What is an Essay Outline Template?
An essay outline template is a roadmap or a skeleton of your essay. It shows the important elements in your paper, without giving details on the sections. An outline is essential when drafting your essay because it helps you stay focused and remain organized in your essay writing assignment.
An essay outline will have your thesis statement, topic sentence, and details of your content to guide you as a blueprint throughout the writing process. A more detailed outline will help you complete an excellent essay with a lot of ease. You will also have enough content to support all your arguments conclusively.
If finding templates of assay outlines is a problem, this article exposes you to selected samples, with detailed explanations on all the sections that matter in writing your essay.
Elements of a good Essay Outline Template
Writing an essay can be a daunting task, especially if you do not know the correct structure of your paper. Concisely, an essay outline template shows the following key elements:
- Introduction
- Thesis statement
- Body
- Conclusion
Why every essay outline template has the introduction
The introduction is perhaps one of the most important elements of an essay. Literally, it is the head of any academic paper. It gives sneak preview into what the reader should expect in the rest of the paper. Thus, a good essay outline template should have the introduction as the first component.
In most cases, an introduction starts broadly before it narrows down to the specifics of your essay and ends with the thesis statement. This paragraph gives you an opportunity to establish why readers should be curious to know the content of the rest of the essay. Other words contextualize your essay.
Things that spice up an essay introduction
Make it interesting. The intro should be attention grabber. You can achieve this by using a short story also kwon as anecdote or a historical context that gives life to your essay.
Make it brief. The introduction gives an overview of the issues the reader should find in the body of the essay. Know what to include at this level and what to hold back. If you over preempt your body, the audience will see no need of going over what they already know. Water their appetite!
Define terms. At this level, clarify the terms, which the reader will meet in the essay. You want to be as clear as possible so that you move together with your audience. Do not assume anything.
Use quotes. Quotes are an excellent way of hitting the road and putting down your essay thoughts. However, this works best in argumentative papers only.
Give background. The reader wants to know where you are coming from. Give a brief background of your topic or key issues as captured in the essay body.
Conclude your intro with a thesis statement. A thesis statement sums up your arguments, which you intend to defend in the essay.
Take a look at the following essay outline templates.
Essay Outline Template #1
- Introduction
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thesis Statement
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Body
- First Point _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- (Conclusion and lead-in) ____________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- Second Point ___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- (Conclusion and lead-in) ____________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- Third Point _____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
- (Conclusion) _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
III. Conclusion
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This paper outline template shows a sketch of an essay, capturing all the important elements to include. In the body of your essay, separate your points, starting with the strongest, using paragraphs. Here, start every paragraph with a topical sentence to indicate the transition from the end of one idea to the beginning of a new one.
You can access the template by clicking here.
The value of the body on your essay outline template
The body refers to the content of your paper. It is the meat of your essay, and tells whether you did your homework to research about the issues you are discussing. Because of the weight of an essay body, it takes up the largest portion of an essay. Similarly, an essay outline template would be incomplete without the body, which appears immediately after your thesis statement.
What does an essay body do?
- It captures your main points depending on how they appear in the thesis statement
- Gives explanations, details and examples to support each argument you discuss
- In argumentative writing, the body will also carry counterarguments, making the paper balanced
- Use strong evidence from authoritative sources when working on your research papers. Paraphrase or quote authors and remember to cite the sources.
Importance of an essay outline template
Essay outline templates serve the following purposes in academic writing:
Structure and organization. Every essay has a professional structure and format to follow. This structure ensures that the reader is not confused or lost when reading your write-up. It gives structure to your, allowing logical flow of ideas from the introduction, body and conclusion.
Your outline should also include main ideas, which are supported by subheadings and sub points. You may choose to order your sub points thematically, compare and contrast, according to their importance or chronologically.
Content flow. An outline template is essential when writing your essays because it enhances consistency in the flow of information as you move from one argument or point to another. The outline further helps you to map out your essay visually so that you can decide where to add or remove information.
Focused arguments. A good essay is that which has clear and focused arguments. An outline template helps you remain on track and avoid obscure points, which have nothing to do with the assignment at hand. It is important to read your outline before you embark on the writing process. This is vital in ensuring that you have captured all the information that has a link to your thesis statement.
Importantly, sub points back you topical sentences while these topical sentences affirm your thesis statement. An essay outline template is important because it focuses on the facts, examples and comments, which add value to your work as a writer.
Saves your writing time. A good outline will help you write your essay within a short time. Even though you may spend more time developing an outline, you will find it easier to write the paper because you will have a logical and organized roadmap to follow. You do not have to spend time brainstorming or wondering what to say next. Thus having access to an essay outline template will make the execution of writing your paper to be a walkover.
Sample Outline Template #2
- Introduction
- A. Background
- B. Thesis Statement ___________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
II.___________________________________________________(First subtopic)
A._________________________________________________(First Point)
1._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
2._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
B.________________________________________________(Second Point)
1._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
2._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
III.__________________________________________________(Second subtopic)
A.__________________________________________________(First Point)
1._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
2._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
B.________________________________________________(Second Point)
1._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
2._______________________________________(supporting evidence)
- Conclusion: A restatement of the main points of your paper
This essay outline sample shows what to consider when drafting a roadmap for your paper. You can view the entire template with detailed sections by visiting crlsresearchguide.org.
Additional tips on what a good essay outline template should have
When writing an essay outline template or searching for one, it should have the following:
- Intro– What your readers should expect, arouse their curiosity and the desire to read on.
- Thesis-It comes at the end of the introduction as the last sentence. It captures the claim and belief you hold in the essay. Each body-paragraph must support your thesis.
- Body paragraphs. An essay has at least three body paragraphs, which are arguments, evidence and topics that support your thesis.
- Topic sentence. Start every paragraph with a topic sentence to introduce the issue you are discussing. This issue should obviously tie back to the thesis.
- Gather enough evidence to back your claims. Use quotes, figures, examples, analysis and details to flesh out your body paragraphs and support your topic sentences. As a rule of thumb, support your topic sentences with at least three points.
- A good paper should have smooth transitions between paragraphs. Where possible, the final sentence for paragraph one should be integrated in the topic sentence of the second paragraph.
- Conclusion: Every essay outline template has the conclusion as the last element. A conclusion is a wrap of your essay. However, do not introduce new ideas at this point. When writing your conclusion, summarize the main points and restate your thesis without repetition. Adopt a tone that signals closure so that your reader does not remain hanging.
Essay Template Sample #3
Retrieved from tacoma.uw.edu- pdf file
Do You Need Writing Help
If you have difficulties in drafting your paper outline template, do not hesitate to contact us for specialized solutions. We offer a wide range of academic writing help across all discipline. As a leading custom writing services provider, we deliver professional help in essay writing, research writing, term papers and proposal writing to mention but a few of our services. You may also consider browsing our sample papers written by experienced writers. Additionally, you may continue reading more guidelines on handling different academic papers as explained in our blog.
Online sources:
http://education.seattlepi.com/importance-doing-outline-prior-writing-3570.html
http://www.crestmont.edu/pdf/candidates-reserarch-papers.pdf
http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/worksheets/outline%20worksheet.htm
http://www.ehow.com/info_10049790_importance-outline-essay.html
http://www.lghs.net/apps/download/2/gtj3o9HNsQR6mwnZyqWmf1CCV2E2tLscnCKotEvlgOh74pgH.pdf/Research%20Outline%20sheets.pdf
https://www.kibin.com/essay-writing-blog/argumentative-essay-outline/
https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/global/documents/library/essay_outline_worksheet.pdf