Free Essay Outline Templates

Five templates you can copy in one click — a standard essay outline plus argumentative, narrative, analytical and reflective. No email, no download, no PDF.

ESSAY OUTLINE

Working title:
Thesis (one arguable sentence):

1. INTRODUCTION  (~10% of the word count)
   Hook — a specific case, number or observation:
   Context the reader needs (2–3 sentences max):
   Thesis, stated last:

2. BODY PARAGRAPH 1  (~20%)
   Claim (a full sentence, not a topic):
   Evidence needed:
   Why this evidence supports the claim:
   Link to the next paragraph:

3. BODY PARAGRAPH 2  (~20%)
   Claim:
   Evidence needed:
   Why this evidence supports the claim:
   Link to the next paragraph:

4. BODY PARAGRAPH 3  (~20%)
   Claim:
   Evidence needed:
   Why this evidence supports the claim:

5. CONCLUSION  (~10%)
   What follows now the argument is established:
   What it costs, or what it leaves open:
   Final sentence (concrete, not grand):

CHECKS BEFORE YOU WRITE
[ ] Could an informed reader disagree with the thesis?
[ ] Does each claim need the paragraph before it? (Swap two — does anything break?)
[ ] Do the word counts add up to the target?
[ ] What evidence do I not yet have?

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY OUTLINE

Question:
Thesis (contestable — a reader must be able to disagree):

1. INTRODUCTION  (~10%)
   Hook:
   Context:
   Thesis:

2. REASON 1 — your strongest  (~15%)
   Claim:
   Evidence:
   Reasoning that connects them:

3. REASON 2  (~15%)
   Claim:
   Evidence:
   Reasoning:

4. REASON 3  (~15%)
   Claim:
   Evidence:
   Reasoning:

5. COUNTERARGUMENT  (~20%)
   The STRONGEST genuine objection, stated as its best advocate would state it:
   Why a reasonable person holds it:
   Your answer, on the merits:
   What you concede (something, or the rebuttal is not credible):

6. CONCLUSION  (~10%)
   What follows:
   What it costs:

CHECKS
[ ] Is the counterargument the strong version, or a straw man?
[ ] Have I conceded anything at all?
[ ] Does every hedge mark real uncertainty?

NARRATIVE ESSAY OUTLINE

The one event (a few hours at most — narrow it):
The meaning it carries (write it here; do NOT write it in the essay):

1. OPENING SCENE  (~15%)
   Start mid-action. What is happening in the first sentence?
   Sensory detail that puts the reader there:

2. ORIENTATION  (~15%)
   The minimum the reader needs — who, where, what is at stake:
   (Fold into the action; do not stop the story to explain.)

3. RISING ACTION  (~30%)
   Event:
   Event:
   Event:
   What raises the pressure each time:

4. THE TURN  (~20%)
   The moment something changes:
   How it is SHOWN rather than stated:

5. RESOLUTION  (~20%)
   What is different afterwards:
   Where to stop (earlier than feels comfortable):

CHECKS
[ ] Does the word "realised" appear? Cut it.
[ ] Is there a moral in the last paragraph? Delete the paragraph.
[ ] Is this one scene, or a whole summer?

ANALYTICAL ESSAY OUTLINE

Subject:
The specific aspect being analysed:
Thesis — a claim about HOW or WHY, not what:

1. INTRODUCTION  (~10%)
   Open on the specific feature (not the work as a whole):
   Thesis naming the mechanism:

2. MECHANISM 1  (~20%)
   The device or component:
   Short evidence (quote the smallest fragment that carries it):
   Analysis — what it does to the reader (aim for 3x the length of the evidence):

3. MECHANISM 2  (~20%)
   Device:
   Evidence:
   Analysis:

4. MECHANISM 3  (~20%)
   Device:
   Evidence:
   Analysis:

5. COMPLICATION  (~15%)
   Where the pattern breaks, or the plausible rival reading:
   Why your reading survives it:

6. CONCLUSION  (~10%)
   What the mechanism reveals that was invisible before the analysis:

CHECKS
[ ] Does each sentence answer "how?" rather than "what?"
[ ] Is any paragraph more than half quotation?
[ ] Have I named a device without analysing it?

REFLECTIVE ESSAY OUTLINE — GIBBS' CYCLE

The incident (anonymised):

1. DESCRIPTION  (~15% — keep it SHORT)
   What happened, factually:

2. FEELINGS  (~10%)
   What I thought and felt at the time (honestly, not professionally):

3. EVALUATION  (~15%)
   What went well:
   What did not:

4. ANALYSIS  (~30% — the marks are here)
   Why did it happen?
   Theory / literature that explains it:
   How that reframes the incident:

5. CONCLUSION  (~15%)
   What I understand now that I did not before (specific):

6. ACTION PLAN  (~15%)
   What I will do differently, concretely enough to actually do:

CHECKS
[ ] Is description under 15% of the word count?
[ ] Does the analysis cite literature?
[ ] Could someone follow my action plan on their next shift?
[ ] Did I choose an incident that still bothers me, or one that went well?

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