Research Paper Outline

Name______Period______

Directions: Use this template to create your outline. (Open this document, SAVE it as Research Outline on your H drive; then type your own research informationinto it; delete my reminders, such as “add background information”).The parentheses are reminders to add your parenthetical citations. Sometimes, your information will not be from a source, so you won’t need a parenthetical citation. Feel free to add more points (C, D, etc) and (iii, iv, etc). You may also need to omit portions of the outline.Write out your full thesis and topic sentences; other support can be abbreviated. The more detail you add to your outline, the better your paper .Type in the 4 (or more) direct quotations required for this paper. Use your own words (paraphrase), unless you use a direct quotation. See my example outline on my website.DELETE these directions when you complete your outline.Refer to your “Research Paper Outline Guidelines/ Rubric” when writing your outline.

Remember to SAVE this Outline to your H Drive Immediately as Research Outline.

  1. Introduction
  1. Hook/ Attention Grabber[Ideas include: a startling statistic; a powerful quotation; a little story relating to your topic; thought-proving information] ( ).
  2. AddBackground info here ( ).
  3. Add info. here( ).
  4. Add info. here( ).
  5. What is the controversy?[Optional—can add more background information instead. See model introductions on my website] Add info. here( ).

i.Add info. here( ).

ii.Add info. here( ).

D:(Thesis Statement/ Complete Sentence):

  1. First topic sentence to support your position(copy from your topic sentence worksheet).
  1. Support for topic sentence ( ).

i.Elaboration for above Support “A” ( ).

ii.More elaboration for Support “A” ( ).

  1. Support for topic sentence ( ).
  1. Elaborationfor Support “B” ( ).

ii. More elaborationfor Support “B” ( ).

  1. Secondtopic sentence to support your position(copy from your topic sentence worksheet).
  1. Support for topic sentence ( ).

i.Elaboration for above Support “A” ( ).

ii.More elaboration for Support “A” ( ).

  1. Support for topic sentence ( ).

i.Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

ii. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

  1. Thirdtopic sentence to support your position(copy from your topic sentence worksheet).

A.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for above Support “A” ( ).
  2. More elaboration for Support “A” ( ).

B.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

ii. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

  1. Fourthtopic sentence to support your position(copy from your topic sentence worksheet).

A.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for above Support “A” ( ).
  2. More elaboration for Support “A” ( ).

B.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

ii. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

  1. Fifthtopic sentence to support your position(copy from your topic sentence worksheet).

A.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for above Support “A” ( ).
  2. More elaboration for Support “A” ( ).

B.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

ii. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

  1. Sixthtopic sentence to support your position(copy from your topic sentence worksheet).

A.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for above Support “A” ( ).
  2. More elaboration for Support “A” ( ).

B.Support for topic sentence ( ).

  1. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

ii. Elaboration for Support “B” ( ).

  1. Conclusion
  1. Restate your thesis statement
  2. Summarize the main points of your paper
  3. Try to include a call to action to persuade others to adopt your viewpoint if possible. This means you provide some ways for your problem to be solved. You may not even need sources for this. This does not work for all topics.
  4. End with a powerful or thought-provoking idea. You could ask a question, have an insightful final thought about your topic, add a quotation, for example. (see model research paper in packet for ideas)

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