How to Write an Outline
Women on the Home Front
"We can do it" This was the feeling that American women had about their important new work during World War II.
Before World War II, women had few job choices outside the home. Women had always cared for homes and children or held office jobs. Women rarely unloaded ships on the docks, drove trucks, or worked in steel mills. When the war called American men away from their homes and their jobs, women stepped in. They learned to build tanks and test weapons in the factories. They drove buses and delivered the mail. Women did whatever work was needed while their husbands, sons, and brothers were away. These women proved to the nation that they were smart, strong, capable workers. The American workforce was forever changed.
Suppose you want to write about how World War II brought women into the workforce. You could use an outline to organize the many facts you would find. An outline is a written plan to organize notes and ideas into main topics and detailed subtopics. A sentence outline gives a complete sentence about each topic, subtopic, and detail.
STEP IN Writing an Outline
1. Write the Outline the Title
For example, the title Working Women During World War II would be written at the top of the page.
2. Identify the Main Ideas
An outline should have at least to main ideas. In sentence outlines, topic sentences introduce main ideas. You can think of a topic sentence as the "title" for the subtopics and details that follow. Use a Roman numeral to number main topics on an outline.
I. During World War II, women were needed to fill many jobs.
3. Identify the Subtopics
A main idea may have two or more subtopics or none at all. Subtopics are like examples. They tell you what information is included about the main ideas. Use a capital letter to separate subtopics on the outline. Indent your subtopic.
I. During World War II, women were needed to fill many jobs.
A. The war created a need for more workers.
B. Men had left their jobs to join the armed forces.
TIP: When writing an outline, write headings in "pairs." If you have a main topic signified by Roman numeral "I," then you must also have a main topic "II." If you have a subtopic "A," there must also be a subtopic "B."