Sample outline for Professional Investigation Essay.
Note: this outline should only be taken as a sample direction for your paper. It
should by no means limit the amount of paragraphs you write or how you organize your
ideas. These are not mandatory steps, and you may find easier or more direct ways to
describe your field. Use this as a starting point only, not as a literal checklist for your
paragraphs.
First paragraph:
Introduce your field and the areas you’ll be describing. Discuss, generally, what
those areas entail and what they generally study or research.
Sample topic sentence:
The larger field of English tends to be divided into Literary Studies, Rhetoric and
Composition, Film and Media Studies.
Second paragraph:
Describe what kinds of careers are part of your field, and what those professionals
are expected to do/describe popular publications or databases as examples of these (or
use interview answers).
Sample topic sentence:
With a degree in English, one can go on to become a professional research
scholar, a professor at the college level, or even an editor or publisher of academic texts.
Third paragraph:
Describe types of publications in the field, and the kinds of professionals involved
in those conversations:
Sample topic sentence(s):
Academic scholars tend to publish on the very narrow areas in which they work,
for example, particular authors (Shakespeare, Jane Austen, etc) or particular areas (queer
studies, archival research). Those publications are geared towards a very particular niche
of other scholars with the same specific research.
Fourth paragraph:
Narrow your focus to your own interest.
Sample topic sentence:
I find the area of New Historicism particularly compelling, and I’d like to learn
more about how texts were important in their own time and are still important now. More
specifically, I want to know: what can the modern culture learn from Jane Austen novels?
Fifth paragraph/conclusion:
Conclude with your justification for why this topic is interesting for an audience
in your area and what possible areas of interest it might open up for you.