What Is An Outline

What is an outline? An outline is a blueprint for your final document. It presents the content of your report in brief, organizing your topics and supporting details in the order you intend to discuss them. Poor organization is by far the most common writing problem that we encounter at the Engineering Writing Centre. An outline is all about organization. If you are afraid organization means Roman numerals and capital letters, don't panic! Even without such structures, the outline is a useful tool [1]. How does an outline help? It helps you ...by exposing the gaps in your logic and organization early, while you still have time to fill them. It helps your professor or supervisor ...by demonstrating •

that you understand the assignment,

•

that you have clearly focused the topic,

•

that

your

content

is

thorough

and

well-organized,

and, of course, •

that you were thinking about the paper before the deadline.

If your outline gets trashed, don't despair: better the outline than the final draft. •

How to Write an Outline

•

How to Use Your Outline to Create the Final Draft

Outlines for Others: An Illustrative Example This framed web-page provides an illustrative example of a functional outline which is informative, detailed, and brief. The bottom frame contains a "scrolling" commentary on the following outline. Click on the links within the outline to find information on that specific element of the report, which will appear in the bottom frame.

The outline addresses this problem statement: As a summer student with Ford Canada, your first assignment as a member of the electrical system design team is to look into the 12V battery standard. This standard is being questioned because every year consumers demand more from the power supply in their cars: powerful air conditioners, power windows, power locks, sophisticated audio systems, power antennas, plugs for cellular phones, plugs for notebook computers. The

,

and

indicate things that the author has done right, wrong, and questions that need to

be addressed arising from that part of the report, most of which deal with the issues of audience, purpose, organization, and content. Click on these symbols to read the appropriate commentary on

each

section

of

the

report.

Outline for Formal Report: 1. Introduction 1.1 Address the audience (supervisor with limited technical background).

1.2 State Purpose: To determine if the 12 volt battery standard is a sufficient power supply to support the increasing demand for power in todayís automobiles.

1.3 Describe the organization of this report. 2. Principles 2.1

Electrostatic potential: A measurement of work done if

a charge were moved from a to b in a circuit (an extended definition will be given) Electrostatic Potential = a constant (k) x (amount of charge on body 1) (amount of charge on body 2) / (distance between bodies)2

2.2 Kirchoff's Voltage Law: The charges travelling around a circuit transfer energy from one circuit element to another, but do not receive energy themselves. This means energy is conserved, which shows that the energy released by the battery is equal to the energy used by the elements the battery powers. 2.3 The relationship between Electrostatic Potential and Kirchoffís Voltage Law is that the first offers the explanation of stored energy within the circuit, as the other uses that stored energy and shows how the energy is used by the circuit elements. The battery releases energy at a potential difference of 12 V and each element of the automobile is made to use the 12 volts of energy supplied by the battery. The battery also has an alternator (a charger) which keeps a constant supply of energy entering the battery (through the positive terminal), thus, the energy of the battery cannot be fully used up. 3. Relationship of in-class experiments (based on only one completed class experiment) 3.1 Experiment 1: Shows that changes in voltage are proportional to changes in current. This would reflect the same changes as in a 12 V battery. The current through

the

battery

remains

constant

with

the

constant

voltage

supplied. 4. Advantages and Disadvantages (of creating a higher voltage standard for car batteries) 4.1 Advantages 4.1.1 More power could be available for equipment requiring higher

voltage.

4.1.2 More equipment could be used simultaneously without power drain. 4.2 Disadvantages

4.2.1 The 12 V standard is widely used; it would take too much time and effort to change it. Costs, including re-tooling appliances to take advantages of the new standard, would be too high for the reasons for changing

the

voltage

standard.

4.2.2 Higher energy use is not environmentally friendly, leading to the question: are all these portable appliances really necessary? 4.2.3 More equipment used at the same time would lead to more car accidents. For example, cellular phone use has been reported to lead to dangerous driving. 5. Recommendations 5.1 The raising of the standard voltage will be deemed unnecessary, largely because

of

the

costs

involved

in

implementing

the

new

standard.

1. Purpose State the purpose of your report at the top of the paper. A clear purpose is the key to good reports. In order to write a clear purpose statement, determine what problem you are facing and from that, determine the goal of the report.

In the above example, the purpose statement is derived directly from the problem From

statement: the

assignment --->

The Problem Statement:

statement: "To determine if the 12 volt "[the standard]

12V is

battery being

battery

standard

is

a

sufficient power supply to

questioned because every year consumers demand more from the power supply in their cars."

support

the

increasing

demand for power in todayís automobiles"

Keep your purpose in mind throughout the paper. Reread it whenever you need to decide what to include and what to cut. 2. Audience State your audience at the top of the paper. Although you may not actually include the statement "the audience for this report is for X, Y, and Z" in the report, it remains important to acknowledge it in the outline because the audience dictates the content and organization of any report. The audience statement serves as a reminder of this important consideration and might change the appearance of the final version. For example:

If you are writing for an However, if you are writing about the same concept engineer you might write:

for non-engineers, you might be better to write it this way: amount of

Epot

= Q1 Q2

k X

d2

Electrostatic = Potential

a constant (k) X

charge on body 1

(distance

amount of x charge on body 2 between

bodies)2 Then you will need to go on and explain just what this means. 3. Organization Deciding where and when to use information is the most important part of the outlining process. It helps to develop This involves several steps:

1.

Identifying the Groups: Sometimes you will have to do a lot of

thinking and shuffling of information to come up with categories; other times they will be obvious (or even assigned). If categories are assigned, you must still understand how the provided topics/categories link together, and what to say about each topic in order to create a coherent report.

2.

Sequencing the Groups:Once you have clustered information

together, arrange it logically. What is "logical" is a sequence that both makes sense to you and addresses your audience's needs [1]. This may mean that you follow a traditional format [see EWC handbook for various formats]. Regardless of format, a you will still need to think about which ordering pattern (called a rhetorical pattern) is most useful. A single document might use more than one rhetorical pattern. The introduction to this web collection, for example, began with a definition, followed by a process description.

3.

Sequence the Items in a Group: Now you need to organize

each group and subgroup of information into a logical pattern. Again, the rhetorical patterns may help.

4.

Avoid Common Logical Problems: Two major problems are

faulty coordination and faulty subordination. Here's a simple illustration of each. 3.4.1. Faulty Coordination involves 3.4.1.1. equating items that are not of equal value, or not the same level. For example:

o

Citrus Fruits

o

Citrus Fruits



grapefruit



grapefruit



lemon



lemon



lime



lime



mandarin



oranges

orange



mandarin

orange 

navel

orange



navel

orange oranges placed at wrong

position of oranges corrected

level

3.4.1.2. creating more than one heading which could logically contain the same item. 3.4.2. Faulty Subordination involves 3.4.2.1. placing an item under a topic where it does not belong In a draft of a fourth year thesis, the writers had the following headings in a chapter: II. Thesis Objectives A.

Scope

B. Cost Function But these are not the objectives at all. The objective was to design a computer program

for

a

telephone

queuing

system. Neither A nor B fit under the heading

given

above.

Cost

was

certainly involved, but was one of two constraints.

The

other

constraint

(useability) never got mentioned in the outline. When they redrafted, "Scope" was moved to the introduction, and the new chapter looked like this: II. Project Constraints A.

Useability

B. Cost 3.4.2.2. listing only one sub-unit under a unit (this is an error because an "A" makes no sense without a "B"). In the above example, for example, the third heading only has one sub unit. In this particular case, the student was planning to include more information, but at this point

had

only

one

3. Relationship of in-class experiments 3. Relationship of Experiment 1 (based on only one completed class 3.1

experiment)

Experiment

Setup:

equipment and procedures 3.1

Experiment 1: Shows that

used

changes in voltage are proportional

3.2

Results: Shows that

to changes in current. This would

changes

reflect the same changes as in a 12

proportional to changes in

V battery. The current through the

current.

battery remains constant with the

3.3

constant voltage supplied.

Battery : This reflects the

in

voltage

Relationship

are

to

same changes as in a 12 V battery. The current through the battery remains constant with the constant voltage supplied. Sub-headings Only one sub-unit under a unit

clarify

the

nature of the experiment and its relationship to the battery problem.

1.

Make all Entries Grammatically Parallel: Most instructions

for résumés encourage you to use active verbs to describe what you did in your jobs: directed, shipped, served, was responsible for. A résumé is a highly specialized form of an outline. Following a similar principle in

every outline (whether you use verbs or nouns) will strengthen the logic of your outline, and prevent haphazardness that may prevent you from recognizing errors in planning or consistency.

2.

Choose a Format for Your Outline: If your outline is going to

be evaluated, you need to use a format that will make reading easy. Two standards are the Traditional Alpha-Numeric Format, or a Decimal Format shown below. In each case, these formats force you to prioritize ideas, so the secondary ideas are clearly placed under the main point. If you don't want to use these highly regimented systems, you can simply use points that are ordered under headings. Make sure that the headings are of equal weight and that they obey the same logical structure as pointed

out

above.

Traditional Alpha-Numeric Format

Decimal Format

I.

1.0. Main point (or introduction to a

Main A.

point

Support

(or to

1.

Evidence

2.

More

chapter)

main

for

evidence

point

chapter)

point

IA

1.1. First issue in this chapter

for

IA

1.1.1. Evidence for point 1.1

B. Second support for main point 1.

IB

1.2. Second issue in this chapter

a. support for this evidence

1.2.1 Evidence for point 1.2

b. more support for this evidence

1.2.1.1. support for this evidence

2. II.

Evidence

More

for

evidence

Second

main

point

1.1.2. More evidence for 1.1

for

IB

point

1.2.1.2. more support for this evidence

(and so on)

1.2.2 More evidence for point 1.2 2.0. Second main point or chapter

(and so on) A single entry under this system could A single entry under this system could look

like

II.A.1.b.iii.

3.

this:

look

like

this:

2.1.1.2.3. The above example uses the decimal format, but the alpha-

numeric could also have been used.

4. Content The most difficult part of writing an outline for another reader is deciding how much information you want to include. Clearly, you want to be able to show that you've thought considerably about the problem and your response to the problem, but have a limited amount of space in which to demonstrate your expertise. 1.

Provide

adequate

indication

regarding

background

information for the problem at hand: Filling in the background appropriately in the outline provides evidence of thoughtfulness and, as in the report, helps to clarify the

following

points

and

comments.

From the Principles section of the above example: "The

relationship

Electrostatic

between Here, the author develops the

Potential

and background theory which will be

Kirchoffís Voltage Law is that used to explain his decision for or the first offers the explanation against

upgrading

the

12V

of stored energy within the standard. This is the background circuit, as the other uses that required to understand automobile stored energy and shows how battery operation and what is the energy is used by the involved in upgrading the current circuit elements. The battery 12 volt standard. By indicating his releases energy at a potential awareness

of

the

principles

difference of 12 V and each involved in the problem, the author element of the automobile is gives evidence of his expertise, made to use the 12 volts of showing energy

supplied

by

that

alternator

(a

is

properly

the equipped to make an appropriate

battery. The battery also has recommendation. an

he

charger)

which keeps a constant supply of energy entering the battery

(through

the

positive

terminal), thus, the energy of the battery cannot be fully used up." 2. Show clear relationships between concepts: Establishing relationships between concepts helps the outline and, ultimately, the report by giving it a logical flow. Although this involves using certain principles of "organization" (see above), it remains important that these connections be clearly shown and elaborated on.

From the Principles section of the above example: "The relationship between Electrostatic

Here,

Potential and Kirchoffís Voltage Law is

establishes

that the first offers the explanation of

Electrostatic

stored energy within the circuit, as the

is the principle behind

other uses that stored energy and shows

Kirchoff's

how the energy is used by the circuit

Law, and both are at

elements. The battery releases energy at

work

a potential difference of 12 V and each

batteries.

element of the automobile is made to use the 12 volts of energy supplied by the battery. The battery also has an alternator (a charger) which keeps a constant supply of energy entering the battery (through the positive terminal), thus, the energy of the battery cannot be fully used up."

the

in

author that Potential Voltage

automobile

3.Provide

enough

evidence

to

support

your

arguments:

In your outline, showing that you have sufficient evidence to support your points, conclusions, and recommendations, and that you know how to use this evidence is key. It shows that you have really thought through the problem and gives the reader confidence that your actual report will turn out well.

From the Advantages and Disadvantages section from the above example: 4.1 Advantages

Here, the author does provide examples of advantages emerging from a new battery

4.1.1

More power

standard, but are these the only ones? The

could be available for

most important ones? In fact, they are the

equipment requiring

most obvious and important: both emerge

higher

from the fact that the battery supports more

voltage.

4.1.2

More

power usage, so these advantages can be

equipment could be

logically developed from the preceding

used simultaneously

material.

without power drain. 4.2 Disadvantages

As above, are these the only disadvantages?

4.2.1 The 12 V standard is

The most important one? Do they respond

widely used; it would take too

to the above advantages? Note also that the

much time and effort to change

author orders the points so as to show the

it. Costs, including re-tooling

progression from most to less relevant (to

appliances to take advantages of

audience):

the new standard, would be too 1)

Cost

changing the voltage standard.

2)

Environmental

4.2.2 Higher energy use is not

Unfriendliness

high

for

the

reasons

for

3) Driver Safety

environmentally

friendly,

leading to the question: are all these portable appliances really necessary? 4.2.3 More equipment used at the same time would lead to more

car

accidents.

For

example, cellular phone use has been

reported

to

lead

to

dangerous driving. Secondly, The conclusion must be support by the information provided by the outline.

Given these Advantages and Disadvantages, does the conclusion (recommendation) make sense?

5.1 The raising of the standard

This

voltage

advantages and disadvantages above because:

will

be

deemed

recommendation

follows

from

the

unnecessary, largely because of

1) Cost of implementing the new standard is an

the costs involved in implementing

overbearing concern which outweighs the

the new standard.

benefits. 2) The advantages of being able to run more appliances and run more powerful appliances have been brought into question because of the threat it poses to the environment and the dangers it can present.

The next step is to use your outline to write your final draft.