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An Essay Outline: What Readers (and Writers) Want to Know

Outlines are helpful because they provide the skeletons of arguments in bulleted form, helping both readers and writers quickly see how the argument is developed, what isn’t working, what’s needed, and how elements might be more logically organized, for example.

Once a solid outline is in place, writers and readers can rapidly see the whole arc of an argument and follow along through a bulleted format rather than committing to writing or reading a whole paper in paragraph form. You’ll see this bulleted format in the example, below, which relates to homelessness, rather than to our topic, US immigration.

example sample uploaded

Outline

      • Your main claim for Essay Four that is focused, arguable and related to US immigration.
      • Underneath the main claim, list 8-10 bulleted subclaims that logically support the main claim.
      • Underneath each subclaim, provide two pieces of evidence that support each subclaim with accurate MLA in-text citations.
      • Provide a counterargument from an actual source and your rebuttal.

Introduction

      • Write an introductory paragraph that includes an effective opener, context for the debate, the definition of key terms (only if needed), necessary information to logically lead readers from the effective essay opener to the main claim, and your main claim.

Works Cited List

      • On the last page of the document, include a Works Cited list with the outside sources you are working with so fa.