Building An Outline (1948)

[Music] In this American history class, written reports from last week are to be handed back. Here, as in many other classes and studies, written reports are an important part of the work. Jim worked hard on his report. Bill put a lot of time into his, too. But it was hard for him. Hard to keep his materials in order. Hard to plan a coherent report. Because orderly planning of reports is so important, Miss Clark is asking for a working outline with the next assignment. Bill thinks outlines are unnecessary work, but skill in building an outline might help him. Lack of outline planning. Oh well, it's still a fair paper. It got [Music] by. Bill and Jim plan to use the next study period in the library. But how did Jim make out? Bill is curious because he knows he spent more time reading and gathering material than Jim did. Look at that. Very good. And what's this? A good outline saves work. Bill doesn't see it. The time it takes to outline, you could spend reading more material. But Jim will save time by investing study time in outline. Knowing how to outline his work may save time later. What's on that card? Oh, the topic he's chosen. Benjamin Franklin, diplomat general. But first, he's made a note to do a little extra reading on how to make good outlines. Meanwhile, Bill is off to a flying start on his topic. 20 minutes later, Jim hasn't even touched a history book. Yet, he must be finding something good in this one. Making outlines and summaries. That's right to the point. And of course, Jim takes careful notes. That's rather like outlining, too. Reducing material you read to an organized list of its main ideas. But Bill is worried about Jim. thinks he ought to be finding facts about Franklin. Well, Jim wants to learn first how to organize his facts so they have orderly meaning. An outline spreads out your thinking so you can look at it and plan the use of your ideas. Jim is listing various uses for outlines. Yes, outlines can be used for many purposes and one of the most important uses is helping to understand written materials such as the book Jim is now studying. And now, as long as he's taking notes on the book, why not arrange them in outline form? First, when to use an outline when reading books, when planning study, as a first step in writing a report. How to make an outline will be the second main topic, Roman numeral 2. But Jim will have to collect some more information on how to make an outline somewhere in this chapter. Ah, here it is. A section on the mechanics of outlining. That's just what Jim wanted. He already knows that one of the steps in building an outline is finding main topics and subtopics. main topics, the most important key ideas, and subtopics, the helping ideas, which explain their main topics. And of course, subtopics are indented and given different numbering than main topics. And so, in very little time, Jim has made a rough outline of the points he needs to consider in using outlines and making outlines in any of his studies. plenty of time left to get the first few books he'll need for his report. But Bill seems to have too many books to handle without an outline. That evening, Jim revises and polishes his outline on outlining. Let's go over Jim's outline once more. First, using an outline. Some of the most valuable uses are to understand written material, to plan study, and to plan a theme or report. The steps in building an outline are finding main topics and subtopics, showing emphasis by means of indentation and letters and numerals. But now he has added one more, wording topics effectively. So Jim is using an outline to plan a written report and he is well along on the first step in building an outline. He has selected his main topics on the basis of his library reading. Now as he reads further, he can place almost any related facts as subtopics to these four main topics. This is one of the big times savers that come from making an outline. As a further step in organizing his material, Jim keeps note cards on his reading, identifying the book from which each fact or idea came. In this book, for example, he found some information on Franklin's work in raising money to help the revolution. As he reads the section for the second time, Jim takes notes on it so the information will be right at hand when he starts his paper. He also adds a subtopic to his outline on Franklin. Under main topic three comes subtopic A. Franklin helps raise French financing for the American Revolution. And to help keep his note cards in order for writing the report, Jim jotss down on the card its place in the outline. Now Jim's outline serves another purpose. It not only helps him plan his thinking about the report, it also helps him keep his notes in order. But the outline is still flexible. As Jim reads further, he can change and revise it. His ideas are down on paper so he can organize and plan them into a logical order. He has found a subtopic which should come before the other. Well, that's easy to handle. If they don't fit together in one order, he can change the order now before he starts writing the report. And so, chances are when Jim has completed his outline, he'll have a real foundation for an orderly report, and he'll save time in writing it. The day the history reports are due, Jim has his all finished and with time to spare. But Bill still has to copy the rest of his rough draft. And uh-oh, he has no outline. Bill's been in this spot before. Outlines are easy to write up. All you have to do is lift the outline right out of the report. Then it's sure to be an outline of what you wrote. But Bill's report is not well organized. and the outline will show it. Bill can't make a good outline from a poorly organized report. If his outline is right, the report will be wrong. Have to think fast, Bill. Somehow or other, Bill did manage to hand in his report that day, and today it's being returned. It's the same story this time as last. Bill worked long and hard on his report, but Jim's carefully organized effort shows up in a better grade. And say, "Here's an idea. Try outlining your reading assignments." Jim had that in his outline of outlining, but he should try it. He can still improve his work. Well, Bill, how about yours? Come on, Bill. Give up and look at it. Not good, huh? You mean not even fair? Too bad. But Bill seems to be making up his mind to really learn something about outlines. What Jim can do, anyone can do. [Music]