Thesis Outline* Due Date: Thursday, 1 April_hand written, ok typed by Friday _ How to: Itis pretty easy to create the outline for your thesis IF you have completed note cards. If you have 50-75 note cards you ate in good shape. “to figure out what your outline will be you will take yout note eards and sort them. Begin with yout “Working “Hypothesis” card. Put this at the top of a large desk ot table: Then begin sorting your cards into stacks. Bach stack should be on one major theme, topic, or idea that will help support and explain your hypothesis (there should also be a stack off to the side for catds that you are not going to use). You will probably make 2-5 useful stacks at this stage. Bach of these main stacks will be a section of yout paper. ‘Once you are done with the first sorting you should decide what order you will present the sections you have created, Put your stacks in the order you will put them in your paper from left to tight. Next you should number ‘each and every card in every stack. Take all the cards from the frst section that will be in your paper and mark ‘each of these cards with a Roman Numeral “Ij” put this number on the far left of the top line of every card in the stack. (Roman Numeral Twill be for the introduction to your thesis) Take the cards for the second section of your thesis and mark all of these cards with a Roman Numeral II. Repeat this until you have weitten a roman numetal in the upper left corner of EVERY note card you are going to use. ‘After you have numbered every card according to the section it is going to be, begin the next process of sorting your cards, Take all of the “ID” stack and see if you have'a card that represents the thesis for this section. If you do not then create a new card that has the thesis for the first section. Add a “A.” to the card just after the “— (eg, ILA). Next, take al of the cards in the stack and sort them into related piles. Depending on the breadth ot complexity of this particulat section you are either creating piles that represent paragraphs in a section, of you may be creating, 2-3 subsections to a section. Once all of the cards in the section have been sorted into piles, each stack needs receive a capital letter. Cards that will be in the introduction to the section will receive the letter “A.”, cards for the first body section will be labeled LLB, the second body section I.C,, etc. IF your section has subsections, and not just paragraphs that the capital letters will represent the sub-sections. Cards in subsections will need to be so¥ted into stacks to create paragraphs. If a section has sub sections then parageaphs will receive an arabic number after the capital letter, eg, LBA, ILB2, etc. Each time you create a stack of cards that isa sub-section, you should create a card that stites the thesis of that sub-section. This catd will always be the letter “A” that follows the roman numeral. Each time you create a stack of cards that represent a paragraph (generally a stack of 2-5 cards would be appropriate for a paragraph) create a Topic Sentence card for that paragraph. Keep this card on the top of each stack of cards that represents a paragraph. Repeat the process of sorting cards within each section and subsection until you have labeled every card with a Section, (Sub-section —- if applicable), and paragraph Number or letes. You may be wondering what all this sorting has accomplished; in short you have created your entice outline by sorting your cards!Visual of Note Card Sorting and the Relation to Outline SE, Marking Heating . Se) IL Seo) we Gediely) 3 eete a tel “There is a specific order that you need to use in creating an outline. Zach kind of number of letter goes in a particular order and shows the relative level of organization of the information, ‘The order is as follows. Note that each lower level of organization is “tabbed” in one additional tabs 1. Working Hypothesis 1. TL Thesis for First Body Section ‘A. Topic Sentence for Peagraph BB Topic Sentence for Paragraph Topic Sentence for Paragraph M1. II, Thesis for Second Body Section [A. Thess for First SubSection 4. Topie Sentence for Parageep 2, Topic Sentence for Parageaph 3. Topic Sentence for Pasagsaph B 1B Thesis for Second Sub-Section 1. Topie Sentence for Paregeeph 2. ‘Topie Sentence for Paragraph 3. Topic Sentence for Parageaph 4 Topic Sentence for Paragraph Vv TV. Thesis foe Thea Body Section ‘A. Topic Sentence for Paragraph BB Topic Sentence for Paragraph G Topie Sentence for Paageaph Topic Sentence for Parageaph ‘V Thesis for Fourth Body Section ‘A. Thesis for Fist Sub-Section 1 1. Topic Sentence for Paragraph 2 2. ‘Topic Sentence for Paragraph B Thesis for Second Sub Section . 1.Tepic Sentence for Parageaph 2 2. Topi Sentence for Paragraph c C. Thess for Thied Sab-Section v “VI. Conclusion > o> Petre > poR> ye