190 likes | 370 Views
Outline Your Writing Habit. Final Project Presentation Haidy Hui. What is an Outline?. a way of idea listing made before students write their essays a way of organizing information provide a summary showing the logical flow of a paper a guideline.
E N D
Outline Your Writing Habit Final Project Presentation Haidy Hui
What is an Outline? • a way of idea listing made before students write their essays • a way of organizing information • provide a summary showing the logical flow of a paper • a guideline
Categorize different ideas into different body paragraphs Avoid overlapping, repeating and inappropriate ideas Being able to discover combinable ideas Check whether their points directly reflect the thesis statement Good structure enhanced Avoid making unchangeable mistakes Avoid going off track Ensure appropriate answers are given How beneficial an Outline is?
Types of Outline • Mind Maps • Point-Form Outline
Mind Maps • A diagram used to represent and link ideas and words • Usually used at the stage of brainstorming • Symbols, pictures and single words (key words) are used • Different colors are used • By organizing their ideas into a mind map, student are allowed to figure out through a diagram what points are unsuitable and overlapping. • The paper is equally distributed into different parts? Balanced? • Sufficient evidences are provided?
Point Form Outline • A more formal and detailed outline • A proposal and a plan • Not only linking different ideas, but organizing them into body paragraphs • Thesis statement formulated • Topic sentences decided • A hook? • Ensure good structure • A detailed outline = 1/3 of a paper!! (my experience)
An Effective Outline • Division • Parallelism • Coordination • Subordination
Division • Every heading should be divided into several subheadings or points • make sure sufficient examples are taken in account to support the main idea
Parallelism • Headings and subheadings should have a parallel structure E.g. I. Wash ingredients II. Set oven’s temperature (Both headings start with a “verb”)
Coordination • headings should have the same value of significance, so as the subheadings • To enhance every point has a balanced worth
Subordination • headings should be more general • subheadings should be more specific E.g. I. Immoral acts of Paulina a. killing her husband b. torturing her mother
Check List – The 3Cs • Clear? - appropriate reflection to the thesis - good structure • Concise? - sufficient evidence to support • Comprehensive? - do address all the questions assigned to you by your instructor
Tutoring Strategies 1. Personal experience 2. Examples with demonstration 3. Practice 4. Encouragements
Practice Exercise • Besides theories, also give them chance to practice • Find an essay that they never read • Ask them to draw the mind map / outline • Deconstruct an essay an see how it works • Ask them to outline an essay they wrote • Leading questions: why do you think it is not well balanced? Where are the overlapping ideas? • Help them figure their weakness for improvements
Encouragements • Tutors should understand different students have different writing habits • Encourage them to use different outlining method • Which one suits them best?
Sources • http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/ScienceInternet/MakingOutline.html • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map • http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbieohi/176582261/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/7232141@N07/465168315/