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When writing an academic essay, an outline can help you structure and plan your arguments and ideas, while creating a guide for how to organize your paragraphs. Almost all essays can follow the same basic structure with variations based on the number of paragraphs or specific requirements.
What Is an Outline? An outline is a direct and clear map of your essay. It shows what each paragraph will contain, in what order paragraphs will appear, and how all the points fit together as a whole. Most outlines use bullet points or numbers to arrange information and convey points. Outlining is a vital part of the essay planning process.
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In this simple essay structure, your thesis statement will become the last sentence of your introduction paragraph. Check with your assignment instructions for details about how to format your introduction and conclusion. Use each of your reasons as the topic sentence for a separate body paragraph.
Use an outline to plan your essay. Creating an outline allows you to think before you do your research and start to write. The essay outline is laid out in a visual way so that you can see how it is organized. You do not have to write full sentences as an outline is only a map of what you plan to do. Introduction of Your Topic
Alphanumeric outlining is the most commonly used outline format. This formatting uses characters and numbers to organize and structure paragraphs, main points, sub points, and smaller supporting details.
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A topic sentence typically goes at the very beginning of the paragraph and introduces what is going to be discussed in that paragraph; when writing a topic sentence, one must be careful to introduce everything in the paragraph, without focusing on only one or a few of the things that
How to Make an Outline . What is an outline? • An outline is the skeleton of an essay. It tells you what the essay is going to be about and how it will cover the topic, but it is still missing the “flesh,” the details and sentences that make up the essay. What is the purpose of an outline?
