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.

1. PREPARE AN OUTLINE
WHY?
An outline helps
Organize your thoughts
Keep your paper manageable
Clarifies how ideas fit together
Show where evidence is weak

2. OUTLINE CHECKLIST
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Write purpose, audience, tone, point of view, and
thesis at the top of your paper
Use your rough outline to group related items
Label your main topics with Roman numerals
I, II, III, IV, and so on
Identify subtopics and label them with capital letters
- A, B, C, D, and so on
Identify supporting points under subtopics and label
them with Arabic numbers
-1, 2, 3, 4, and so on
Continue adding supporting points by using lower case
letters
-a, b, c, d, and so on
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3. Examine your outline; find where your
material is weak or lacking.
Keep the same grammatical form- topic or
sentences
Keep your outline parallel