Formal Outlines
Formal Outlines
Formal outlines use Roman numerals (I, II), capital letters (A, B), Arabic numbers (1, 2), and lower case letters (a, b) to designate levels of importance. Formal outlines fall into two categories: sentence outlines use complete sentences, and topic outlines use only key words and phrases. In a topic or sentence outline, less important entries are indented, as in the sample formal outline below.
I. A. 1. a. (1) (a) (b) (2) b. 2. B.
II.
A few other factors to keep in mind:
1) Each topic or sentence outline begins with a capital letter.
2) All items labeled with the same designation (capital letters, for example) should be of parallel importance, and each must explain or support the topic or subtopic under which it is placed.
3) Only sentence outlines allow end marks (the full stop, the question mark, and the exclamation mark) at the end of each sentence. DO NOT use such marks at the end of an entry in a topic outline.
4) All items at the same level should be grammatically parallel.
Not parallel I. Dietary Problems
A. Consuming too much fat
B. High refined-sugar consumption
Parallel I. Dietary Problems
A. Consuming too much fat
B. Consuming too much refined-sugar
Here is an example of a sentence outline on American western movies in The Sampler: Patterns for Composition, 2nd ed., by Rance G. Baker and Billie R. Phillips.
Westerns
Thesis sentence: Nearly all westerns are characterized by monotonous plots, stereotyped characters, and oversimplified themes.
I. The monotonous plots of the western almost always involve the same sequences.
A. A stock situation is
Formal outlines use Roman numerals (I, II), capital letters (A, B), Arabic numbers (1, 2), and lower case letters (a, b) to designate levels of importance. Formal outlines fall into two categories: sentence outlines use complete sentences, and topic outlines use only key words and phrases. In a topic or sentence outline, less important entries are indented, as in the sample formal outline below.
I. A. 1. a. (1) (a) (b) (2) b. 2. B.
II.
A few other factors to keep in mind:
1) Each topic or sentence outline begins with a capital letter.
2) All items labeled with the same designation (capital letters, for example) should be of parallel importance, and each must explain or support the topic or subtopic under which it is placed.
3) Only sentence outlines allow end marks (the full stop, the question mark, and the exclamation mark) at the end of each sentence. DO NOT use such marks at the end of an entry in a topic outline.
4) All items at the same level should be grammatically parallel.
Not parallel I. Dietary Problems
A. Consuming too much fat
B. High refined-sugar consumption
Parallel I. Dietary Problems
A. Consuming too much fat
B. Consuming too much refined-sugar
Here is an example of a sentence outline on American western movies in The Sampler: Patterns for Composition, 2nd ed., by Rance G. Baker and Billie R. Phillips.
Westerns
Thesis sentence: Nearly all westerns are characterized by monotonous plots, stereotyped characters, and oversimplified themes.
I. The monotonous plots of the western almost always involve the same sequences.
A. A stock situation is