How To Write An Informative Essay Outline

As a high school or university student, you must be familiar with the struggles of coming up with an informative essay outline. Such essays are a regular occurrence, so you’d expect to get used to writing them quickly with the exploratory essay help of and move on to other papers. But unfortunately, they end up taking a significant portion of your time.

That's why it is crucial to focus on the outline as it forms the skeleton of your paper. It lets you get a bird's eye view of the outcome and makes it easier to organize ideas into coherency. So, if you’d like to improve your chances of securing better grades in your informative essays, read on.

 

Informative Essay - Definition

An informative essay is an academic paper that you write with the sole intention of informing the audience about a particular incident, event, thing, object, person, etc. Such essays aim to engage the audience with new and exciting facts about a specific topic. They also answer the following five W's – who, what, why, where, when, and sometimes, how.

Generally, the characteristics of an informative essay are:

• Simple language– As the aim is to inform the reader of something, filling the paper with technical jargon and complex language can ruin the reader’s interest.

• Well-researched– You must thoroughly research an informative essay to ensure the reader properly understands the topic.

• Charts, facts, figures – The more you back up your information with numbers, charts, graphs, figures, and quantifiable evidence, it improves the authenticity of your work.

• Logical flow – Last but not least, the information you include in the essay must flow logically for better comprehension.

Therefore, without a proper outline to help you out, it can be challenging to construct an informative essay worthy of an A+.  Meanwhile, you can also take help from philosophy essay help.

Hire Our Writers

How do You Write an Informative Essay Outline?

Now you might wonder, “Don’t all essays follow the same pattern?” Well, it might seem so initially, but a closer look would reveal many crucial details that separate one outline from the other. So, let's go through the simple steps you can follow to make your informative outline shine.

1. Come up with a catchy title

Developing an excellent title usually takes a lot of time, so it’s best to start picking your brain for ideas from the outline phase. You can brainstorm several ideas with your friends, write down the ones that seem interesting and later, check whether it explains the essence of your informative essay. However, keep in mind that the title shouldn’t be too long.

2. Think of how to hook the readers

Since informative essays aim to inform the readers of something, you need to ensure that you won’t lose their attention within five minutes. Usually, you have a few seconds to make a good impression on the readers. So, the best option is to deliver a shocking or interesting fact that can capture their attention immediately.

For example, if you were to write an essay about World War II, you could include that around two-thirds of the Soviet men born in 1923 did not survive the war. Such information gives the audience an incentive to pay more attention to your essay.

3. Construct the thesis statement

The next step is to figure out your thesis statement by focusing on the central theme of your informative essay. Without highlighting the critical area of your paper, it becomes easier to lose direction midway through writing. Therefore, the thesis statement is an integral part of your informative essay that compels the reader to keep reading.

4. Figure out the purpose of your essay

Sometimes, students focus on the overall theme of an essay without figuring out which direction they'd like to approach the topic. For example, if you choose to write an informative essay on World War II but don't pinpoint the particular sections you'd like to explore, it would make your writing too generalized.

So, instead of writing a generalized paper on the war, you could explore themes like:

• Which art movements took place during World War II?

• What was the role of Black women during World War II?

• Why did America join World War II?

Such specific themes make it easier for you to find the direction of your writing.

5. Write a few lines for each new idea

Going through an informative essay outline template, you'll notice that the entire work is usually divided into 5-7 paragraphs. The first one is for the introduction and the last one for the conclusion. Hence, the remaining sections in the middle constitute the body where you explore the arguments and counter-arguments of your informative essay.

Usually, you’d have to introduce a new idea in each paragraph. So, include a few lines for each section when writing the outline to have a better idea of how the final paper would look.

6. Ensure to include a few ideas in opposition

A primary characteristic of the informative essay is its neutrality. Unlike argumentative or persuasive essays, your task isn’t to convince the reader of a particular point of view. Instead, you need to maintain an unbiased perspective throughout the work. So, you must include counter-arguments and other perspectives in the outline to explore them in detail later.

7. Figure out the approximate words you need

Usually, you have a fixed word limit that you must adhere to when writing an informative essay. So, if you go through some informative essay outline examples, you’ll notice that the writers frame their paper in a manner that limits the chances of exceeding or falling short of meeting this word count.

After all, you have an approximate word count for each section in mind when you're planning ahead. Therefore, you can note down this word count beside each paragraph so you won't have to worry about going off-track.

8. Develop a proper conclusion

The conclusion wraps up the paper neatly and allows you to reiterate the main points and remind the reader of the paper’s purpose. So, in this section, you can note down points that the reader can take away from the essay and how they can benefit from it.

Working on an informative essay outline in college might seem like a chore, especially when the deadline keeps knocking on the door. However, there’s a higher chance you’ll end up straying from the topic and wasting more time re-doing the entire paper if you skip the outline. So, don't forget to work on the structure before jumping right into the writing.

Get Help

Informative Essay Outline Example

Here’s an example of an informative essay outline on the topic “Why Is It Important To Donate Blood?”

• Introduction:

Hook: Did you know that one pint of blood can save up to three lives?

Purpose: Everyone should understand the importance of donating blood.

Importance to the audience: The reader should know that there are minimal risks involved with giving blood and feel encouraged to participate in blood donation camps.

Thesis statement: There is always a need for blood amongst the growing population. Therefore, it is important to donate blood and help those who have no option but turn to others to save their lives.

• Body:

First point: What is the importance of blood in our bodies?

Subpoint: It helps in the survival of human beings through the transportation of oxygen to the cells.

Subpoint: It carries nutrients to other body parts.

Subpoint: It carries waste materials to throw them out of the body.

Second point: In which situation does a person need additional blood?

Subpoint: They need blood when diseases like leukemia, anemia, cancer and chronic diseases prevent red blood cell production.

Subpoint: Immediate transfusion is needed when there is severe blood loss due to an accident.

Subpoint: Finally, a person needs blood when undergoing major surgery.

Third point: How does someone benefit from donating blood?

Subpoint: The satisfaction of knowing their blood can bring back people from the brink of death.

Subpoint: Maintain healthy iron levels and lower risk of developing cancer.

Subpoint: Stimulate the production of new blood cells.

• Conclusion:

Summary statement: Blood donation is a noble cause and can help and save the life of others.

Engage the audience by asking – "How would you feel if someone close to you needs blood, but you aren't able to procure any due to shortage?"

Finally, conclude the essay highlighting how blood donation saves millions of lives every day.

 

Want to Seek Professional Advice Regarding Your Informative Essay Outline?

There's no need to fret when you can't figure out how to frame your informative essay outline. At Allessaywriter, we’ve got the best academicians to provide you with hundreds of samples to improve your understanding.

These professionals have spent years composing informative essays for students. Thus, they have plenty of helpful tips to improve your essay structures in a flash. Then, once you're done with the outline, our experts can help you proofread the work to ensure the arguments flow logically throughout the paper.

So, don't wait till it's too late! Instead, head over to Allessaywriter and send us your requirements through our 24/7 chatbox or the order form.

Place Your Order