Outlining

It might prove useful to organize the
ideas that suggest themselves during the freewriting and clustering
exercises into a preliminary outline form. It is possible to write a
paper without an outline, but it might suggest that your paper lacks
organization if it proves impossible to write an outline that describes
the thinking process behind your paper. Outlining never hurt; how
helpful it is depends on what kind of thinker you are. At the least, a
tentative outline can suggest areas in which your paper needs additional
work or supporting details to bolster main ideas or, on the other hand,
areas which have too much emphasis and need to be pruned down to avoid
an imbalance. It might also help you to see how ideas are related and
where connections or transitions are necessary between sections of your
paper. Furthermore, the outline will help you visualize how ideas fit
within the thesis statement that is taking shape in your mind. Remember
that your outline is only a tentative skeleton to hang ideas on; limbs
can be lopped off or added as the writing proceeds. Your instructor
might require you to submit a formal outline for approval before you
write your paper or to go along with your final draft. If that is so,
this tentative outlining process will serve you well later on.


The Guide to Writing Research Papers has a special section on writing outlines,
and we recommend you review that material. From that document, here is
one image (below) that might prove especially helpful, a sample outline
(from the MLA Handbook) of another proposed paper. The important
thing to notice about it is how supporting details are arranged beneath
more important ideas and the outline branches out (toward the right) as
ideas become more supportive in nature. Logic demands that an "A" be
followed by a "B." (If there is no "B," maybe there shouldn't be an "A,"
or "A" should be incorporated into the paper in some other way.)

<blockquote> </blockquote>

Based on the MLA's sample, here is Thruston Parry's tentative outline for his proposed paper on the effects of El Niño:

1. Disastrous Weather Effects
   
   
   1. December Ice Storm in Maine
      
      
      1. huge power outage
         
      2. schools out 2 wks
         
      3. jobs lost
         
      4. cost in trees
         
      5. replacing power poles, etc.
         
      
      </li>
      
   2. Rains in CA
      
      
      1. mudslides
         
      2. highways ripped apart
         
      3. expensive homes in ocean
         
      4. insurance costs
         
      
      </li>
      
   3. Weather in FL
      
      
      1. Killer tornadoes
         
      2. freeze in March
         
         
         1. dead oranges
            
         2. costs of other fruits
            
         
         </li>
         
      
      </li>
      
   4. Other Disasters
      
      
      1. Flash floods in AZ
         
      2. ????
         
      </li>
      
   
   </li>
   
2. Not so bad effects
   
   
   1. Mild winter in New England
      
   2. Flowers in Death Valley Desert
      
   3. Skiing conditions in CO
      
   4. Mild winter in upper plains
      
   
   </li>
   
3. Long-term effects
   
   
   1. Power lines go underground
      
   2. Landscape
      
      
      1. trees
         
      2. ????
         
      </li>
      
   
   </li>
   
4. Really important effects
   
   
   1. Sense of powerlessness
      
   2. Fear of next winter
      
   </li>