Essay Outline - How to Write an Essay Outline with Examples

Have you ever wondered why one person in your class manages to get A+ for all his/her essays, while you have to settle for average scores? Even though you both are writing on the same topic, there’s a significant difference in the approaches.

A majority of the high-scoring essays are built on a well-planned essay outline. Unfortunately, a number of students find these essay outlines unnecessary, which is why they often struggle to produce impressive essays within the deadline.

What Is an Essay Outline?

An essay outline can be defined as a plan for an essay paper. It provides the structure of the essay by organizing the main points into paragraphs in a way that makes sense. You can consider an essay outline as the roadmap for your essay. The outline tells you what goes where in the essay.

Why Do You Need an Essay Outline?

It was hinted earlier that an essay outline improves the quality of an essay paper, and if you look at the benefits of developing an essay outline, you will know why it is essential for essay writing.

1. An essay outline guides you through the essay writing part and helps you stay on track.
2. With a proper essay outline at hand, you can write the content more confidently.

• The outline allows you to present the arguments in an organized manner.

1. As the outline keeps you from working on unnecessary steps, you can actually save time.

As you may realize now, an outline for your essay can benefit you in several ways.

How to Write an Essay Outline?

Before learning how to write an outline for an essay, it is important to learn about the major elements of the essay outline format. An essay outline contains:

• Title page
• Essay title
• Student name
• Professor’s name
• Class (Optional)
• Introduction
• Hook
• Brief description of the paper
• Brief background detail of the topic
• Thesis statement
• Body paragraph 1
• Evidence or reference
• Explanation (related to the thesis)
• Link sentence to the next paragraph
• Body paragraph 2
• Evidence or reference
• Explanation (related to the thesis)
• Link sentence to the next paragraph
• Body paragraph 3
• Evidence or reference
• Explanation (related to the thesis)
• Link sentence to the next paragraph
• Conclusion
• Summary of the entire paper
• A conclusive sentence
• Citations
• Reference list

You can simply use this aforementioned detail as an essay outline template. However, the essay template may vary slightly based on the chosen formatting style. So, it is recommended to understand the formatting guidelines properly before you develop the outline for your essay.

Tips for Essay Outline Writing

While writing the essay outline, you should keep these following things in mind:

1. Conduct research beforehand:

Before you develop the outline for your essay, find credible sources and note them down. This will help you build a more comprehensive outline for the essay. Search across credible websites and find references that you can add in the academic paper.

2. Prioritize your thesis:

Your thesis statement is going to be the summary of your whole paper. So, prioritize the thesis before you start working on the other sections of the outline. The thesis statement can help you plan the rest of the paper.

3. Write the ideas:

When you are done writing the basic headings of the outline, write down all the key points from the research information in the thesis and body paragraphs.

Use these tips while developing the essay outline and prepare an impressive outline for the essay.

Essay Outline Sample

Title: The Disadvantages of Having a Smartphone

Student name: Samuel Keith Marsh

Professor’s name: Dr. Arnold Bolton

Class: Class of 2020

Introduction

• Hook: Smartphones are far more dangerous than we realize.
• Description: From causing accidents on the road to keeping students from studies – smartphones have affected the generation rather adversely.
• Background: Even though the technology was meant for communication, it has outdone itself and now replaced several other technologies in its path of evolution.
• Thesis: The paper describes the negative effects of smartphones on humans and how it is affecting our lifestyle on a daily basis.

Body paragraph 1:

• Evidence or reference: Research by XYZ University found that XX% of people use their smartphones while driving or crossing the road.
• Explanation: The use of a mobile phone on the road can be as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol.
• Link sentence: Talking about health issues, there are also a few concerns that need to be addressed now.

Body paragraph 2:

• Evidence or reference: Researches suggest that mobile phones use radiofrequency to communicate. If the radiation is high enough, it can cause a rise in body temperature.
• Explanation: The radiation from the phone possesses cancerous elements after long-term usage.
• Link sentence: Moreover, smartphones are disrupting human interaction.

Body Paragraph 2:

• Evidence or reference: X. Smith argues that the use of smartphones while in a social situation affects the quality of human conversation.
• Explanation: Phone calls and Instant Messaging have gotten to a point where humans are no longer communicating.
• Link sentence: Smartphones are turning into addictions and putting the users at risk of numerous threats.

Conclusion:

• Summary of the paper: Highlight the pain points
• Conclusive sentence: The continuous and excessive usage of smartphones is becoming a huge problem for the generation in more ways than one imagines.

Citations:

• List the name of sources of external references used in the research paper.

You can use this essay outline example to understand how the essay outlines work and create one for your assigned essay. However, if it seems difficult for you to do, you can always get professional assistance on essays.

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