2 Developing an Outline.docx

2 Developing an Outline.docx

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2DevelopinganOutline

DevelopinganOutline

DevelopinganOutline

Anoutlineis:

∙Alogical,generaldescription

∙Aschematicsummary

∙Anorganizationalpattern

∙Avisualandconceptualdesignofyourwriting

Anoutlinereflectslogicalthinkingandclearclassification.

Purpose

General:

∙Aidsintheprocessofwriting

Specific:

∙Helpsyouorganizeyourideas

∙Presentsyourmaterialinalogicalform

∙Showstherelationshipsamongideasinyourwriting

∙Constructsanorderedoverviewofyourwriting

∙Definesboundariesandgroups

Process

Beforeyoubegin:

∙Determinethepurposeofyourpaper.

∙Determinetheaudienceyouarewritingfor.

∙Developthethesisofyourpaper.

Then:

∙Brainstorm:

Listalltheideasthatyouwanttoincludeinyourpaper.

∙Organize:

Grouprelatedideastogether.

∙Order:

Arrangematerialinsubsectionsfromgeneraltospecificorfromabstracttoconcrete.

∙Label:

Createmainandsubheadings.

Theory

Anoutlinehasabalancedstructurebasedonthefollowingprinciples:

∙Parallelism

∙Coordination

∙Subordination

∙Division

Parallelism

Wheneverpossible,inwritinganoutline,coordinateheadsshouldbeexpressedinparallelform.Thatis,nounsshouldbemadeparallelwithnouns,verbformswithverbforms,adjectiveswithadjectives,andsoon（Example:

Nouns:

computers,programs,users;Verbs:

tocompute,toprogram,touse;Adjectives:

homecomputers,newprograms,experiencedusers）.Althoughparallelstructureisdesired,logicalandclearwritingshouldnotbesacrificedsimplytomaintainparallelism.（Forexample,therearetimeswhennounsandgerundsatthesamelevelofanoutlineareacceptable.）Reasonablenessandflexibilityofformispreferredtorigidity.

Coordination

Inoutlining,thoseitemswhichareofequalsignificancehavecomparablenumeralorletterdesignations:

anAisequaltoaB,a1toa2,anatoab,etc.Coordinatesshouldbeseenashavingthesamevalue.Coordinationisaprinciplethatenablesawritertomaintainacoherentandconsistentdocument.

Correctcoordination

A.Wordprocessingprograms

B.Databaseprograms

C.Spreadsheetprograms

Faultycoordination

oA.Wordprocessingprograms

B.MicrosoftWord

C.PageMaker

Explanation:

Wordisatypeofwordprocessingprogramandshouldbetreatedasasubdivision.PageMakerisatypeofdesktoppublishingprogram.Onewaytocorrectcoordinationwouldbe:

A.Typesofprograms

1.Wordprocessing

2.Desktoppublishing

B.Evaluationofprograms

1.Wordprocessing

a.Word

b.WordPerfect

2.DesktopPublishing

a.PageMaker

b.QuarkExpress

Subordination

Inordertoindicatelevelsofsignificance,anoutlineusesmajorandminorheadings.Thusinorderingideas,youshouldorganizeitfromgeneraltospecificorfromabstracttoconcrete-themoregeneralorabstracttheterm,thehigherthelevelorrankintheoutline.Thisprincipleallowsyourmaterialtobeorderedintermsoflogicandrequiresacleararticulationoftherelationshipbetweencomponentpartsusedintheoutline.Subdivisionsofeachhigherdivisionshouldalwayshavethesamerelationshiptothewhole.

Correctsubordination

A.Wordprocessingprograms

1.MicrosoftWord

2.WordPerfect

B.Desktoppublishingprograms

1.PageMaker

2.QuarkExpress

Faultysubordination

A.Wordprocessingprograms

1.Word

2.Useful

3.Obsolete

Explanation:

ThereisanAwithoutaB.Also1,2,and3arenotequal;Wordisatypeofwordprocessingprogram,andusefulandobsoletearequalities.Onewaytocorrectthisfaultysubordinationis:

A.Word

1.Positivefeatures

2.Negativefeatures

B.WordPerfect

1.Positivefeatures

2.Negativefeatures

Division

Todivideyoualwaysneedatleasttwoparts;therefore,therecanneverbeanAwithoutaB,a1withouta2,anawithoutab,etc.Usuallythereismorethanonewaytodivideparts;however,whendividinguseonlyonebasisofdivisionateachrank,andmakethebasisofdivisionassharpaspossible.

Correctdivision

A.Personalcomputers:

hardware

1.Types

2.Cost

3.Maintenance

B.Personalcomputers:

software

Faultydivision

A.Computers

1.Mainframe

2.Micro

a.Floppydisk

b.Harddisk

B.Computeruses

1.Institutional

2.Personal

Form

Themostimportantruleforoutliningformistobeconsistent!

Anoutlinecanusetopicorsentencestructure.

Atopicoutlineuseswordsorphrasesforallentriesandusesnopunctuationafterentries.

Advantages:

presentsabriefoverviewofworkandisgenerallyeasierandfastertowritethanasentenceoutline.

Asentenceoutlineusescompletesentencesforallentriesandusescorrectpunctuation.

Advantages:

presentsamoredetailedoverviewofworkincludingpossibletopicsentencesandiseasierandfasterforwritingthefinalpaper.

AnoutlinecanuseRomannumerals/lettersordecimalform.

RomanNumeral

I.

A.

B.

1.

2.

a.

b.

Decimal

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.2.1

1.2.2

1.2.2.1

1.2.2.2