Writing an Essay Outline
Have you ever heard the saying, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” by Abraham Lincoln? Well, it is true and applicable when writing any academic paper. If you want to have the best piece of writing that stands out, then drafting an essay outline is the first step.
An essay outline is an elemental tool that works as a guide for your essay. Readers can tell from your flow of ideas and how you structure your paragraphs if you had a plan beforehand or not. Also, having an outline for an essay will help you save time because you already know what to write.
If you are interested in learning how to write an essay outline like a pro then keep reading. Here you will be exposed to several tips and tricks for an essay outline that will help you complete your assignments faster.
What is an Essay Outline?
Before we delve into the specifics of writing an essay outline, let us first understand what it is. An essay outline, as you may have guessed, is a plan or strategy for your essay. Although you can get away with not having a plan, it will be extremely strenuous to write a paper without it.
In other words, an essay outline classifies all your ideas and thoughts to help you remember everything. In this, you are more likely to be organized and have a steady flow of ideas when writing your essay. Now that you have the basics of what an essay outline is, here is how to write an outline for an essay.
How to Write an Essay Outline
During your academic life as a student, you will be required to write different types of essays. The good thing is that all formal essays have a basic structure consisting of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Thus, this guide on how to write an outline for an essay applies to all your essay assignments.
1. Introduction
An introduction is the first paragraph of your essay that gives the reader a preview of what to expect in subsequent paragraphs. When writing the outline of an essay, make sure to note in this section, the hook, a bit of background information and a thesis statement. The thesis is the backbone of your entire essay, be clear on it in the essay outline. It will help you support each body paragraph.
2. Body
As a rule of thumb, you should have more than one body paragraph depending on the length of your essay. Make sure to include each paragraph in your essay outline. Jot down a topic sentence for each paragraph and an argument that relates to the thesis.
Since you will need to support your argument with facts and data, mention them in the essay outline. In this section, make sure to include examples and other credible evidence that you plan to expound on in your essay that will support the topic sentence.
Also do not forget to have a transitioning statement. When you are writing an essay outline, ensure that your body paragraphs have a logical flow. You can do so by noting down the statements that you will use to move from one paragraph to the other
3. Conclusion
A conclusion is the last paragraph of your paper. In the essay outline, note the points that you intend to use to summarize the ideas in the body. You want your essay to have a logical ending. Here, find ways to restate the thesis without copying it from the introduction word for word, state the main ideas and connect the hook you used in the introduction with the ending.
Once you have followed this basic structure, the outline of an essay will be something like this.
Introduction
· Introduce the topic (hook).
· A bit of background information.
· State the thesis.
Body Paragraphs
· Write a topic statement.
· Give facts, evidence, and statistics to back up the topic sentence.
· Correlate the topic statement with the thesis.
· Transition words create a flow from one paragraph to the other.
Conclusion
· Summarize the main ideas from all the paragraphs.
· Restate the thesis statement.
· Give recommendations or a call to action.
This is an idea of an essay outline that you can use the next time you have an assignment.
Tips for Writing an Essay Outline like a Pro
Before you go ahead and start drafting the outline of an essay, here are some hacks that will assist you as well.
1. Identify and understand the topic you are writing about for the essay. Analyze what is required.
2. Identify the purpose of the essay by looking into the essay type whether it is argumentative, persuasive, narrative, or any other type.
3. Note down everything that comes to your mind. This information will be useful for your essay outline.
Writing an essay outline can be challenging. These steps will guide you as you draft one to ensure you get a winning grade on your essay. However, if you get stuck, get the assistance of Homework Owls’ team of expert writers who are qualified to handle all your essay needs.
All the Best!
