How Do You Make A Good Expository Essay Outline?


An essay outline serves as a kind of a map that helps you organize your paper logically and locate every piece of information in its place. In this particular assignment, you will have to disclose all significant sides of the chosen issue and support them with the valuable evidence, and your outline should help you structure each part of your work correctly.

3-Step Manual on Creating an Effective Essay Outline

  • Catchy introduction.
  • The first part of the paper should hook your readers from the first sentence. Generally, the introduction has two main purposes that should be reflected in your outline: to catch the readers’ attention and to present your thesis properly. The thesis must be formulated in the most concise manner as it gives a clear direction for your further research.

  • Profound body paragraphs.
  • This part of the outline should give you guidelines on organizing the main body of your essay. Here you should remember three things: to highlight the points significant for your thesis, to support them with the reasonable evidence and to analyze them in an appropriate way.

  • Comprehensive conclusion.
  • The main goal of the conclusion is to sum up the facts, re-state your thesis, show its importance and make obvious the thoughts it should provoke in readers.

Hints to Keep in Mind

  • Make notes beforehand.
  • First of all, you will collect and study the information. On this stage be sure to note in a free manner the main points and insights you are planning to include in your paper. If you want to show the connection between the ideas, you may write them down in a form of a mind map, a table or a diagram.

  • Prepare several drafts of your outline.
  • As your ideas may change according to the data you study, be ready to write several drafts of the outline. The last one should strictly reflect the required structure of your paper and ensure that you will include only the acute and relevant information in it.

  • Benefit from using the sample.
  • To create a successful outline, get inspired from examples you can easily find online. Try to use credible sources of such examples as they will provide you with the correct and highly estimated material.

  • Remember to connect the paragraphs.
  • In addition to being well-structured themselves, all paragraphs should be logically connected to make your thoughts flow in a smooth way. This point is hard to reflect in your outline so just keep it in mind and pay enough attention to the linking sentences.

Great Ideas To Apply