An outline helps organize one's thoughts for a paper by clarifying how ideas fit together and showing where evidence may be weak. The document provides a checklist for creating an outline, including writing the purpose, audience, tone, point of view, and thesis at the top, then labeling main topics with Roman numerals and subtopics with capital letters, followed by supporting points numbered with Arabic numerals and lowercase letters to ensure the material is well-structured and parallel. The outline should then be examined to identify any weak or lacking material.