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.