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From Chaos to Clarity: Effectively Outlining and Organizing Your Paper

From Chaos to Clarity: Effectively Outlining and Organizing Your Paper. Losing control of your paper?. Presented by Harley Trimble and Sam Ev ans Image courtesy of http://news.bbc.co.uk. Why Outline?. Serves as a great brainstorming activity Identifies main points of your arguments

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From Chaos to Clarity: Effectively Outlining and Organizing Your Paper

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  1. From Chaos to Clarity: Effectively Outlining and Organizing Your Paper Losing control of your paper? Presented by Harley Trimble and Sam Evans Image courtesy of http://news.bbc.co.uk

  2. Why Outline? • Serves as a great brainstorming activity • Identifies main points of your arguments • Helps you organize your research material • Shows potential strengths and weaknesses in your argument

  3. Types of Outlines • Pre-draft Outlines • Traditional Outlines • Post-draft Outlines • Color-Block Outline

  4. Type 1: Pre-Draft Outlining • Questions to keep in mind while outlining • What is the assignment? • What is the thesis of the paper? • Who is the intended audience for this assignment? Source: Purdue OWL

  5. Four Central Components • Parallelism • Compare Home Run Statistics • Show Mitchell Report • Coordination • Subordination • Division Source: Purdue OWL

  6. Traditional Outline • Uses a system of Roman and Arabic numerals in combination with upper and lower case letters to classify bits of information

  7. From Assignment Prompt to Outline The Writing Assignment Answer the following question in essay form: What does the college application process entail? Your Process • Step #1: list elements you want to include in the essay • Step #2: create a working (tentative ) thesis • Step #3: make an outline that corresponds to your thesis

  8. Homework? You cannot be serious! • Step #1: List elements you want to include in the essay: • Visit Colleges In Person • List Relevant Coursework • Complete Online Applications • List Work Experience • Revise Your Personal Statement • Visit College Websites • Write Personal Statement to Accompany Application • Evaluate online course catalogs • List Volunteer Experience. • Step #2: Create a working (tentative) thesis : Selecting a college, preparing applications and application materials, and compiling material for a résuméare key steps in the complex process of applying to colleges. • Your “homework”: Use the list and working thesis in steps 1 and 2 above to create an outline for this paper. Include both main ideas from the thesis and subsidiary ideas from the list in your outline. Source: Purdue OWL

  9. Yours may have looked something like . . .

  10. Type 2: Post-Draft Outline • Outlines are important and useful throughout the writing process. • An outline is not concrete; any outline can change. • A post-draft outline alerts the writer of possible imbalances or organizational problems.

  11. Color Blocking: A Vibrant Revision Method • Visually highlights the structure of an essay • Can be used with multiple drafts • Can be adapted to various genres • Can be used to check organizational structures

  12. Assigning Meaning to Colors An Argumentative Essay: • Pink=thesis • Yellow=introductory elements and/or conclusion • Orange=research • Blue =writer’s commentary/voice

  13. Example of Color Blocking: Introduction and Thesis: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Writer’s Voice and Research: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  14. Next Step: Interpretation of Colors • Questions to ask after color blocking: • Is the pink section (thesis) positioned well within the yellow (introduction)? • What is the balance between orange (research) and blue (writer’s voice)? Does the orange overpower the blue, or is the blue overly dominant?

  15. References “Developing an Outline.” The OWL at Purdue. Ed. Dana Lynn Driscoll. 2007. 15 Feb. 2008. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/>. Knudtson, Maria. Personal interview. 11 February 2008.

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