Once you have selected your essay, please download and complete the Critical Essay Outline Template.

In your Outline Template,

• Determine what is most important in the essay you selected and summarize the main argument.
• Convert brainstorming ideas into a workable outline as part of the writing process.
• Use appropriate academic writing tone, style, correct grammar, spelling, and sentence mechanics.
• Apply structural components of outlining format to continue essay development.

The Critical Essay Outline

• Must be 1-2 properly formatted double-spaced pages in length, or 250-500 words (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of Critical Essay Outline (in bold)
  • Your First and Last Name
  • Ashford University
  • Course Code: Name of Course (e.g. ENG 121: English Composition I)
  • Instructor’s name
  • Due Date

  For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction with a workable thesis statement. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must include at least five informal bullet points that represent the support paragraphs and other arguments that will be developed into the week three rough draft.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.).
• If any outside citations are used, then the outline must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.