Essay Writing Outlining and Organizational Strategies Practice

Review the lesson for this concept at Essay Writing Outlining and Organizational Strategies Help.

Essay Writing Outlining and Organizational Strategies Practice

Practice 1: Create an Outline Using Chronology

On a separate sheet of paper or your computer, create an outline using chronology as your organizational principle. Your outline can be rough or formal. Use one of your brainstorms from Freewriting and Listing Help or Writing, The 5 W's, and Mapping Help, or one of the brainstorms provided as an example to create your outline.

Practice 2: Creating an Outline Using Cause and Effect or Spatial Organizing

On a separate sheet of paper or your computer, create an outline using either the cause and effect or spatial organizing principle. Your outline can be formal or informal. Use one of your brainstorms from  Freewriting and Listing Help or Writing, The 5 W's, and Mapping Help, or one of the brainstorms provided as an example to create your outline.

Answers

Practice 1: Create an Outline Using Chronology

Here is a sample chronological outline.

1. Studied all week to get ready for exam.
2. Taking exam—seeing everyone cheating. Very angry.
3. Typing up note at home.
4. Leaving note on teacher's desk.
5. Teacher confronting class.
6. People deciding it was Pearl who told on them.
7. Begin mean to Pearl.
8. Feeling guilty.
9. Telling Rob.
10. Walking into cafeteria and having people make fun of me.
11. People avoiding me for weeks.

Practice 2: Creating an Outline Using Cause and Effect or Spatial Organizing

Here's an outline for the same freewriting exercise using cause and effect as the main organizing principle.

How I came to be called "The Rat":

1. Start with walking into the cafeteria and people pointing at me, saying, "Look, there's the Rat."
2. Describe how I'd left an anonymous note for the teacher.
   • describe why—the test
3. Explain how Pearl was blamed.
4. Describe dilemma—wanting to take blame off Pearl but not wanting to be hated by others.
5. Talk about consequences of doing what I thought was right:
   • nickname
   • people avoiding me
6. Describe how I feel about it now
   • still think I did the right thing, but should have given my name from the beginning
   • my fear of being outcast made me give anonymous note; that way the teacher couldn't help Pearl, or me, until it was too late.
   • learned that if I think something is right (or wrong), I should stand up for it (or against it) totally, not just halfway.