Activity: Organizing Ideas into an Outline

Do the following activity to get more practice organizing ideas and thinking about the relationships between general and specific ideas. When you are finished, compare your responses to the answer key to see if you are on the right track.

Organizing Ideas Into an Outline Activity

Look at the following lists of mixed general and specific ideas and organize them into an outline that shows the relationships between main ideas and supporting details.


Example:

Topic sentence – I decided to attend college for a number of reasons.

She lent me $200 for my textbooks 

My life was in a rut 

My dad called me a "loser" who was "going nowhere" 

I was working a minimum wage fast food job I hated 

My girlfriend Lakeisha encouraged me 

My counselor said that with my learning disabilities, I should keep my goals "realistic" 

I want to prove all the people who think I can't succeed wrong 

She already has her degree and promised to help me with my studies I was spending all my free time drinking with my friends

Outline:

  1. I want to prove all the people who think I can't succeed wrong
    1. My counselor told me that with my learning disabilities, I should keep my goals "realistic"
    2. My dad called me a "loser" who was "going nowhere"
  2. My life was going nowhere
    1. I was working a minimum wage fast food job that I hated
    2. I was spending all my free-time drinking with my friends
  3.  My girlfriend Lakeisha encouraged me
    1. She already has her degree and promised to help me with my studies
    2. She lent me $200 for my textbooks


Exercise 1:

Topic sentence: My family and I had a fantastic dining experience at Riggatio's Fine Italian Restaurant. 

There were all-you-could-eat fresh baked garlic rolls that came with our meals 

The service was great Well spaced tables so we couldn't hear the conversations of other diners

The food was wonderful 

The server came by every ten minutes or so to refill our drinks and garlic rolls 

Nice environment Beautiful photos of Italy on the walls 

We weren't seated for more than three minutes before a server came to take our order 

Our plates were piled high and piping hot











Exercise 2:

Topic sentence: One of the best things I have done in college is joining the multicultural club. 

We hosted a panel of refugees talking about the topics of courage and compassion

I've made some awesome new friends 

My new favorite food is the Iranian vegetarian dish, mirza ghasemi 

I met Yana from Sudan and we love to talk about philosophy together 

The club has held some really wonderful events 

I have fallen in love with Russian electronic music There was a really fun international "dance-off" 

I've broadened my tastes 

I met So from Vietnam and he has an awesome sense of humor











Exercise 3:

For this last item you will look at a complete paragraph. Read the following complete paragraph and then create an outline that shows the three main ideas and the specific supporting details.

I'd much rather stay at home and watch ball games on television than go to the ballpark. First, it's cheaper to watch a game at home. I don't have to spend thirty dollars for a ticket and another ten dollars for a parking space. If I want some refreshments, I can have what's already in the refrigerator instead of shelling out another ten dollars for a limp, lukewarm hot dog and a watery Coke. Also, it's more comfortable at home. I avoid a bumper-to-bumper drive to the ballpark and pushy crowds who want to go through the same gate I do. Additionally, I can lie quietly on my living-room sofa instead of sitting on a hard stadium seat with noisy people all around me. Most of all, watching a game on television is more informative. Not only do I see all the plays that I might miss from my thirty-dollar seat, but I see some of them two and three times in instant replay. In addition, I get each play explained to me in glorious detail. If I were at the ballpark, I wouldn't know that the pitch our third baseman hit was a high and inside slider or that his grand-slam home run was a record-setting seventh in his career. The others fans can spend their money; put up with traffic, crowds, and hard seats; and guess at the plays. I'll take my baseball lying down – at home.

 
Topic Sentence:










Source: Erin Severs
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