How to write an mla research paper outline

Simply start by writing down your thesis and the main ideas you wish to present. This will likely change as your research progresses; therefore, do not worry about being too specific in the early stages of writing your outline. The most important part is done by now, we are just going to extend and organize it.

The thesis statement aims to reflect the main idea of the research and to set a tone on what research is about. After the opening part of the plan – the thesis statement – the body of the work usually follows. In order to make it more convenient to write, the MLA writing standard proposes to divide subsequent thoughts into chapters.

The outline is the skeleton of your research paper. Simply start by writing down your thesis and the main ideas you wish to present. This will likely change as your research progresses; therefore, do not worry about being too specific in the early stages of writing your outline.

As every chapter needs a structural designation, MLA formatting advises the following. Headings of sections are numbered with roman numerals (I, II, III). If these sections are hereinafter subdivided, Capitalized letters are used (A, B, C). Finally for the last subdivision of a section come lower case letters (a, b, c).