The purpose of a reverse outline is to extract an outline from a draft of a paper. The emphasis of this exercise is to identify what is actually being communicated on the page, and assess whether this accurately represents what the author intends to communicate. Creating a reverse outline can help you evaluate whether an essay answers the prompt, and whether its paragraphs are logically structured and flow well. Reverse outlines can help you notice gaps in your argumentation.

The process of a reverse outline differs slightly depending on the intention of the paper:

• An argument draft attempts to persuade the reader of a novel claim using evidence. In a research paper, the discussion section is an argument. The writing is explicitly persuasive, in that the reader should come away convinced that something non-obvious is likely true. The goal of the reverse outline of an argument is to identify the evidence provided, how that evidence is interpreted, and how it connects to other evidence and to a primary claim.
• A narrative draft attempts to give the reader sufficient context for understanding something without a novel claim. In a research paper, the introduction, methods, and results section are narratives (and together make up “chapters” of a larger narrative). The goal of the reverse outline of a narrative is to identify themes, the logical structure between themes, and how the themes and organization tell a coherent story arriving at a conclusion.

Papers may not be obviously one or the other; argument and narrative are not mutually exclusive.

The “argument” reverse outline is useful when constructing persuasive, novel argument structures. For example, the discussion of an empirical article explicitly builds an argument to convince the reader of a particular interpretation of the data and analysis.

The “narrative” reverse outline may be more useful for literature reviews. The narrative still works toward a claim that is supported with evidence, but the intention is not to persuade the reader of any specific perspective, interpretation, or conclusion. Rather, the narrative of something like a research proposal or the introduction of an empirical paper should persuade the reader that the context is necessary and the content is worth understanding, setting the stage for the possibility of a compelling argument about results and interpretation later.

When you set out to create a reverse outline for either your own writing or a published work, your first step is to decide which of these approaches will be more applicable and productive for your goal. Some discussions may be better analyzed as narratives, and some literature reviews may be better analyzed as arguments. The procedures for each are similar, so just pick the one you think works best for your purposes or blend them into something that suits your needs.

Reverse Outlining an Argument Draft

1. Go through the paper paragraph by paragraph and copy-paste one sentence from each paragraph that you believe best captures the argumentative sub-claim of that paragraph. Try to use sentences that are on the page, but if a clear sub-claim is not there (and it very well may not be), you will need to infer and construct a sub-claim based on what is present on the page.
   1. In this context the “claim” is the big picture argument for the whole piece of writing. A “sub-claim” may exist within a section, paragraph, or sentence. Sub-claims are themselves arguments requiring evidence, and together build the evidence for the broad claim.
2. Underneath each sub-claim sentence, note in one or two sentences whether the paragraph’s claim was easy or difficult to understand as the paragraph’s sub-claim and why.
3. Looking only at your outline, what does it seem like the main claim or thesis of the paper is supposed to be? Write that down.
4. Refer again to the paper and identify the main claim of the paper stated by the author and write that down as well.

In a space below the outlines you have written, answer the following questions:

• Do the sub-claims or arguments in the body paragraphs fit together as an argument? How well do they continue from each other?
• Does the main claim synthesize the claims of the body paragraphs into one unified claim?
• Do the claims in the body paragraphs contain language that refer back to the main claim?

Reverse Outlining a Narrative Draft

1. Go through the paper paragraph by paragraph and copy-paste one sentence from each paragraph that you believe best captures the primary theme. Try to use sentences that are on the page, but if there is no clear topic sentence, you will need to infer and construct a topic sentence based on what is present on the page.
2. Underneath each topic sentence, note in one or two sentences whether the paragraph’s claim was easy or difficult to understand as the paragraph’s topic and why.
3. Looking only at your outline, what does it seem like the purpose of the narrative is supposed to be?
4. Refer again to the paper and identify the main conclusion of the narrative as stated by the author.

In a space below the outlines you have written, answer the following questions:

• Do the topics of the body paragraphs fit together as a narrative? What are the logical transitions between them? (i.e., not transitional phrasing, but the actual logic)
• Do the topic sentences in the body paragraphs contain language that refers to the previous and following themes and/or the narrative’s conclusion?
• Is each topic sentence necessary to reach the conclusion?
• Does the sequencing of topic sentence tell a unified story with a beginning, middle, and end?

Perspectives 2025 Plan:

Part 1: Cooperatively reverse-outline an example proposal

1. As a group, select one example proposal from Canvas to reverse outline together. Create a shared Google document to work together in.
2. In the Google doc, follow steps 1-4 for reverse outlining a narrative draft of the introduction (everything up to the methods section).
   1. Note: In a research paper’s introduction, ****the “main conclusion” is typically the framing of the gap and need for the present study. If it’s not clearly the case in the proposal you’re outlining, think about whether the structure of that proposal is effectively doing its job!
3. Discuss the 4 questions for narrative draft reverse outlines. You may write your answers in the Google doc, or just discuss them aloud.
4. Identify at least 1 way in which the structure of the introduction is effective as a narrative, and at least 1 way in which is could be improved.
5. If you have time left over, you can discuss how you would apply this process to the methods section of the proposal.

Part 2: Independently reverse-outline an introduction draft

1. Have 1 group member volunteer to workshop the .5-draft of their introduction. Share the draft with all group members in a Google document.
   1. If peer feedback isn’t an incentive to volunteer, know that reverse outlining your own draft will be homework due Thursday. If you volunteer to do it now you won’t have to do it later!
2. In the Google doc, each group member should independently follow steps 1-4 for reverse outlining a narrative draft of the introduction (everything up to the methods section).
   1. Each group member should type in a unique color or font and work in their own section (or tab) of the document.
3. Before beginning the discussion questions, compare the resulting outlines from all members. How similar are they? In particular, how similar are the non-writers’ outlines to the writer’s outline?
   1. Writer: is there anything surprising about how your classmates constructed the outlines?
4. Return to your section of the google doc and answer the 4 questions for narrative draft reverse outlines in writing. It’s ok to keep your written answers short and elaborate on them verbally later, but you’ll want to at least jot down notes to talk about (and to give the writer points to come back to when they revise).
5. Discuss the 4 questions as a group, beginning with the writer. Before others add to the discussion, the writer should mention if there is anything they’d like to focus on (or not focus on) or if there are any additional questions they’d like to discuss.
6. As a group, come to a consensus about:
   1. What 1 aspect of the draft is most effective in creating an organized narrative?
   2. What 1 structural/organizational strategy would the draft most benefit from adding or refining?