If you completed at least one of the brainstorming techniques we talked about in the previous section, an outline should be much easier to construct. Here is the outline from the information that we brainstormed in the previous section.
| I. | Thesis: Dogs make the best pets because they are smart and faithful companions. |
| II. | Dogs are loyal. |
| A. Protect their masters | |
| 1. Bark at strangers | |
| 2. Attack those who threaten their families | |
| B. Find their way home when lost | |
| 1. Travel country to find owners | |
| 2. Evidence | |
| III. | Dogs can show love. |
| A. Wag their tails | |
| 1. Evidence | |
| 2. Evidence | |
| B. Lick owner’s face | |
| 1. Evidence | |
| 2. Evidence | |
| IV. | Dogs are smart. |
| A. Perform jobs |
|
| 1. Lead visually-impaired people |
|
| a. Quotation | |
| b. Evidence | |
| 2. Find contraband for police | |
| a. Quotation | |
| b. Evidence | |
| B. Follow commands | |
| 1. Call 911 | |
| a. Quotation | |
| b. Evidence | |
| 2. Do complex tricks in movies |
|
| a. Quotation | |
| b. Evidence | |
| V. | Conclusion |
| A. Dogs are called “man’s best friend” for a reason. |
Notice that there are a couple of elements that are placeholders. If you look at major point III, there is no evidence that supports the point that dogs can show love. This reveals that you need to look through your research to find evidence of what you know from your own experience to be true. Note also that “quotation” appears as an element a few times. Your outline is a great place to write down the quotations that you will use in your paper.
You may have only three major points, but it may take you more paragraphs to cover each of these points. Also, most outlines don’t have much more for the introduction than the thesis, but that doesn’t mean you can’t outline your introduction as well.
In the outline above, you will notice that the statements are parallel to one another and that we have followed the directions in the lesson for writing an outline, so our result is a very nice-looking, organized outline. If you are instructed to turn in an outline, you will want to work to have yours follow the correct form; however, if you are using an outline for planning purposes only, yours may look quite different as you reorganize and continue to revise your essay.
If you are still having trouble completing an outline after brainstorming to find the major points, brainstorm again about each major point of the outline.