Term Paper Essay: Developing Your Outline

Writing a term paper essay does not have to be difficult. One of the ways to make it even easier is to start with an outline…after you have your topic that is. Making an outline will not only keep you on track with your research it will also keep you from leaving anything out and you can treat each bullet point as a short term goal. Each time you reach a short term goal you can take a break and mark your progress. Reaching the long term goal of finishing the term paper essay will be your long term goal. If you do a bullet point or two each day then you will find the task not so overwhelming.

Another thing about making an outline is that it will actually make your research easier. How? That is simple; if you are only researching one bullet point at a time instead of the whole essay then you don’t have a mountain of research all at once. If you make your citations as you go then that will be easier too.

Enough of that, let’s get down to brass tacks here.

  1. The first part of your outline will be the title.
  2. Then comes your thesis
  3. Next is a point of discussion. Each point of discussion may have sub points of discussion too, or they may not…it’s your call.
  4. There can be as many points of discussion as you like or that are required.
  5. Right before the end you will need to restate your thesis and sum up every point of discussion and tell how you came to your conclusions.
  6. The last page should be the reference page.

That is really it. That is all that there is to making an outline. It is truly simple and it will keep you from causing yourself unnecessary stress and headaches from trying to get everything done all at one time. Everything is easier when you break it down into small steps.

Always remember no matter what type of paper you are writing that citations are crucial. Everything must be properly cited. It cannot be said enough. Everything must be properly cited. If you do not cite your references then you could fail your class and be kicked out of school. You could be charged with a crime called plagiarism and if convicted will bear the weight of it for your entire life.