 102 (Roth)

• Finding Articles
• Outline & Thesis Statement
• Avoiding Plagiarism

What's the Point?

This unit is intended to refresh your memory of how to work through the research process and begin work on your paper.

• Start by clicking through the Prezi about how the research process works.
• Watch the video on how to use brainstorming to bring focus to your topic .
• An outline can be a useful tool in keeping your paper focused, and many instructors ask to see one before you begin writing. The tab explains how to set one up.
• Finally, thesis statements can be a struggle for many students. The overview presented provides pointers on how to structure a thesis for your paper (It looks like a lot of text! But we promise it only takes a few minutes to read through).

Research and Writing

• The Research and Writing Process
• Focusing Your Topic
• How to Create an Outline
• Thesis Statements

Creating an Outline

An outline helps you plan out how the main body paragraphs of your paper will be used to support your thesis.

Microsoft Office Word has easy to use tools to create outlines. I like to start my outline with an introduction section. I can add lines ot my outline by hitting enter for additional numbered lines and hitting tab to create supporting points.

I'll use the numbered lines to outline my body paragraphs. Each body paragraph focuses on one main point which is presented and then supported. There are many ways to arrange the body paragraphs of your paper to best support your argument and it's worth checking out guides for ideas on how to best construct yours.

Once the main body paragraphs have been outlined, I'm going to start adding supporting evidence points. I like adding the direct quotes I've discovered during my research because they remind me of the exact point I was hoping to emphasize and speed up my writing process.

By keeping everything aligned this way, I can clearly see what parts of my outline are main body paragraphs and what points, or evidence, I will use to support them. If I mess something up, I can either hit the backspace button or I can use the decrease/increase indent buttons.

Outlines are only a guide -- they should be flexible . If you see holes in your research or argument, you should do additional work to address those issues. If the flow of your paper isn't right, feel free to move around paragraphs or sections until it sounds right and your argument is fully supported. Finally, if something simply doesn't fit, you shouldn't be afraid to delete it from your outline/paper entirely.

Thesis Statments

You need a good thesis statement for your essay but are having trouble getting started. You may have heard that your thesis needs to be specific and arguable, but still wonder what this really means.

Let's look at some examples. Imagine you're writing about John Hughes's film Sixteen Candles (1984).

You take a first pass at writing a thesis:

       Sixteen Candles is a romantic comedy about high school cliques.

Is this a strong thesis statement? Not yet, but it's a good start. You've focused on a topic - high school cliques - which is a smart move because you've settled on one of many possible angles. But the claim is weak because it's not yet arguable. Intelligent people would generally agree with this statement - so there's no real "news" for your reader. You want your thesis to say something surprising and debatable. If your thesis doesn't go beyond summarizing your source, it's descriptive and not yet argumentative.

The key words in the thesis statement are "romantic comedy" and "high school cliques." One way to sharpen the claim is to start asking questions .

For example, how does the film represent high school cliques in a surprising or complex way? how does the film reinforce stereotypes about high school groups and how does it undermine them? Or why does teh flim challenge our expectations about romantic comedies by focusing on high school cliques? If you can answer one of those questions (or others of your own), you'll have a strong thesis.

Tip: Asking "how" or "why" questions will help you refine your thesis, making it more arguable and interesting to your readers.

Take 2. You revise the thesis. Is it strong now?

       Sixteen Candles is a romantic comedy criticizing the divisiveness created by high school cliques.

You're getting closer. You're starting to take a stance by arguing that the film identifies "divisiveness" as a problem and criticizes it, but your readers will want to know how this plays out and why it's important. Right now, the thesis still sounds bland - not risky enough to be genuinely contentious.

Tip:  Keep raising questions that test your ideas. And ask yourself the "so what" question. Why is your thesis interesting or important?

Take 3. Let's try again. How about this version? 

       Although the film  Sixteen Candles  appears to reinforce stereotypes about high school cliques, it undermines them in important          ways, questioning its viewers' assumptions about what's normal. 

Bingo! This thesis statement is pretty strong. It challenges an obvious interpretation of the movie (that it just reinforces stereotypes), offering a new and more complex reading in its place. We also have a sense of why this argument is important. The film's larger goal, we learn, is to question what we think we understand about normalcy. 

What's a Strong Thesis?

As we've just seen, a strong thesis statement crystallizes your paper's argument and, most importantly, it's  arguable . 

This means two things. It goes beyond merely summarizing or describing to stake out an interpretation or position that's not obvious, and others could challenge for good reasons. It's also arguable in the literal sense that it can be argued , or supported through a thoughtful analysis of your sources. If your argument lacks evidence, readers will think your thesis statement is an opinion or belief as opposed to an argument. 

Exercises for Drafting an Arguable Thesis  

A good thesis will be  focused  on your object of study (as opposed to making a big claim about the world) and will introduce the key words  guiding your analysis. To get started, you might experiment with some of these "mad libs." They're thinking exercises that will help propel you toward an arguable thesis. 

By examining ___________________[topic/approach], we can see ____________________[thesis- the claim that's surprising, which is important because _____________________.[1]

" By examining   Sixteen Candles  through the lens of Georg Simmel's writing on fashion, we can see that the protagonist's interest in fashion as an expression of her conflicted desire to be seen as both unique and accepted by the group. This is important because  the film offers its viewers a glimpse into the ambivalent yearnings of middle class youth in the 1980s. 

Although readers might assume __________ [the commonplace idea you're challenging], I argue that _____________[your surprising claim]. 

Example: 

Although viewers might assume the romantic comedy  Sixteen Candles  is merely entertaining, I believe its message is political. The film uses the romance between Samantha, a middle class sophomore and Jake, an affluent senior, to reinforce the fantasy that anyone can become wealthy and successful with enough cunning and persistence. 

Still Having Trouble? Let's Back Up... 

It helps to understand why readers value the arguable thesis. What larger purpose does it serve? Your readers will bring a set of expectations to your essay. The better you can anticipate the expectations of your readers, the better you'll be able to persuade them to entertain seeing things your way. 

Academic readers (and readers more generally) read to learn something new. They want to see the writer challenge commonplaces - either everyday assumptions about your object of study or truisms in the scholarly literature. In other words, academic readers want to be surprised so that their thinking shifts or at least becomes more complex by the time they finish reading your essay. Good essays problematize what we think we know and offer an alternative explanation in its place. They leave their reader with a fresh perspective on a problem. 

We all bring important past experiences and beliefs to our interpretations of texts, objects, and problems. You can harness these observational powers to engage critically with what you are studying. The key is to be alert to what strikes you as strange, problematic, paradoxical, or puzzling about your object of study. If you can articulate this and a claim in response, you're well on your way to formulating an arguable thesis in your introduction. 

How do I set up a "problem" and an arguable thesis in response? 

All good writing has a purpose or motive for existing. Your thesis is your surprising response to this problem or motive. This is why it seldom makes sense to start a writing project by articulating the thesis. The first step is to articulate the question or problem your paper addresses. 

Here are some possible ways to introduce a conceptual problem in your paper's introduction. 

1. Challenge a commonplace interpretation (or your own first impressions). 

How are readers likely to interpret this source or issue? What might intelligent readers think at first glance? (Or, if you've been given secondary sources or have been asked to conduct research to locate secondary sources, what do other writers or scholars assume is true or important about your primary source or issue?). 

What does this commonplace interpretation leave out, overlook, or under-emphasize? 

2. Help your reader see the complexity of your topic.

 Identify and describe for your reader a paradox, puzzle, or contradiction in your primary source(s). 

What larger questions does this paradox or contradiction raise for you and your readers? 

3. If your assignment asks you to do research, piggyback off another scholar's research. 

Summarize for your reader another scholar's argument about your topic, primary source, or case study and tell your reader why this claim is interesting. 

Now, explain how you will extend this scholar's argument to explore an issue or case study that the scholar doesn't address fully. 

4. If your assignment asks you to do research, identify a gap in another scholar's or a group of scholars' research. 

Summarize for your reader another scholar's argument about your topic, primary source, or case study and tell your reader why this claim is interesting. Or, summarize how scholars in the field tend to approach your topic. 

Next, explain what important aspect this scholarly representation misses or distorts. Introduce your particular approach to your topic and its value. 

5. If your assignment asks you to do research, bring in a new lens for investigating your case study or problem. 

Summarize for your reader how a scholar or group of scholars has approached your topic. 

Introduce a theoretical source (possibly from another discipline) and explain how it helps you address this issue from a new and productive angle. 

Testing Your Thesis 

You can test your thesis statement's arguability by asking the following questions:

          Does my thesis only or mostly summarize my source? 

                 If so, try some of the exercises above to articulate your paper's conceptual problem or question. 

          Is my thesis arguable - can it be supported by evidence in my source, and is it surprising and contentious? 

                If not, return to your sources and practice the exercises above. 

           Is my thesis about my primary source or case study, or is it about the world? 

                If it's about the world, revise it so that it focuses on your primary source or case study. Remember you need solid evidence to support your thesis. 

"Formulating a Thesis" was written by Andrea Scott, Princeton University . CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

[1] Adapted from Erik Simpson’s “Five Ways of Looking at a Thesis” at http://www.math.grinnell.edu/~simpsone/Teaching/fiveways.html

Attribution

Information Literacy Tutorial  by  Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System  is licensed under a   Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License . Based on a work at  guides.library.uwm.edu

• Last Updated: Dec 2, 2022 6:03 PM
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English 102: Literature and Composition

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Welcome to the LibGuide for English 102: Literature and Composition!

Here you will find links to the readings for your course. You can also access audio recordings and video adaptations of certain materials.

Summary vs Analysis

Definition of summary.

A summary is the part of the text that explains or restates what the content is about. It is typically written concisely. The summary is a short description of the context that helps the reader understand the topic or plot in a shorter amount of time.

Usually, a summary is called the “what” of the text. It only shows what happened. A lot of the main points are brought out in the summary. Usually, it is written in the person’s own words. The summary is a short, to-the-point summary of the whole article, thesis, or other text.

If you want to get the main idea of a topic as a reader, you should read the summary. Usually, a summary is written at the beginning of the text and in every paragraph if there are sections and subsections. Every section or subsection should say what it’s about right at the start.

To write a summary, you write down the main points of that subpart. Then, the main points are put together to make sentences. It is a part of the text that doesn’t need as much research as the analysis part.

Any topic can be summed up, and it can be said out loud or written down.

Definition of analysis

An analysis is a block or series of blocks of text that explain and talk in detail about every fact or idea. The analysis is usually written in a detailed way. It tells about everything that happens. It also talks about how a certain action relates to the main idea of the text.

Most people call the analysis the “how” of the text. It looks into the facts in a lot of connected pieces and concludes. Every part of the idea is broken up and carefully looked at. To make the work seem more accurate, the analysis argues and talks about the details.

If you have to trust a text as a reader, you must read the analysis. The facts and numbers aren’t just thrown out there. But every fact is broken down. Which helps figure out the right reasons. The analysis talks about what happened and why.

An analysis is a well-thought-out guess that is backed up by valid evidence that already exists in the world. It also makes it easier to see how the different parts of the text fit together. It also helps get across the meaning of the situation. The theme can be looked at and figured out with enough practice.

For more information, please see the detailed link below:

Summary vs. Analysis

Villegas, V. (n.d.). Summary vs Analysis: What are the differences. QuestionsPro. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/summary-vs-analysis/

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Literary Essay Outline Sample - English 102: Writing About Literature

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