An outline should represent a writer's best effort to explore
a subject, to break it into its parts, to arrange ideas, and to
test out possible strategies of organization for the purpose of
clarity. For short papers and extemporaneous writing, informal
notes or a scratch outline will generally serve the purpose.  Even
for long papers, you may find it useful to work informally for some
time before comitting yourself to a final, detailed plan.


Scratch Outlines
     A scratch outline is a series of notes - single words or
phrases - jotted down to refresh your memory as you write.  An
outline of this sort is useful when time is limited, as when you
are writing examinations or brief papers in class.  The following
is a sample scratch outline for a lengthy paper on telescopes.


The Development of the Telescope

1. Galileo and the basic refractor 
2. The multi-element telescopes of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries.
3. Newton and the reflecting telescope
4. The construction of massive reflecting telescopes
5. The advantages and limitations of refracting and reflecting
designs.


     The exact form of a scratch outline is unimportant since
ordinarily you will be the only one who sees it.  You can modify or
rearrange the list in any way to suit your purposes.



WAT Outlines

     Using an outline for the WAT exam can help with focus and
organization within the short time allotted for the exam.  The WAT
outline can be similar to the scratch outline above, or it can
contain more precise information about the position of the writer
and the form the essay will take.  For example, the outline below
was written in response to the question "Children are an
interference in the lives of men and women.  Do you agree or
disagree?"

Introduction

- agree
- children are costly
- children can destroy parents' relationship
- you are stuck with them

Costs of Children

- clothes, food, necessities
- education
- support-possibly forever

Destruction of Relationship

- take away time that parents would spend alone 
- possible disagreements about how to raise the child
- example #1
 
Stuck With Them

- if you don't like them, you can't ignore them
- you always feel responsible for them
- example #2

Conclusion

- kids are a bad idea

     Like the scratch outline, there are no complete sentences or
drawn out ideas.  What is important about this outline is that the
writer will be able to refer back to it at any time during the exam
in order to check the organization of the essay or remember where
an example should be placed.   





 
(Adapted from Handbook of Current English, John W. Corder and
     John J. Ruszkiewicz)