A detailed outline of at least three levels (I.A.1, etc). This
is a sketch of the paper itself, and is extremely important.
Using
Outlines, Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana
Writers use an outline to help them think through the various
stages of the writing process. An outline is a kind of graphic
scheme of the organization of your paper. It indicates the
main arguments for your thesis as well as the subtopics under
each main point. Outlines range from an informal use of indenting
and graphics (such as —, *, +) to a formal use of Roman
numerals and letters. Regardless of the degree of formality,
however, the function of an outline is to help you consider
the most effective way to say what you want to say.
Examples
Thesis Outline,
Morris Chang, Associate Professor, Deptartment of Electrical
& Computer Engineering, Iowa State University
