Moving from thesis to outline…
Here’s another sample thesis statement. You can clearly see the 3
key points this student has chosen to discuss in her essay:
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits including
decreased discipline problems, increased school attendance, and
enhanced security.
Moving from Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits including
decreased discipline problems,
increased school attendance, and
enhanced security.
The Roman Numeral Outline – consists primarily of
5 sections: an introduction, conclusion and three
body paragraphs.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Introduction (includes thesis)
Body Paragraph 1
Body Paragraph 2
Body Paragraph 3
Conclusion
Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Introduction (includes thesis)
Body Paragraph 1 - Key point 1
Body Paragraph 2 – Key point 2
Body Paragraph 3 – Key point 3
Conclusion
Here, you can easily see how the key points are incorporated into
the actual outline.
Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security.
I. Introduction
a)
Many schools have “tightened up student dress codes or
begun requiring students to wear uniforms as a way of
reducing the risk of violence and creating a positive,
productive learning environment.” (Lumsden, 2001)
b)
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security. (Here’s your
thesis!)
Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security.
II. Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits including
decreased discipline problems.
a) Long Beach curbed gang-related problems by mandating the
use of school uniforms in 1994. It required all elementary
and middle school students to begin wearing uniforms at that
time (Lumsden, 2001).
b) Ronald Stephens of the National School Safety Center
reported that administrators are looking at uniforms as a way
to address the serious issues involving school shootings and
similar violent acts (Lumsden, 2001).
Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security.
III. Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits including
increased school attendance.
a) Proponents of school uniforms believe that they improve
school attendance even though it is usually a
combination of techniques that may actually be the most
effective (Lumsden, 2001).
b) The Seattle School Corporation reported that, in 1995,
the South Shore Middle School reported a 98%
improvement in student demeanor, a decrease in
truancies (skipping school) and not one theft (Manual on
School Uniforms, 1996).
Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security.
IV. Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including enhanced security.
a) It is easy to quickly identify non-students who have entered
the school building (Lumsden, 2001).
b) When wearing uniforms, students are easy to identify on
field trips which makes it much easier to supervise children
when away from school grounds (Lumsden, 2001).
Thesis to Outline…
Requiring the use of school uniforms has many benefits
including decreased discipline problems, increased school
attendance, and enhanced security.
IV. Conclusion
a) The use of school uniforms provides many benefits to public
schools that used to only be enjoyed by private schools.
These benefits address discipline, attendance and security
issues.
b) It is logical to conclude that public school systems across
the country will begin to look at school uniforms as one step
in addressing the many concerns that plague our
educational system.
Why an Outline?

An outline is a valuable part of the essay
process, as well as a great tool to
implement in a lot of your writing. It will
help you organize your ideas and your
research. This is one of the beginning
steps of your next major project.
An Overview of APA Citation


In-text citation: This should be included in your
outline. Make sure that when you include
quotes or any information that you’ve gathered
through your research that you cite them:
(author’s last name, year of the publication)
This citation goes at the end of the sentence.
For example:
Studies have shown that learning APA citation is
not as difficult as once thought (Leigh, 1993).
APA Citation: Reference Page
Two Sample Entries:
Hughes, M. (2004). How to Master APA Style. New York: Citation Central.
Leight, V., Mitchell, M., & Wilkes, A. (1993). Gone With the References.
Atlanta: Reference Press.
*This is all spelled out for you in your APA handouts from the Writing Center and in the
Unit 4 Reading. Be sure to read these carefully and follow directions when the time
comes. It really is a matter of “plugging in” your own information.