Outlines

4 Types (including the one you should use on the test)

Ciceronian

This is Marcus Tullius Cicero’s classic outline for a speech, but it also works for an essay or even a job interview. (See pages 314-316 in the fourth edition of Thank You for Arguing, or look up “outlines” in the index of previous editions. It goes like this: 

1.  Introduction: The rhetor introduces the issue while working on a good relationship with the audience.

2.  Narration: Provide the context, tell the story developing the background to the issue.

3.  Division:  Represent both sides of the issue, making your side sound more reasonable.

4.  Proof: Present your claims and evidence and justify your reasoning.

5.  Refutation: Go on the attack, taking on opposing arguments and show that your conclusion is superior.

6.  Conclusion: Summarize and make a call to action. Called the peroration, this is where you get a bit emotional, even poetic. You want your audience saying, Yeah! (Or, in Jay’s time, Right on!)

You might notice that the outline basically follows the three major tools of rhetoric, ethos, logos, and pathos. Start with ethos in the introduction, getting the audience to trust you. Then hit some heavy logos with your story, “division,” proof, and utter destruction of the opposing argument. Get all pathetic—emotional, that is, with your conclusion.

So: Is this the outline to use in the AP Lang exam? Possibly. But you don’t have much of a chance to establish a relationship with that anonymous grader. Use the C-man’s outline for your personal essays, as well as the speeches you’ll use to change the world. 

Rogerian 

This outline, named for a psychotherapist named Carl Rogers, follows a “Can’t we all get along” strategy. It favors collaboration over a destroy-your-opponent approach, encouraging listening on both sides. The outline goes like this:

1. Introduce the problem.

2. State the contexts—the situations where your opponent’s argument might work. Basically, this means showing examples that benefit the other side. Why? Because you’re not actually trying to deal with an opponent; just with another perspective.

3. State your own position, including the situations where your own opinion would work.

4. Show how your opponent and the audience would benefit from your approach. (Aristotle would call this part the “advantageous,” speaking to the advance of your audience—what’s good for them, not for you.)

The Rogerian approach can make for great negotiations, and an effective way to run a club meeting. And you might be able to use it effectively in an AP Lang argument. State the problem, show the other side and how its approach works through examples, then give your opinion and more examples that support it, and finally show the reader why she would want to go for your side.

Still, we think there’s a better way to outline your AP Lang essay. Let’s move on.

Toulmin (Toulminian?)

A British rhetorician, Stephen Toulmin, came up with this method. 

1. Claim: What you want to argue. Call it your thesis if you like. Or your premise. It’s just what you want your audience to think, choose, or act on. 

2. Evidence: Your reasoning, backed by facts. Cicero would call this your narration. (See Claims & Evidence.)

3. Warrant: Creates a bridge between the claim and evidence. Here you show how the evidence proves the claim.

4. Backing: The logic that proves the warrant is true. (In most arguments, you can skip the Warrant and Backing; just make sure your Reasoning is sound.)

5. Rebuttal: Show the other side. 

6. Qualifier: Point out the exceptions to your claim, while showing that your claim is still valid. This is where you anticipate your opponent’s rebuttal to your argument. 

Toulmin is great for formal writing, though it has the disadvantage of producing extremely boring essays. Plus, you don’t have to follow this order. It’s really more of a checklist. A real-life outline would look something like this:

1. Thesis. Your argument in a nutshell.

2. Facts, examples, stories.

3. The opposing argument and why it kind of sucks.

4. Conclusion that anticipates the weakness your opponent will spot.

You may notice that this comes pretty close to the Ciceronian outline. There’s a reason the guy saved the Roman republic and wrote books that people still read more than 20 centuries later.

The problem with all these outlines is that you have just 40 minutes to plan your argument and then write it. So let’s keep it simple. 

The Comet

This is the method Jay uses when writing under pressure. You start by writing a brilliant beginning, a great ending, and a few words in the middle. That not only produces an outline; it gets you started writing the essay.

1. Write the thesis. Editors of opinion columns call this the “lede” (it means “lead,” only without the leaden spelling.) Craft a single sentence that introduces your argument. Take your time here. Let yourself rewrite this sentence a few times, making it perfect. To make sure your thesis is logical, try writing it as an enthymeme before you make it a full sentence. 

2. Write the ending. This is your conclusion, where you sum up your argument and make the reader think you’re a genius. Why write this so soon? Because it will bookend your reasoning, keeping you focused.

3. List your claims. No more than three. Jot them down in phrases. Leave plenty of space between them, because you’re about to…

4. List facts and examples—your evidence—for each claim. You’ll want at least three pieces of evidence for each claim.

That’s your comet. You have your beginning and ending. Now write out your claims and evidence with a clear line of reasoning. 

Want more tips on this method? See Writing the reasoning.

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