Outline

An outline helps you to organize your ideas and to present them in a logical and orderly way. The traditional outline presents the reader with a grid of main topics that are supported by subtopics. Outlines are commonly systematized by Roman and Arabic numerals, and/or by capital and lower case letters. Most outlines use phrases or words instead of full sentences.

When the assignment requires you to create an outline of a published text, you are basically creating a systematic or organized summary. Your outline will strictly follow the original text, and the conclusion is predetermined. When your assignment asks you to prepare an outline for a research task or an essay to be written, your outline will be more creative and open-ended. In the latter case, you should use your ideas for the main and subtopics as open questions to help you think through the issues more critically and creatively. An essay built on such an outline will be more active and engaged.

Henry M. Sayre elaborates on the topic more extensively in Writing About Art, a book required for Art 100.

Classes that might require writing of an outline:

• Art 100
• 300-level art history courses