Essay writing is a very crucial academic chapter in schools, Colleges, and Universities. Writing an essay can often be a handful if you do not know how to structure it. In order to write an essay successfully, you need to create an outline first.
You should know where to give what information. If you are a student in a university, then learning how to write an essay outline becomes all the more important.
Essay outlines come in very handy as it gives guidance and structures to the writers. It should summarise all the informative ideas you intend to put in your essay, keeping the academic structure intact.
In this article, we are going to delve deep into learning how to write an essay outline. Essay outlining is the process of organizing and structuring your essay into paragraphs so that writing becomes a lot easier. So without wasting any further time, let us get started.
Essay Outline 101
In order to successfully learn how to write an essay outline, you must first know what an essay outline is. It is basically a plan to structure your essay so that you get an A+ for your assignment.
Basically, it consists of breaking down your essay into paragraphs, so all the relevant information is given at the proper places. Writing an essay without maintaining an outline is also possible, but it is not something that is recommended.
Down below are the reasons why you need to give importance to the outline of your essay.
- When you have an outline, the flow of writing does not get affected.
- When you research, you get a ton of data, both relevant and irrelevant information. So when you create an essay outline, it helps in organizing the data that you want to give.
- It is very hard to miss anything when you have an essay outline.
Now that you know why it is so important to write an essay outline let us take a look at the steps and guidelines of writing an essay outline.
How To Write An Essay Outline?
In most colleges and universities, the 5 paragraph rule is followed. The first paragraph consists of the introduction where you make a thesis statement.
The next three paragraphs should be the body, and the last paragraph should be the conclusion. Do note that you cannot afford to miss any important information and evidence while writing an essay.
Introduction
An introduction is the first part of an essay outline, and it is one of the most important parts. An introduction is a part where you will have to delve deep into the topic and make a thesis statement.
It should include what the topic is about and what you feel about the topic. Doing a thesis will help you further expand your essay.
Body (Paragraphs 1, 2, & 3)
The body section is going to be the lengthiest section of the essay as it is going to have three paragraphs. Each paragraph will deal with the topic and provide an argument as well as a small conclusion.
You must not forget to give supporting data, examples, and facts. Research work is very important while writing the body part.
Conclusion
The conclusion is the part where you give an overall conclusion of the whole essay. You give a summary of conclusions. Your conclusion will give the final answer to all the questions that were addressed in your essay.
How To Write An Essay Outline In 5 Easy Steps?
Down Below Are The Steps in which you can successfully create an outline for your essay.
Step 1: Go Through The Guidelines Properly
The first step of creating an outline would be to go through the guidelines and instructions of the assignment properly.
You must take note of the important phrases and words in the instruction. If you have a doubt, do not feel shy to ask your teacher or your friends.
Step 2: Decide The Topic
Even though creating an essay outline makes the writing process a lot easier, you would still need to know what topic you are going to be writing on.
I would suggest you take a piece of paper and pen and sit down for a brainstorming session. Jot down all the ideas that come to your mind.
Step 3: Know The Purpose
You have to realize the purpose of your writing. What is it that you are going to achieve upon the completion of the paper? When you have a clear purpose, making an essay outline becomes all the easier.
Are you writing the essay to educate? Or are you writing it to entertain? If required, go through the guidelines of your assignment for a second time to have a clear idea of the purpose.
Step 4: Know Whom You Are Writing For
Knowing your audience is an extremely crucial step. Ask yourself who is going to read your essay? Is it your instructor? Your classmates or total strangers?
When you have a clear idea about the audience for whom you are writing, then making an outline becomes very easy.
Step 5: Create Your Thesis
When you are done deciding your topic, and when you have known your audience, it is time to create your thesis. A thesis focuses on the important aspects of the essay.
Keep in mind your thesis should not be too long in length. Also, ensure that your thesis has valid argumentative points. It should be able to make the reader think. It should also be good and effective.
Final Thoughts On Learning Essay Outline
There you go, that was pretty much everything you needed to know about learning how to write an essay outline. I hope this article has given you clear insights into the structure and the steps of creating an essay outline.
By now, you must have known how important an essay outline is for a good essay. Your essay outline decides how long is an essay. If you have some questions or feedback in regards to this article. Kindly post them down in the comments section down below.
