Example of an outline
Formal & informal topic outlines, same content

If you asked students to pick the example of an outline in an English textbook that they'd prefer to use, most will pick the topic outline for one reason: If they use a topic outline, they won't have to write in complete sentences.

As you read through this page, I hope you'll see why that distinguishing feature which makes topic outlines so appealing to students is precisely the reason writing teachers should not teach the topic outline as a tool for planning writing.

Both topic outlines on this page deal with oral language, which is a subject routinely included in the English language arts curriculum.

Example of an informal topic outline

The informal outline clearly shows that an outline is built on an invisible grid. The way the items align indicate which are main points and which are subordinate points.

I've begun each item with a capital letter because I think they make the points stand out better, but that flourish is not a requirement.

Notice that in an informal topic outline each point is

• Presented as a sentence fragment, and
• Lacking a number or letter to indicate the importance and placement of the point in the outline sequence.
• Syntactically parallel to the points with which is logically parallel

Example of a formal topic outline

Our example of an outline presented formally takes the same content that is in the topic outline and adds conventional outline designations. Notice that in the formal topic outline each point is

• Preceded by a number or letter indicating its importance and sequence, and
• Presented as a sentence fragment.
• Syntactically parallel to the points with which is logically parallel

All the outlining conventions do is give students one more set of unnecessary information to remember. Adding a formal numbering scheme does not make the outline any clearer or more useful than the informal topic outline.

The thesis statement

Thinking about those topic outlines, what would you say is the thesis statement the writer is attempting to prove?

It's not easy to deduce a thesis statement from a topic outline, is it?

You would find it much easier to pull the pieces together if your example of an outline were in sentence outline format. You can see what I mean by clicking over to the page that presents a full-sentence version of this same outline content.