← Chapter 14
English Composition · Chapter 14 · Section 2

The Reverse Outline Machine

A reverse outline is built backwards from a finished draft: for every paragraph you record what it says, what it does, and a verdict. Below is a seven-paragraph draft on mandated staffing ratios. Tag every paragraph, then rebuild the essay in the order a reader needs — and watch where the real thesis was hiding.

Seven paragraphs, seven verdicts

The one-sentence summary is already written for you — that is the “says” column. Your job is the harder two: what each paragraph does, and what it deserves.

Your reverse outline

What it saysWhat it doesVerdict
Start hereOpen ¶1 on the left. Ask two questions of it: what does this paragraph do for the reader, and does it deserve to stay as it is? Rereading lets you follow the argument you meant; this table shows the argument you actually built.
Two rules make the whole diagnostic work. If you cannot summarise a paragraph in one sentence, it is doing more than one job and needs splitting. If two paragraphs get summaries that sound the same, one of them goes.