Research Paper Working an
Informal and a Formal
Outline
A general guide to outlining!
Working Outline VS. Formal Outline
► First
of all, I’m defining these for my own
purposes. Be flexible with future
definitions.
Why “Working”?
► Working
Outline: This is a rough outline.
Basically, you create an outline that may or may
not end up reflecting how the information winds
up in your paper!
► The working outline should be as detailed or
vague as you, the writer, need it to be!
► The purpose of a working outline is to organize
you, the writer! If you have good subtopics on
your note cards, they will help guide you!
Formal!
► Formal
Outline: This outline goes at the
beginning of the paper (between the title
page and the essay) and outlines your topic
for the reader.
► The purpose is to give the reader an
overview of your paper so that he/she
knows what to expect.
► Therefore, this outline should exactly reflect
the order of the topics within the paper.
Starting my working outline…
My paper is about education. My big topics are going
to be as follows:
►
the history of why and how people educate the
public,
►
the development of new educational initiatives,
►
the changes that these have made in the system
(both intentional and unintentional),
►
the problems that have arisen through these
changes, and
►
the potential solutions for some of the problems.
Working Outline
► This
could be like an outline rough draft or a
topic outline. REMEMBER: The purpose of
THIS outline is to help you start organizing
your paper. First, look to the topics on your
note cards. My topics say things like
“History-Egyptian” and “No Child Left
Behind.” I’m going to set up my working
outline.
Working Outline as List
History
*Egyptians
*Puritans
*Plantations
Curriculum Movements
*Elitist Pool of
Knowledge
*Basic Skills
*International
Competition
*NCLB
Problems
*Needs Change
*Finances
*Unrealistic Expectations
Solutions
*Choice
+School
+Course of Study
*Finances
*Accountability
+Parent
+Student
+Teacher
I.
II.
Working Outline as Outline
History
A. Egyptians
B. Puritans
C. Plantations
1. Boys
2. Girls
Curriculum Movements
A. Elitist Pool of
Knowledge
B. Basic Skills
C. International
Competition
D. NCLB
III.
IV.
Problems
A. Needs Change
B. Finances
C. Unrealistic
Expectations
Solutions
A. Choice
1. School
2. Course of Study
B. Finances
C. Accountability
1. Parent
2. Student
3. Teacher
Working Outline to Formal Outline
► If
the working outline is a real outline, all
you have to do is make sure that it is
correct and that it follows the flow of
information in the paper. (The paper is
really arranged in that order.)
► If the working outline is more like a bulleted
list, convert it into a correct outline. (See
following slides….)
Which number or letter do I use?
History
A. Egyptians
B. Puritans
1. Purpose in education
a. Productivity
b. Indoctrination
(1) Church
(2) Society
2. Institutions of learning
II. Developments
I.
Start by using capital
Roman numerals,
then letters, and
then numbers. Start
over again with
lower case letters
and then subscript
numerals in
parenthesis. See me
if you want to
subdivide further, but
if you keep
subdividing, it’s
probably more detail
than is necessary for
this assignment!
Parallelism: It’s not just for math
anymore!
► If
you start your heading using a noun, then
start ALL headings and sub headings with a
noun.
► If you start your heading using a verb, then
start ALL headings and sub headings with a
verb.
Parallelism Example 1:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
History
A. Egyptians
B. Puritans
C. Plantations
1. Boys
2. Girls
Developments
Changes
Problems
Solutions
(Notice: They are all nouns.)
Parallelism Example 2: Outline
Boogaloo!
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Know the process
A. Read the instructions
B. List needed supplies
C. Schedule the required time
Practice the skills
A. Use scrap materials
B. Continue to practice until achieving desired result
Buy the supplies
Work consistently
Complete the project
(Notice that these start with verbs!)
Subdivisions: They’re not just for
dwelling any more!
► Each
subheading should be to
subdivide the heading.
► Start with the broad idea and
divide down to more specific
ideas.
► CAUTION: It works like fractions,
though. If you subdivide a
heading, you must divide it into at
least two parts!
My main topics…
► I’ve
divided the broad topic of
education into five main
subtopics:
► (I cannot have just one
subtopic because 1 main topic
divided into 1 subtopic is still
1.)
► See…it’s just like fractions!
Can there be three subtopics?
Yes! Any number other than 1
will work!
History
II. Developments
III. Changes
IV. Problems
V.
Solutions
I.
Subdivisions Example:
I.
II.
History
A. Egyptians
B. Puritans
1. Purpose in education
a. Productivity
b. Indoctrination
(1) Church
(a) Values
(b) Laws
(2) Society
2. Institutions of learning
a. Home
b. Church
c. College
Developments
It shouldn’t be that hard!
► The
problem is that there is a specific
format. Sometimes, it feels like a difficult
task to get your information to fit into that
format.
► As you’re outlining, just think of each
heading as a pie to be divided into pieces!

► CAUTION: WORD does not correctly outline
for you. You need to be able to do this on
your own!
A Twist on the Outline
► On
both of your outlines, I want to you
write your thesis statement at the top of the
page, which is not always done. We ask the
same thing of the senior project, and it can
help you as you set up your paper.
► Make
sure that your thesis encompasses
your headings.
Thesis Example:
► Even
though history has shown curricula to
reflect the needs of society, American
curricula constantly changes in design with
new problems being addressed with each
approach and posed solution.
Does this thesis reflect what is to
be discussed in the paper?
► First,
we should look back to the outline to
review the topics.
Outline Revisited:
I.
II.
History
III.
A. Egyptians
B. Puritans
C. Plantations
1. Boys
2. Girls
Developments
A. Curricula
B. Structure
C. Facilities
Changes
A. Programs
B. Laws
1. EIA
2. ADA
3. NCLB
a. Intentions
b. Outcomes
C. Studies
IV. Problems
A. Funding
B. Accountability
C. Problems
within the school
V.
Solutions
A. Choice
B. Incentives
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
History
Developments
Changes
Problems
Solutions
Even though history
has shown curricula
to reflect the needs
of society, American
curricula constantly
changes in design
with new problems
being addressed
with each approach
and posed solution.
It’s in there!
► Yes,
each topic is
referenced!
► Do I need to develop a
thesis that covers the
subtopics?
► No, that would be
giving far too much
detail!
► Now, one last look…
Thesis: Even though history has shown curricula to reflect the needs of
society, American curricula constantly changes in design with new
problems being addressed with each approach and posed solution.
I.
II.
History
III.
A. Egyptians
B. Puritans
C. Plantations
1. Boys
2. Girls
Developments
A. Curricula
B. Structure
C. Facilities
IV. Problems
Changes
A. Programs
A. Funding
B. Laws
B. Accountability
1. EIA
C. Problems
2. ADA
within the school
3. NCLB
V. Solutions
a. Intentions
A. Choice
b. Outcomes
B. Incentives
C. Studies
An introductory paragraph
In the United States, each state and local government
provides the best possible education for all children.
Although not every country provides such an opportunity
for its children, the common goal of educational institutions
is to develop the best curricula for the students. Even
though history has shown curricula to reflect the needs of
society, American curricula constantly changes in design
with new problems being addressed with each approach
and posed solution.
Good Luck
A wonderful resource for you is
available at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Google OWL with the topic, such as
“OWL commas” and it will take you
to the desired subsection.
Outlining is available at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/r
esource/544/01/
And at