Outlines for analytical papers
- An outline is hierarchical.
- Traditionally, the major headings are numbered with Roman numerals, the next level with capital letters, the next ones with Arabic numerals, and the ones after that with lowercase letters.
I.
A.
1.
a.
- The headings in the final paper should correspond to the entries on the final outline
- Analytical papers are stronger if they are argumentative. You should have a thesis that is clearly set forth in the introduction.
- A good outline is like the table of contents of an appellate brief or legal memorandum. Each entry is a declarative statement asserting a proposition of fact or law.
- There is no magic way to organize a paper; you can begin with background facts or background law.The logical relationship of your assertions should guide the order in which ideas appear on the outline.
- The introduction should have three parts (not explicitly labeled as such). The first part is an attention grabber --some kind of statement that will get the reader’s attention and encourage him or her to read on.A good attention grabber is startling.“More people were killed in air ambulances over the last decade than in the logging industry.”
The second part of the introduction is a brief statement of your thesis: “Economically marginal operators should be allowed to fail and exit the market.” The third part of the introduction is a roadmap of the paper.
Outlines for Narrative Papers
The core ingredients of a narrative are characters and the plot. A useful outline would list and briefly describe the major characters and would provide a synopsis of the plot. Here is an example of an outline for the short story “Traitor:”
Cameron is a freelance photographer for a TV station, just starting his career. He is enthusiastic about the capability of small drones to capture good news video, but his boss has accused him of being a traitor because wider use of news drones will reduce employment in the industry. Cameron has bonded with Duke, a young news helicopter pilot. They share enthusiasm for drone technology. Cameron now is worried that he may get Duke in trouble because his boss thinks he's a traitor and his boss also decides how much helicopter time to use and evaluates the pilots. Conflict between the two ripens as Cameron becomes more aggressive been collecting news with his drones without complying with the FAA restrictions.
Cameron hears a call on the police scanner for a mass shooter incident inside a mall. He takes his drone to the mall and launches it. He flies it inside the mall and gets some phenomenal imagery that can lead the evening broadcast. But then he loses track of it and calls on Duke in the helicopter to help him find out where it is. If they succeed, they will not only get a news beat, they may get credit for helping to find and neutralize the shooter.