World History, Grades 9-12

SKILLBUILDERHANDBOOKR35

4.6 Creating/Interpreting a

Research Outline

When you CREATE A RESEARCH OUTLINE,you arrange information you have gathered

into an organized format. When you INTERPRET A RESEARCH OUTLINE,you use the out-

line’s structure to guide you in writing a research report or paper that is clear and focused.

Understanding the Skill

STRATEGY: DECIDE HOW IDEAS ARE CONNECTED, THEN CREATE AN OUTLINE.As

you research a topic, you are likely to gather names, dates, facts, and ideas. All of this

information needs to be organized to show how the ideas connect to one another. To

decide how the ideas connect, think about your purpose for writing the research report.

For example, suppose you are writing a report about Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow.

You might choose to create an outline using the sequence of events or using the causes

and effects that led to the destruction of the Grand Army. Your outline would reflect

your purpose.

STRATEGY: INTERPRET THE OUTLINE TO WRITE A RESEARCH REPORT.

Applying the Skill

CREATE YOUR OWN OUTLINE.Read Chapter 29, “The Great War, 1914–1918.”

Create an outline that shows a sequence of events leading up to World War I or that

shows the series of causes and effects that resulted in the war. Choose appropriate sig-

nal words to write a rough draft from your outline.

Section 4:Creating Presentations

Use the organization of the

outline to choose signal

words that match your

purpose for writing.

An outline begins with a

statement of purpose.

An outline is divided into two

or more major sections, intro-

duced by Roman numerals

(I, II).

Each major section is divided

into two or more subsections

introduced by capital letters

(A, B).

The subsections may be

divided into sub-subsections

introduced by Arabic numerals

(1, 2).

4

3

2

1

Signal words to show time-order

dates: September 14, 1812

time frames: for five weeks

order: first, next, then, last

Signal words to show cause and effect

because

so

as a result