Term paper outline

Once your proposal has been accepted (lucky you! go out and celebrate!), you will produce an outline of the progression of your argument from start to finish. This is actually one of the most time- and energy-intensive portions of the writing process. We may be working on this in class. Your outline should be in note form, but in full sentences so that your classmates can understand your ideas when we review the outlines in class.

We will review the printed outlines in class mid-way through the semester. You will work in groups of three, each reading your partners’ outlines and then helping to formalize the logical progression of ideas as well as perhaps debating the issues. The assumption is that the outlines review will not necessitate knowledge of the specific text, but will focus on the structure of the paper.