WJ #05

Writer's Journal #5 - Reverse Outlining
DIRECTIONS
In this Writer’s Journal, you will engage in a process called “reverse outlining.” While regular outlining is a tool for planning and thinking about what your text will say, reverse outlining is a tool that helps you to see what your text actually says. In order to create a reverse outline of your Project Proposal, please address the following prompts and questions:
(1) Read through your Project Proposal, one paragraph at a time. As you read each paragraph, type a one-sentence summary of what that paragraph is actually doing. Be sure to only pay attention to the paragraph you are currently reviewing. Record each of these summary sentences, and put them in a continuous paragraph.
(2) Read over this “reverse outline,” and answer the following question: does this paragraph represent what you want the project proposal to do? In other words, since the reverse outline provides a snapshot or overview of your paper as it is actually written, can you identify problem areas, paragraphs that have no clear purpose, an order (in the paper) that does not make sense, and so forth.
(3) How will you revise based on what you have discovered in creating your reverse outline?