Outlining 3

Remember, we are learning how to outline so that we can learn better and faster.
Our outlines serve as study guides when we prepare for the test, but they also help us think and learn about the material. That was why we started with the thesis of the work. Once we see what the author's major point it is we have a better understanding about what and why is included in the reading.

After we have discovered the thesis we want to find the major themes of the work. (Later when you use outlines for writing you will need to find at least four of them, but your author's probably have many more.) Modern text books practice "chucking." They break the chapter in lots of small sections. When you are in a rush you might be tempted to use those as headings, but there is a danger here. The text is broken into sections more by size than content. Some headings have several sections in the text, others only one. So think for yourself when you are searching for the headings in your outline.

Keeping with the example thesis from above we can identify several headings which are in the chapter:
A. Paleolithic Life
B. The Neolithic Revolution
C. Mesopotamia
D. Egypt
E. Hebrews
F. Hittites
G. Assyrians
H. Neo Babylonians
I. Persians
That is one of organizing the outline, but it is not the only way. A less complicated way would be:
A. Prehistoric Life
B. The First Empires
C. The Middle Empires
D. The Persians
It depends upon your style and how much detail you want to include. The more detail, the better the study aid.

Outlining 2

Since there are many reasons to learn to outline, I have decided to give you the opportunity to practice and develop these important skills. Many of my classes begin with a simple outlining assignment: "Outline one of the chapters in the reading assignment." That brings up an interesting point because everyone knows that in today's world you can find most of these outlines, often even those produced by the publishers of the books, online. You could copy and paste them as the assignment, but you don't learn anything that way and that is cheating. It is cheating that is very easy to detect as well. But mostly you don't learn anything. The reason for the assignment - all assignments - is to help you learn. So do the outline yourself.

How?
First read the material carefully.
Then think about and define the thesis of the material.
All good writing begins with a thesis which the major point of the writing. The thesis is at best a one sentence statement of the major point the work is attempting to make.

eg. Chapter One in World History - "Civilization begins when people settle down along the banks of the great river (Tigris, Nile and others), learn to grow crops and create a series of cities, kingdom and empires from Mesopotamia to Egypt to the Hittites and the Jews to the Assyrians the Babylonians and the Persians."

It is important to identify the thesis before you get too far because it is the backbone of the entire work and holds everything together.

Outline

The outline

There are several reasons why it is a good idea to learn how to outline. Most of the links I have found to outlining stress its value as a writing aid. They tell you how to outline before you begin to write your term paper or essay. You should learn how to outline so that you can organize your writting and make it more effective.All good writing is well organized and most of it begins with an effective outline.Since that it true, the material that you read in your text books and probably the lectures your instructors have prepared and delivered for you also began with outlines. If you take the time to outline the material, either the text or the lecture, you will quickly see how the author put things together. You will understand the connections she sees between the themes and you will find it easier to remember the material.If you throw the outline away at that point, it has still been a valuable learning tool, but there is another reason for oulining. That is as a study aid. You have prepared an outline of the text with the important information in it. You can now review the outline rather than the text when it is time to review and prepare for the test. You can save your outlines and review them again and again. I still have many from my college classes.

Purpose

This is the first of a series of blogs on writing history for the class room. I plan to come a few minutes everyday to explain briefly my ideas about writing. Which should create a guide for students whether they are in my classes or not. For those in my classes this will also serve as a guide to my grading approach and method.

To begin with the basic purpose of writing in history is to transmit information clearly. That means this guide is going to deal directly with basics. There will be nothing complicated or fancy and little bonus for creativeness or imagination. The secret is to say what needs to be said simply and directly. That is what you should strive for so that will be my approach throughout.

When you are writing for a class your second objective is to demonstrate to the grader that you understand the material covered by the assignment. I have read a lot of fun and elegant essays written perfectly with style and imagination that said nothing about the reading assignment under discussion. "True enough I say, but you could well have written this without reading the assignment." Show the instructor that you have read and understood the reading material.

So there you have two rules or guides:
Say what needs to be said simply and directly.
Show the instructor that you have read and understood the reading material.
Next I want to write about how to do just that.