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One of the first things you need to do when facing a new subject, or even reading your textbook, is to OUTLINE the flow of the subject. You will usually use note cards to organize your sources. You use an outline to organize your thoughts and writing. The basic idea of an outline is to organize your thoughts in a logical sequence, and then determine how your other information is related. Almost all projects---paper, speech, video production, etc---will have an introduction, body (main section), and a conclusion. The introduction tells the audience what you're going to tell them……the body tells them….the conclusion tells them what you told them.
In producing an outline, start with the basic words or phrases that will be the dividing points of your paper. Outlines will vary with the subject and with you, the student. Here are two examples:
Topic: Colorado History
I. Prehistoric
II. Colorado 18th century-1800
A. Spanish exploration
B. Trappers/mountain men
III. Colorado 1801-1876
A. Mining
B. Railroads
C. Agriculture
IV. 1876-1918
V. Post-WWI to the Depression
VI. WWII-present
A. Business
B. Agriculture
(1) Eastern plains
(2) Western slope
C. Military
D. Tourism
E. Techno growth
Or…
Crime and Violence in America
I. Crime
A. Adult Crime
B. Juvenile Crime
II. American correctional system
A. Prisons and Jails
B. Court system
C. Sentencing guidelines
III. Statistics
A. Federal
B. State
C. Local/regional
IV. Proposals to Lower Crime
A. Statistics
B. Case law
C. Pending legislation
V. Summary / conclusions
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