This document provides information about creating reading and writing outlines. It defines outlines as summaries that show the essential features and relationships between parts of a text. There are two types of outlines: reading outlines to understand already written texts, and writing outlines to organize ideas before drafting an essay. The document provides steps for creating a reading outline, including identifying the main idea and topic sentences of paragraphs. It also provides guidelines for creating a writing outline, such as determining the purpose and audience, and using Roman numerals, capital letters, and Arabic numbers to label the different levels of the outline. Lastly, it discusses two common types of outlines - scratch outlines and sentence outlines - and emphasizes that there is no single correct way to outline, and writers

1. RIZAL COLLEGE OF TAAL
Taal, Batangas
READING AND WRITING SKILLS
Quarter 3 – Lesson 5:
CREATING READING AND WRITING
OUTLINE
STUDY GUIDE
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

2. Defining an outline
An outline is a summary that gives the essential features of a text. It shows how the parts
of a text are related to one another as parts that are equal importance, or sections that are subordinate
to a main idea.
There are two kinds of outlines: Reading outline and writing outline. A reading outline is
used to get the main ideas of a text that is already written. It helps you understand the text’s structure
more critically because you will have to find the text’s thesis statement and support. You will better
understand how a writer connects and sequences the information in the reading.
Meanwhile, a writing outline is a skeletal version of your essay. It is used as a guide to
organize your ideas. It is usually done before you write the first draft of your essay.
Creating a reading outline
You might be wondering why you need to learn the skill of outlining reading materials.
After all, aren’t theses reading assignments already organized? You may be surprised that outlining your
reading assignments can offer following benefits: Outlines help you to better understand the material
you are reading, and they also allow you to better remember the things that you have read. You can
even use them as study guides!
A reading outline is highly structured. Below are some steps that you can follow on
creating a reading outline:
1. Read the entire text first. Skim the text afterward. Having an overview of the reading’s content
will help you follow its structure better.
2. Locate the main idea or thesis of the whole essay.
 Look at the title of the text
 Look for heading, if any.
 Look for information that answers the questions, “What is the text talking about?”
3. Look for key phrases in each paragraph of the essay.
4. Locate the topic sentence of each paragraph.
5. Depending on the length of the text, look at the topic sentences and group those with related
ideas together. See if they describe a process or are examples.
6. In order to logically organize information, the contents of the reading are arranged according to
levels. A level refers to the number of ranks in the hierarchy of information in the reading.
Creating Reading and Writing Outline
Lesson
5

3. Provide a general group name for each group of topic sentences. These will be the main
divisions of your outline, or the first level. Label these with a Roman numeral. The topic
sentences will be the subtopics, or the second level. Label these with capital letters.
7. Evaluate the supporting details provided. These will be the third level of your outline. Label
these with Arabic numerals.
8. Go back to the text after you have finished your outline. Check whether you have followed its
sequence closely and that you have not missed any important information.
For your further understanding and study, below is sample outline. The outline came from a short
text titled “The Spanish Legacy” written by a local historian named Bonifacio Sibayan. The texts talks
briefly about how the Spanish influenced the Philippine language and Philippine Life in the old times.
Note that sentence outline was used, so that each point can be succinctly explained. Also note
that a couple of the main points contain up to four levels of supporting details. See how each level
decreases in topic relevance, and how each level was properly numbered and indented to signal this.
Lastly, note that the writing purpose, the reading audience, the tone, the point of view, and the thesis
statement were all identified before the outline itself. (Identifying the first four, however, is optional. It
is the thesis statement that always needs to be identified.)
Purpose: To inform
Audience: High School students aged 12-17 years old
Tone: Light and educational
Point of view: Third Person Point of View
Thesis statement: In the old times, the Spanish bore such a great influence over Philippine languages
and Philippine life.
I. The Spanish used Philippine native languages to Christianize the natives.
A. The friars discovered that it was easier to preach the Good News in the native’s own languages.
B. It was easier for priest to learn the native language and preach in it, than for the natives to learn
Spanish and learn Christianity in it.
II. The Spanish mixed terms from their own language with the Philippine native languages.
A. The Spanish retained certain key concepts in their own language because these terms did not
have equivalents in the native language. They also did this so the natives could not equate these
terms with their pagan beliefs.
1. These concepts includes: God, Holy Trinity, Holy Ghost, Virgin Mary, the Pope, grace, sin,
cross, hell, Holy Church, Sunday and the names of the Sacraments.
2. These words can be found in the first book to be published in Tagalog named the Doctrina
Christiana. This book was published in the year 1593.
B. This was the beginning of the marriage of Spanish and the Philippine languages that came under
the Spanish Christian influence.

4. C. This allowed the “common people” to start learning Spanish not only in religion but also at home
and in everyday life.
III. The Spanish, and a minority of Filipinos, also used the Spanish language in the domains of higher
education, government, and law.
A. Very few Filipinos learned Sapanish well.
1. The University of Santo Tomas only conferred 2, 169 degrees from the year 1634 to the year
1865.
2. Toward the end of the Spanish regime, only 2. 46% of an adult population of 4. 65 million
spoke Spanish.
B. The few Filipinos who did learn Spanish (referred to as illustrados) were the same people who
exerted an enduring influence in the domains of Philippine education, government and law.
C. Spanish was an official language of the Philippines up until the year 1986.
Creating a writing outline
A writing outline is basically a skeletal overview of your draft, which contains your
fundamental points and different ideas that support them. In its use, an outline works like a map: It
shows you where each of your ideas are placed in your writing; how all of them fit together; and how
each leads to the central idea of your writing. It also determines the boundaries of your draft; how
much of your subject will need to cover without lacking or exceeding in details.
Below are the parts of a formal outline. Similar to a reading outline, the main ideas are
written beside Roman numerals. Supporting ideas under each main idea are written beside capital
letters and indented. Specific details under each detail are written beside Arabic numbers and are
further indented.
I. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
1. Subsidiary idea to B
2. Subsidiary idea to B
a. Subsidiary idea to 2
b. Subsidiary idea to 2
II. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
B. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
C. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
Read on below for a list of suggestions in creating your outline. The list can be a model for you to
follow for the time being, and then later on you can develop your own guide to outlining.
 Determine what your purpose is for writing the thesis; who you reading audience is; and what
point of view and tone you would like to assume in delivering your message.
 Begin your outline with a thesis statement. Keep in mind that it should encompass everything in
your outline.

5.  Review your notes. Remove any idea that does not support your thesis, or does not conform to
your chosen writing purpose, audience, point of view and tone. Add in any new ideas as
necessary.
 Group together similar ideas and thoughts. Then name each group with a heading that also
serves as a main topic supporting your thesis. Remember that the key outlining is distinguishing
between main ideas and supporting ideas.
 Label all the main topics with Roman numerals. Note that they will be your outline’s first level.
Make sure your main topics are logically sequenced.
 Identify the subtopics and classify them under the correct main topics. Label theses subtopics
with uppercase letters. Note that they will be your outline’s second level.
 Identify supporting points (such as illustrations and examples) and classify them under the
correct subtopics. Indent and label them with Arabic numbers. Note that they will be your
outline’s third level.
 Identify particular details such (such as statistics, quotes, and other secondary information) and
classify them under the correct supporting points. Indent and label them with lowercase letters.
Note that they will be your outline’s fourth level.
 Check your outline for unsupported evidence. Omit it, or add in new supporting details as
necessary.
 Re-examine all your main topics, subtopics, supporting points, and particular details to see that
they all develop your thesis, and are logically sequenced. Also check that all levels in the outline
have parallel wording and grammatical structure.
 Show your proposed outline to a number of people such as your teacher, your classmates, your
friends, or even your family. Get feedback from them on what to improve in your outline.
Different individual styles are used in creating outline. There are writers who develop
rigid, highly –detailed overviews; and there are those who only scratch together informal lists. There are
writers who can create fast and short outlines, and there are those who spend time and effort in
working out their ideas. Let us narrow down all those styles to name the two kinds of generally
accepted outlines: Scratch (or topic) outlines, and sentence (or formal outlines.
A scratch outline is a simple list of ideas that take the form of words and phrases. A
sentence outline, as its name suggests, uses sentences to define the subject matter. This is similar to
the outline previously explained scratch outlines are good for brevity, while sentence outlines are good
for their use of specific detail. Do not pressure yourself to stick to one type of outline; again, experiment
and choose one to your liking. Just make sure that you are consistent in your choice of outline; mixing
both scratch and sentence outlines may be confusing. Though, what you must remember is that there is
no one real or right way to outline. Outline only if it will help your writing, and outline in a way that
helps you the best.