1. The Writing Process:
Sentence Outlines
and APA
Carlow University
Center for Academic Achievement
Grace Library 427 – 412.578.6146 – caa@carlow.edu

2. Learning Objectives
• Understand the Writing Process and its
constitutive steps:
– Pre-writing
– Drafting
– Revising
• Review APA style concepts

3. The Writing Process: 3 Steps
Prewriting Drafting Revising
• Listing • Outlining • Editing
• Brainstorming • Clustering • Proofreading
• Notetaking • Creating
• Focused free “Working Thesis”
writing • Paragraphs
• Thinking about • Topic Sentences
purpose and • Transitions
audience • Ordering Sources
• Discussing with
others

4. First Step: Prewiting
• Writing takes time!
• Writing = thinking! Invest in your project
• A prewriting exercise: simply write, without
stopping, for ten minutes. This may reduce the
confusion in your head about the topic and may
help you formulate a ―working thesis.‖
• If you are doing research, it is in the prewriting
stage that your research begins to fit together.

5. First step: Prewriting
• Keep an organized bibliography (quotes,
summarized or paraphrased notes), and stop
occasionally to free write about where you
think the paper is heading—re-work thesis
• This will help your confidence about the
paper’s shape and focus & make the final
stages in the editing process easier.
• It will also help you rely less on lots of quotes
and more on your own writing.

6. Second Step: Drafting
• Write your ―working thesis‖ at the top of your
page to keep you on track.
• List the things you need to cover in the order
which seems most logical to you — consider
options for organizing & arranging the ideas.
• If your outline goes in another direction from
what you had planned, change the thesis
accordingly.

7. Drafting: Clustering
Some writers prefer to make a visual. It can contain any notes
you need and gets you thinking about organizing and ordering.
Paragraph 2-3:
Recent
Discoveries
Paragraph 1: Paragraph 4:
Introduction/ Controversy
Background about This
Information Topic
Working Thesis
Paragraph 5-6:
Paragraph 7: Results of My
Conclusion Own Research

8. Reasons to Make an Outline:
• You can see your paper in a logical form;
• You can see relationships between parts of
your sources as evidence;
• You get a mini-view of the finished paper;
• You may feel more in control of all the
research you’ve done or all the ideas you are
trying to harness;
• You need a map to keep you on track!

9. Full Sentence Outline Format
• A full sentence outline is a formal, complex
structure which forces you to think carefully
about how your ideas fit together.
• If they don’t fit, or if you don’t have thorough
support, these problems may be revealed in the
outline—giving you the opportunity to rework!

10. Template for a sentence outline
Thesis:----------------
I. --------------------- (Roman numeral)
A. ------------- (Capital letter)
1.--------------- (Arabic numerals)
2.---------------
a. ______ (lower case letters)
Use a complete sentence for each point
NO: Benefits of family dinners
NO: Family dinners

11. Sample Sentence Outline (1 of 2)
Thesis: Because eating meals together offers so many
social and emotional benefits, parents need to restore
family dinner as a top priority in their homes.
I. Contemporary American families eat meals together
much less frequently than previous generations did.
A. Most families in the 1960s and 1970s ate dinner and
breakfast together.
1. Dad’s Sunday night spaghetti dinners were a tradition in
my family.
2. Popular TV shows from these decades feature family
meals.
Adapted from The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, 6th ed.

12. Sample sentence outline (2 of 2)
B. However, today families’ schedules are so
complicated that family members often eat
separately.
1. Nearly one third of families are headed by a
single working parent and more than 60 percent
of mothers now work outside the home.
2. Children participate in more extracurricular
activities, so they spend less time at home.

13. Standard Outline Format
I. Introduction
A. Hook
B. Introductory Material
C. Thesis
1. First Main Point
2. Second Main Point List Main Points in the order they
3. Third Main Point will appear in your paper.
4. Etc.
II. First Main Point
A. First Subpoint of This Main Point
1. First Smaller Point about This Subpoint
a. First Tiny Detail about This Smaller Point
b. Second Tiny Detail
2. Second Smaller Point
B. Second Subpoint
III. Second Main Point
Repeat previous paragraph /page formatting
IV. Third main Point
Repeat previous paragraph/page formatting
V. Conclusion
Restate the thesis, tie loose ends together, suggest further research

14. Parts of the paper:
Introduction (contains thesis at the end)
Subject Headings:
Body Paragraphs
Conclusion

15. Framing Quotations
• Topic Sentence: signals change to new paragraph, makes a
transition to new idea or new facet of overall topic
Set up
• Introduce quote: According to …, In her article…--OR--
Author X argues that…
Quote Use proper parenthetical citation (author, year, page number)
• Analyze quote: comment on its relation to the topic of the
paragraph and to your thesis.
Link it!

16. Third Step: Revising
• ―Re-seeing‖ – view your paper with fresh eyes.
You are not looking simply for grammar
mistakes or mistakes in documentation format.
• Look at logic, clarity, how the parts of the paper
fit together.
• Leave time between the drafting & revising
stages to gain some objectivity about your rough
draft.

17. APA Style: Two Parts
• Reference Page
• Parenthetical
Citations
Purdue University Writing Lab

18. When Should You Use Parenthetical Citations
(in-text citations)?
• When quoting
• When paraphrasing
• When summarizing
Purdue University Writing Lab

19. Reference Page
• A list of every source that you
make reference to in your
essay.
• Provides the information
necessary for a reader to locate
and retrieve any source cited in
your essay
• Each retrievable source cited in
the essay must appear on the
reference page, and vice versa
— cross-referencing!
Purdue University Writing Lab

20. A Sample Reference Page
Running Head: SHELL SHOCK AND WOMEN 36
References
Marcus, J. (1989). Women, war, and madness. In H. A. Veeser (Ed.), The New
Historicism (pp. 132-151). New York: Routledge. SECTION OF BOOK
Paulus, H. (2000). Staying Healthy (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.psychology and women.org WEBSITE
Sanders, F. & Brooks, J. (2002). Effects of wartime violence on women soldiers.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 132-137.
doi: 10.10574/h00021243 JOURNAL ARTICLE WITH DOI
Showalter, E. (1997). Hystories: Hysterical epidemics and modern media. New
York: Columbia UP. BOOK
Young, R. (1993). Effects of traumatic stress. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78,
443-452. Retrieved from PsycARTICLES database. DATABASE, NO DOI
Zander, K. (2001, September 13). Military women and post traumatic stress
disorder. The New York Times. Retrieved from http:/www.nytimes.com
NEWS ONLINE
Purdue University Writing Lab

21. Further Resources
• Various websites (e.g.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) and
handbooks
• Blackboard (Enroll in ―CAA Resources‖)
• Center for Academic Achievement
Writing/ Research Specialists
• Your course instructor
• Grace library website & staff

22. We Can Help You!
Center for Academic Achievement
Grace Library 427
412-578-6146
caa@carlow.edu