A working outline for research paper development builds on the
working thesis. It lists proofs that the writer expects to find
in support of the working thesis.
A working thesis for a literature research paper topic drawn from
Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was discussed
elsewhere. Here you will learn how the working thesis could
be developed into a writing skeleton™ capable of guiding research.
Working thesis statement
Here is the working thesis, which a student could assert as a reasonable
guess after reading the novel:
Pride and Prejudice accurately portrays
the social entertainments enjoyed by the moderately well-off English
middle class of Austen's day.
From reading the novel, students would know several social activities
in which the characters participated. (These may even have been
the genesis of the working thesis.).
Thus the student could with no more research than simply reading
the novel attentively, come up with this writing skeleton™
to begin the outline for research paper:
The practice of inviting others in one's
social circle to dine was accepted practice among moderately well-off
English middle class of Austen's day.
The practice of spending the social season
in London was accepted practice among moderately well-off English
middle class of Austen's day.
The practice of holding community dances
was accepted practice among moderately well-off English middle
class of Austen's day.
To develop this writing skeleton™, students would be required
to discuss incidents in Pride and Prejudice that show these
social entertainments. That discussion uses students' prior knowledge.
Then they would have to show from other reputable sources
that the types of entertainment were common among moderately well-off
English middle class of Austen's day. That's where the literature
research comes in.
Why all the points are sentences
If students don't use full sentences to plan their research papers,
they tend to research topics. They end up with piles of notes,
often simply copied from sources, but with no idea of how one bit
of material fits with other bits.
The act of writing a sentence reveals relationships between
ideas. If students cannot put their ideas in a sentence, they
do not actually understand their material.
By requiring students to work with complete sentences at the
planning stage of their research papers, you enable them to self-assess.
If they don't understand their material at the planning stage,
they still have enough time to get help before they have to write
their papers.
A working outline can be informal
A working outline doesn't need to use Roman numerals or any of
the other trappings of formal outlines. An informal
outline with a standardized system of indenting is all that
is necessary.
The outline
template shows the indents prepackaged in a fill-in form.
Once students know how to do the outlining, however, they can
build their own working outline for a research paper in a word
processing file. They simply indent the A-, B-, C-level material
one tab and the supporting 1-, 2-, 3-level material two tabs.
Formalizing the working outline
Removing extraneous materials from the writing skeleton or other
informal working outline and giving the remaining material a good
editing will quickly produce a formal
outline to submit with the final draft of the research paper,
if one is needed.
