The Reverse Outline
Working with structure and organization.
-
Write one sentence for each paragraph.
-
The sentence should express the main idea of the paragraph as completely as possible.
-
Write complete sentences.
-
Write them from the writer’s point of view. (Not “She thinks” or “The paragraph says”—just write it as he would.)
I know that there are study programs that can help high school students prepare for the SAT. For example, Khan Academy has free videos specifically to help students study for the types of math problems that will be on the test. Some students hire an SAT tutor that comes to their house to help them practice questions and learn test-taking strategies. Students can purchase SAT prep books that contain practice exams and explanations of what to expect on the test. Some schools also have special classes on how to answer SAT questions.
There are many different ways that students can prepare for the SAT.
With the rest of the essay:
- Write one sentence for each paragraph.
- The sentence should express the main idea of the paragraph as completely as possible.
- Write complete sentences.
- Write them from the writer’s point of view. (Not “She thinks” or “The paragraph says”—just write it as he would.)
Finally, when you're done with the last paragraph, write a one-sentence summary of the whole paper.
The big idea of the Reverse Outline is that it allows you to make a smaller, more manageable version of your paper--kind of like a scale model. That means two things:
-
It shouldn't be hard to write your one-sentence summaries. If you have difficulty writing one sentence to explain the paragraph, there are probably too many ideas at work in that paragraph. Consider dividing the paragraph up.
-
Your one-sentence summaries should read like a paragraph. When you read your summaries from top to bottom, they should make sense, and they should still make your point clearly--even if they don't have much detail.
Things to Do With The Reverse Outline
- Each of your paragraph summaries should fit with your whole-essay summary. Unity means that each piece of the essay is working toward the same goal; your whole-essay summary should express that goal. Anything that doesn't fit with that probably doesn't belong in the paper.
- Look for long, awkward, or run-on sentences. I don't mean in your paper, here; I mean in your Reverse Outline itself. If your Reverse Outline has any long, awkward, or run-on sentences, that probably means that the paragraph you're describing has too much going on. Those are good paragraphs to think about breaking into smaller pieces.
- Look for things that don't belong. If a summary sentence doesn't seem to fit in the Reverse Outline, it's a good idea to think about removing that paragraph from your essay.
- Look for things that are out of place. If your Reverse Outline feels like it's out of order, or like you're jumping back and forth, your paper probably does, too. If moving a sentence within the Outline makes sense, you can probably move the paragraph within the paper in a similar way.
- Look for things that are missing. The nature of summary--and therefore the Reverse Outline--is that there's not a whole lot of detail there. But keep an eye out for ideas that are missing, not just lacking detail. If there's something that's important to your argument that isn't on your Outline, it's probably missing from your paper, too.
- Move things around. Play with your Reverse Outline. That's what it's for. Try new things by moving pieces of your outline around, changing the order, adding things in, and taking things away. Each change you make to your Reverse Outline is one that you could make to your paper. If it helps the Reverse Outline make more sense, it's probably also going to help your paper work better.
Bring these to class next time!!!
We'll be working with these to help us think through how we might organize our Phases into a full essay. Make sure to bring both the essay and your Reverse Outline. :)