An outline is an overview that you write for yourself to help you structure your thoughts. It can be as formal or informal as you like, but do try to make it roughly understandable so I can follow what you are doing. Remember: this is a working document. You may change it in any way you like as you actually start writing. Here are you just trying to get the shape of your paper, a kind of roadmap for yourself.
Below are a few questions you may find helpful to ask yourself.
1. What is your main argument or question?
- Are there any elements of surprise or drama?
- Perhaps unintended consequences or something counterintuitive
- Why should the reader care about your story?
- What does it tell the reader that they would want to take away with them?
- How does it relate to larger issues of feminist thought?
- How does your argument relate to secondary research you have done? Do you have a perspective that differs from or confirms the work of other people? Are there any surprises here?
2. How will you structure your paper?
- Think about how to break up your topic analytically so each part relates to your larger argument.
- You can use subheadings to indicate those parts.
- What evidence might you use in each of your subheadings?
- How does that evidence relate to your main argument(s)?
3. What might be any limits to your argument (typically called caveats)?
- What are you not arguing? What questions can’t you answer given the limits of your information? What might be the weaknesses of your information or your argument?
4. What if someone disagreed with your argument? How would they characterize their counterargument and what might you say in response?
5. As you are working, think also about your title. How can you create a title that indicates your argument and has some vivid language?
6. Feel free to use as many quotes and bits of information as you want in your outline. It is really for you—and for me—to help you hone and develop your work.
7. Also feel free to include questions for yourself (or me) as you are writing. You can put them into the outline or in the margin as comments.
8. What might be your rough conclusions at this point in your research?
- After you get to this point, circle back and think again about what you might want to put in your first paragraph.
