Research Paper: Organize Your Ideas

Using the information collected on the note cards, develop an outline to organize your ideas. An outline shows your main ideas and the order in which you are going to write about them. It's the bare bones of what will later become a fleshed-out written report.

Write down all the main ideas.
List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas.
Avoid any repetition of ideas.

Below is a partial sample outline for a research paper entitled The Early Days of Baseball.

Baseball is born
Rounders
Originated in England in the 1600s.
Differences between rounders and baseball.

The Abner Doubleday theory
Many people think Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839.
Doubleday's friend, Graves, claimed he was a witness.
A commission credited Doubleday with inventing the game.

Historians say theory is bogus.

Baseball becomes popular
Interest soars after 1900
Kids' favorite warm-weather sport.
Crowds follow pennant races and World Series.
Star players become national heroes.
Known as "the national pastime."
Quote from philosopher Jacques Barzun: "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball."

The Babe Ruth era
Babe Ruth joins NY Yankees, 1920
Plays outfield.
Hits more and longer home runs than anyone before.

Other heroes
Lou Gehrig.
Rogers Hornsby.

Radio stations begin broadcasting games
Play-by-play accounts reach millions of people.

No part of this outline may be reproduced without the permission of Information Please.

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