Essay Outlines

An essay outline basically gives a summary of the structure of an essay and what it is about. It helps the writer to have a better understanding of what they should write about. One glance at it should enable readers to have a clear picture of what an essay is about.

The universally accepted essay structure is that including an introduction, the body, and conclusion. Thus, a typical essay outline should look like the one below:

  1. Introduction
    1. A sentence to get the attention of your readers
    2. A few sentences giving a brief background about the topic
    3. A single-sentence thesis statement
  2. Body
    1. First main idea:
      1. Supporting evidence for the first idea
      2. Supporting evidence for the first idea
      3. Supporting evidence for the first idea
    2. Second main idea:
      1. Supporting evidence for second main idea
      2. Supporting evidence for second main idea
      3. Supporting evidence for second main idea
    3. Third main idea:
      1. Supporting evidence for third main idea
      2. Supporting evidence for third main idea
      3. Supporting evidence for third main idea

3. conclusion

  1. Restatement of your thesis
  2. Insightful sentence to end your essay