0:00 Owl: Welcome to How to Make an Outline, an instructional video on reading comprehension brought to you by the Excelsior College Online Writing Lab. 0:14 Teachers often talk about the importance of making an outline. 0:19 However, students are often unfamiliar with how and why to make one. 0:25 Outlines are a great way to organize and evaluate ideas. 0:29 They can be used as a pre-writing method to get you ready to write. 0:33 But they can also help you improve your reading comprehension by breaking down the text into its main ideas. 0:41 Outlines present information in an organized and logical manner. 0:46 Whether you’re outlining a text or a concept, your outline should focus on main ideas and key details. 0:53 Organizing this information into an outline will show how the information is related. 0:58 The finished product will cover a lot of material in a relatively small space. 1:05 In an outline information consists of heading and subheadings that are laid out using an ordering system comprised of capitalized and uncapitalized Roman numerals, letters, and numbers. 1:18 This method provides an efficient and logical way to present information and show how it is related. Displayed on screen Sample Outline Title Heading 1 Heading 2 Subheading 1 Subheading 2 ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ 1:26 In order to use the outlining method correctly, you’ll first need to understand the four rules it follows. 1:32 They are: parallelism, coordination, subordination, and division. 1:40 Let’s go over each rule. 1:44 The first rule of outlining is parallelism. 1:48 This means headings of the same level should be of the same kind. 1:52 For instance, if the first heading is a verb, the second heading should also be a verb. Displayed on screen Example: Three types of muscle tissue Skeletal muscle Cardiac muscle Smooth muscle 1:58 In this example of an outline for a chapter on muscle tissue, the headings “Skeletal muscle,” “Cardiac muscle,” and “Smooth muscle” are of the same level because they are ordered with a capital letter. 2:10 In this case, they obey the rule of parallelism by all being nouns. 2:17 The second rule of outlining is coordination. 2:20 This means that all the information contained in Heading 1 should have the same significance as the information contained in Heading 2. 2:28 The same goes for the subheadings. 2:30 In other words, headings and subheadings of the same level should be of the same rank, which means the same level of importance. Displayed on screen Example: Skeletal muscle Cardiac muscle Smooth muscle Definition Description Examples 2:38 In this example, the headings “A,” “B,” and “C” are of the same rank, while the numbers “1,” “2,” and “3” are also of the same rank. 2:50 The third rule of outlining is subordination. 2:54 This means that the information in the headings should be more general, while the information in the subheadings should be more specific. 3:01 The movement from general to specific information is indicated by indenting from left to right. Displayed on screen Example: Skeletal muscle Definition Found throughout the body Voluntary Responsible for movement 3:07 In this example, “Found throughout the body,” “Voluntary,” and “Responsible for movement” are specific examples of the more general category “Definition.” 3:18 This relationship is displayed by indenting from left to right. 3:23 The fourth and final rule of outlining is division. 3:28 This means that each heading must have at least two subheadings in order to be divided. 3:33 If you can’t divide a heading into at least two parts, then it doesn’t require subheadings. Displayed on screen Example: Three types of muscle tissue Skeletal muscle Cardiac muscle Definition Found in the heart Involuntary Pump blood into circulatory system Description 3:39 In this example, the heading “Three types of muscle tissue” is broken down into two subheadings—“A” and “B.” 3:48 “B” is further broken down into two subheadings—“1” and “2.” 3:53 And “1” is even further refined by being broken down into three subheadings. 4:00 Now, if we put all four rules together—parallelism, coordination, subordination, and division—we get an outline that looks like this. (Shown on screen or in the transcript pdf at the end.) 4:11 Remember to write a title at the top of your outline that identifies the text you are outlining. 4:17 Creating an outline for a text is easier if you know where to look for the most important information in the text. 4:24 Depending on the type of text you’re reading, you should focus your attention on one or more of the following elements: headings and subheadings, abstracts, introductions, topic sentences, bold-faced or italicized words, summaries, and conclusions. 4:46 Remember that your outline should be as long or short as you need it to be depending on the length and depth of the text you’re reading. 4:54 I hope you have a better idea about how and why to make an outline. 4:59 They’re not only great for pre-writing, but also for improving your reading comprehension. 5:05 Click here for a template on how to make an outline. 5:11 Thanks for listening to this instructional video on How to Make an Outline! 5:16 Visit the Excelsior College Online Writing Lab for more support with reading and writing skills.