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Organizing and Outlining. Why Organize?. Brainstorming helps you come up with lots of ideas about your topic. Not all your ideas are keepers! Brainstorms are often scattered all over and difficult to read. How To Organize (1). Look at your brainstorm.
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Why Organize? • Brainstorming helps you come up with lots of ideas about your topic. • Not all your ideas are keepers! • Brainstorms are often scattered all over and difficult to read.
How To Organize (1) • Look at your brainstorm. • Choose the 3-4 most important ideas from it. • Ignore the rest of the brainstorm.
Why Outline? • An outline is like a skeleton. It identifies the basic shape of your writing. • Once you know the basic form, you only need to add muscles to bring it to life!
Outlining • If you start with a web, it is EXTREMELY easy to create an outline. • You don’t HAVE to start with a web. • You can create an outline for ANY piece of writing
Outlining (1) • Start by writing your focus (the idea at the center of your web) at the top of the page “Mr. T is the best teacher ever.”
Outlining (2) • Main ideas (balloons attached to your web’s center) begin with Roman numerals (I, II) [“topic sentences” for paragraphs] “Mr. T is the Best Teacher Ever” I) He’s funny II) He gives easy work III) His room is interesting II III I IV
Outlining (3) • Subheadings (balloons attached to your web’s main idea balloons) begin with capital letters (A, B, C) [supporting sentences] “Mr. T is the Best Teacher Ever” I) He’s funny A) makes class interesting B) weird voices help me remember A B B A II III A I IV A B B
Outlining NOTE • You CANNOT have a “I” without a “II”, or an “A” without a “B” “Mr. T is the Best Teacher Ever” I) He’s funny A) makes class interesting B) weird voices help me remember II) He gives easy work A B B A II III A I IV A B B
Outlining (4) • Sub-subheadings begin with numbers (1, 2, 3) Main topic I) Section topic A) Subsection topic 1) Sub-subsection topic A B B A II III 1 A I 2 IV A B B
Outlining (5) • Sub-sub-subheadings begin with lowercase letters (a, b, c) Main topic I) Section topic A) Subsection topic 1) Sub-subsection topic a) Sub-sub-subsection topic A B B A II III a 1 b A I 2 IV A B B
Outlining (6) • Sub-sub-sub-subheadings begin with lowercase Roman numberals (i, ii, iii, iv, v) Main topic I) Section topic A) Subsection topic 1) Sub-subsection topic a) Sub-sub-subsection topic i) Sub-sub-sub-subsection A B i ii B A II III a 1 b A I 2 IV A B B
Outlining NOTE 2 • If you get to sub-sub-sub-subheadings, you have WAY too much detail! Jobs I’ve held I) Postal worker A) Got chased by dog 1) Dog was brown a) Dog had fleas i) There were 342 fleas A B i ii B A II III a 1 b A I 2 IV A B B
How to Organize (2) • Once you have put together your outline, think about the following: • Does the order make sense? Am I starting with the most important information first? • Did I provide enough information/details? Too much? • Feel free to change your outline – re-arrange the order, add or delete info.