EMSC 302
Orientation to Energy and Sustainability Policy

Creating an Outline

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Creating an Outline

You can work through the writing process with these tips:

Organize Your Thoughts

Approach the assignment from the “top” down. At the very least, include the following:

  • an introduction
  • a body
  • a conclusion
  • references

Determine your purpose

Is your purpose to inform? To review a particular article or book? Or to persuade with your point of view?

Determine your Audience

If you’re writing to 2nd graders, your tone will be significantly different from the tone you'd use for an academic assignment.

"Outline Basics" with paper and pencil icon to the right.

Build an outline within the parameters listed above. This can help you see how your ideas relate, in what order they should be presented, and if more information is needed to support each one.

Outlines can be created with short phrases or full sentences. Short phrases are good for when there is a variety of topics, but sentence outlines are helpful for topics that include complex details.

Once you've got a solid outline in place, writing your first draft is simply a matter of filling in the blanks. Be sure that your sentences flow together nicely and that your paragraphs contain more than 1-2 sentences.

Outline Formatting

Outline formats use Roman (or Arabic) numerals along with the letters of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase). See the example below.

Steps in Creating an Outline

  1. Identify the topic. Try to sum up the point of your paper in one sentence or phrase. This will help you stay focused on the main point.
  2. Identify the main categories. The introduction usually introduces all of your main points. The rest of the paper is spent developing those points.
  3. Create the first category. What comes first? If the paper centers around a complicated term, a definition is often a good place to start. For a paper about a particular theory, giving the general background on the theory can be a good place to begin.
  4. Create subcategories. After you have the main point, create points under it that provide support for the main point. The number of categories you use depends on the amount of information you're going to cover; there is no right or wrong number.

By convention, each category consists of a minimum of two entries. If your first category is Roman numeral I, your outline must also have a category labeled roman numeral II; if you have a capital letter A under category I, you must also have a capital letter B. Whether you then go on to have capital letters C, D, E, etc., is up to you, depending on the amount of material you are going to cover. You should have at least two of each numbered or lettered category.

The above was adapted from information created by the University of Washington.

The completed outline could look like this:

  1. Introduction
    1. NOAA declares 2016 hottest year on record
      1. Third year in a row
      2. Data
        1. Average surface temperatures
        2. Ocean temperatures
        3. The record was broken 5 times in the last 16 years
    2. NASA data supports NOAA data
      1. Data
        1. Temperature findings
        2. Warmest years on record
  2. Climate Change Deniers
    1. Donald Trump
      1. Tweets
    2. Scott Pruitt, EPA nominee
      1. Written opinions
    3. Other Nominees and their stance on Climate Change
      1. Rex Tillerson, State Department
      2. Ryan Zinke, Interior Department
  3. Scientific Community
    1. Agreement regarding warmest years
    2. Varying methodologies
    3. Anomalies
      1. El Niño
        1. Long-term effects of El Niño
    4. Japan Meteorological Agency and Britain's Hadley Center findings support NASA and NOAA findings.
      1. Varying methodologies
    5. Additional supporting data from NASA
      1. Historical comparison
      2. Current efforts (<2 degrees C)
    6. Examples of Climate Change effects
      1. Australia - Great Barrier Reef bleaching
      2.  Arctic - sea ice record lows, and high temperatures
      3. Mega-fire in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
      4. Record high temperatures in India
      5. US effects
        1. Second warmest year on record
        2. Warmest year recorded in Alaska
      6. Stratosphere data
  4. Conclusion
    1. Record is no surprise to NASA

Outline derived from:
Mooney, Chris. 2017. "U.S. scientists officially declare 2016 the hottest year on record. That makes three in a row." The Washington Post. January 18. Accessed January 20, 2017.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/01/18/u-s.

link to accessible Word version of the sample outline.