A handy-dandy guide that will be helpful all the rest of your life.

More or less.

It’s a formal system to think about and organize your paper. There are two styles:

Sentence outline (full sentences)

Topic outline (short phrases). The TOPIC OUTLINE style is preferred for its ease of writing and reading.

Outlining puts main ideas and details in a format you can review quickly.

As a writer, you can use outlining to plan and organize your work.

As a reader, outlining textbook chapters, articles, or stories organizes information for easy review for tests.

You must follow the rigid format of an outline, using Roman numerals and Arabic numerals, along with upper and lower case letters of the alphabet to create main topics and sub-topics.

Roman numerals look like this: I, II, III, IV,

V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X etc.

Arabic numerals look like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

The outline should be divided into main topics. (These are the Roman numerals.)

Each main topic should be divided into sub-topics that support it. (These are capital letters.)

Further details should be included under the sub-topics. (Arabic numerals and lower case letters of the alphabet.)

By style conventions or rules, each topic or sub-topic has at least two entries. This is sometimes called “balancing the outline.”

So…

If you have a main topic labeled Roman numeral I, you must have a Roman numeral II. If you have a sub-topic letter A., you must have a sub-topic letter B. If you have a key point labeled 1., you must have a 2.

Indenting makes it easy to find important ideas.

Your Word program should have a default setting for outlines. If not, see your sample outline handout and follow its format.

I. Main topic A. Sub-topic 1. Key Point a. Detail b. Detail 2. Key Point B. Sub-topic 1. Key Point 2. Key Point a. Detail b. DetailII Another main topic

Observe how the capital “A” lines up

under the first word of the previous line.

The indents make your

points stand out clearly!

HORSES Horses are one of the most helpful animals to

man. They are useful for traveling long distances. Horses are strong runners with long legs and hooves designed for running. Horses help people hunt for food, too. Horses have a good sense of smell. They also follow commands well. Many horses are good work animals, especially for farming. They have good memories and learn very quickly.

A horse's coat grows thick every winter. The horse sheds the extra hair every spring. The horse's coat comes in many colors. The horse's coat, mane, and tail make the animal beautiful and warm.

Horses I. Helpful to man    A. Traveling long distances         1. Strong runners        2. Long legs        3. Hooves for running   B. Hunting for food       1. Good sense of smell       2. Follow commands well  C. Good workers       1. Farming       2. Good memories       3. Learn quickly II. The horse’s appearance    A. Coat         1. Thick in winter for warmth        2. Sheds in spring for coolness   B. Color       1. Comes in many colors       2. Coat, mane, tail color make it beautiful

Note that this section has

three sub-topics labeled A., B., C.

Only two were required, but more are OK

Under these sub-topics, there are two details, 1., and 2. If you have a 1., you

must have a 2.

Did you notice the perfect

indentations? How do yours

look?

Note the second main idea: Appearance.

First main idea: Helpful to man