Full sentence outlines Top basic outlining tool for efficiency
The best basic outlining format for novice writers and speakers
is the full sentence outline.
Students, and even many adult writers, tend to avoid sentence outlines
as too much work. However, the work put in on the outline pays off
in improved efficiency and decreased frustration later
in the writing process.
1 sentence = 1 complete thought
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In a sentence outline, each point is a full sentence. None
of the points can be a fragment of a sentence or more than a single
sentence.
The value of doing basic outlining in full sentences is that a
full sentence conveys a complete thought.
Those full sentences indicate not only the topics the author is
going to discuss but also summarizewhat the author is
going to say about each of those topics.
By contrast, a topic outline gives only topics to be discussed
but does not indicate what the author will say about them.
Sentences give development aid
From the full sentence outline, the author can determine whether:
The thesis has adequate support.
Points supporting the thesis are discrete
or overlapping.
Adequate evidence has been identified to support each
point.
These three determinations are essential to a well-developed essay,
speech or research paper. However, it is nearly impossible to make
those determinations from looking at a topic outline.
Students who learn to outline in using full sentences are much
more likely to get up to speed as nonfiction writers quickly than
those who rely on topic outlines. And those students are also
more likely to find that outlines are useful than are students
who use topic outlines.
Formal number system unnecessary
Sentence outlines can be built informally without using the numbering
system that characterizes formal outlines. Writers with access to
a computer can create an informal
sentence outline simply by using the TAB when they want to indent
a sentence.
informalwriting
Questions &
answers on informal writing
My ebookShape Learning, Reshape Teaching answers 24 questions teachers
at all levels and in all disciplines ask.
It includes informal prompts on writing mechanics topics and discussions of the sample prompts to help
teachers use informal writing for formative assessment or learning activities.