Expanding and Organizing
Expanding and Organizing Ideas
This assignment has multiple steps involving two sections — one on expanding your draft
and the other involving a writing technique called a reverse outline that you’ll conduct to
help you organize or fill in parts of your draft. Read the instructions carefully, and
complete all steps in the order listed. Then, write your summary using the prompts
provided and submit to Canvas.
Instructions
• Read through the full assignment below, and perform the exercises in each
section.
• In Section 1, use the PIE Structure and Other Ways to Expand sections to help
you structure your paragraphs for maximum effect and expand your writing
overall
• Using your current draft, perform a Reverse Outline – apply the strategy by
following the steps described in Section 2 below.
• Consider your results from performing the Reverse Outline – think about what
you might reorganize or revise in your draft
• Write a brief summary and analysis of the Reverse Outline experience,
explaining what you’ll do with that information, using the prompts provided –
upload to USF Writes
Exercises such as those outlined here can help you clarify the focus of your document
and ensure it is organized logically so a reader can follow it clearly. One of the best ways
to organize is the Reverse Outline, and this assignment asks that you perform a reverse
outline on your current draft.
But first, you want to ensure you have well-developed paragraphs. Reverse Outlining is
most effective in making sure what you have already written as a draft is organized as
you intended. Using the PIE structure to develop paragraphs can help expand ideas.
Exercise 1: Expanding — Developing Paragraphs with the PIE Structure
A solid, complete paragraph thoroughly covers the point you are communicating. A fully
developed paragraph covers your point well and refers back to your main point/thesis/
overall argument. One way to ensure that your paragraph is thorough enough and that it
covers your point effectively is to organize it using the PIE acronym:
(Point; Illustration; Explanation)
Point – makes a statement that relates to the main point/overall argument of your paper,
and then relates this statement to the textual evidence you’ll use to support the main
idea. (Point is also sometimes referred to as a topic sentence.)
Illustration – consists of evidence from sources which you can paraphrase, quote
directly, or summarize; it might also include an example or anecdotal evidence.
(This is factual information: each point should be illustrated with 2 or 3 pieces of
evidence that help the reader understand or believe in your point)
Explanation – the rest of the paragraph explains (through analysis, interpretation) how this
illustration connects to the point you’re making in the paragraph or essay as a whole.
The explanation should offer to the reader the significance of the point. After supporting
the point with evidence so that the reader believes in it, explain why the point matters
and how it impacts the bigger picture (which relates to your main point/thesis).
Ideally, each point is wrapped up in an insight related to the main point. This is a mini conclusion in a way – it concludes a paragraph or an idea but is not a full conclusion – it
doesn’t completely finish things, but rather transitions into the next point, until you
conclude at the end.
Other Ways to Expand Paragraphs:
• Layer in additional details or evidence in your explanation
• Add an example to your illustration of the point
• Expand the first sentence to add more explanation to the main point before
you support it with illustration and explanation
• Address the significance of your point to readers or other stakeholders
Exercise 2: Organizing –- Applying the Reverse Outline Strategy
Using the Reverse Outline strategy for revision allows a writer to focus on how
effectively the important points are conveyed, by reviewing how the main points are
supported and how everything connects through the entire essay.
Performing a Reverse Outline:
This works best on paper, so you can easily mark up your draft and make notations. But
it can also work well in a Word document or Google doc using different colors to
highlight or mark text, and using the Comment function to make notes for yourself.
STEP 1: Divide your document into paragraphs or sections to represent each idea or
focus. Number each section in order as they appear in your document.
STEP 2: On a separate page, create two columns. In Column 1: write a sentence that
captures the main focus of each section or paragraph in your essay, and label each
sentence with the same number as the corresponding paragraph/section number in your
document. Write only one sentence for each idea or paragraph, and write it as a
complete sentence, not just a phrase. Make sure that sentence represents the idea as a
statement, as if you are stating what that paragraph is about.
STEP 3: For any paragraph where you need more than one sentence to capture the idea
featured in it, that’s usually a good indication you have too much in one paragraph. You
should probably separate them — block off the text where the points are different and
summarize each new sub-section with a representative sentence, and label with original
number plus letter (labeled: 2a and 2b, for example).
STEP 4: In Column 2, write a brief answer to this question for each of your sentences in
Column 1: how does this sentence help support/connect to my main point or topic
focus? (e.g., “this sentence gives evidence that reinforces…” or “this sentence represents
an explanation for…).
STEP 5: At the top of your page, in one sentence, summarize the main point or focus of
your entire essay or document. This should be representative of what you would say if
asked what your essay or document is about and you answer with one sentence.
STEP 6: At the bottom of your page, write the one key thing you hope the readers of
your essay or document have taken away from the experience of reading it. This would
be the answer you give if asked “what should I know about your essay topic” if you
answered with one sentence.
CHECK YOUR STEPS: When you’re done with STEP 6, you should have a main
point/focus sentence at the top of your page, a representative sentence for each
paragraph in your document in Column 1, and an explanation of each representative
sentence and its role in your essay in Column 2. If you are missing any of these or have
found it difficult to create the sentence or explanation, make a note of that – the lack of
a sentence or connection can tell you where you need more information or explanation.
STEP 7: Draw lines that represent connections between one point and another, and
between your main point and supporting points. Each supporting point should connect
to the main point at the top; each supporting point should also connect to the “key
takeaway” at the bottom of the page (which will represent your conclusion). You can also
use different highlight colors or text colors in a document to show these connections.
Just as important, this step can show you where there’s a need for a connection that you
can make through more detailed explanation or more evidence or detail to illustrate.
FINAL STEP: Analyze the results of your reverse outline – what does it tell you about
how well developed your paragraphs or essay sections are, how they support your main
point or focus, and how they represent the way your document is organized? Which
sections or paragraphs need to be broken up, beefed up, moved around, combined with
each other, or thrown out in favor of a better paragraph you will write? Make notes
about what you could do to with your sections or paragraphs.
Considerations from the Reverse Outline:
• If you had trouble coming up with one simple sentence to represent a
paragraph or section, you may need to separate points in one paragraph into
two paragraphs where each idea can be explored on its own. If You want the
audience to finish reading each section with a sense of understanding about
each point you make. If there’s a connection between the two, make it in the
transition or by explanation, rather than by combining two ideas into one.
• If you can’t easily write a representative sentence for each paragraph it may
be unclear to you what you’re communicating, and that means your reader
won’t understand either. Ask yourself what your paragraph is about and what
is the main point of that section you want to get across to the reader. Either
revise your paragraph around this intent in a way that explains clearly, or look
for another paragraph where this information might better belong.
• Another common issue is repetition, and your reverse outline can reveal that
you may be repeating a point you explained earlier. When you read through
each representative sentence, are there any that are the same or similar? If so,
perhaps you need to combine two paragraphs into one, or you might need to
assess whether each paragraph needs to communicate something more
distinctly or specifically.
• Look at your representative sentences in order. Do they connect logically to
your main point/thesis/focus of your document? Does one sentence relate to
the next in order or is it better with some other sentence – and does that
mean your paragraphs need to change in their order to flow more logically? If
you want to change the order:
• Make a copy (if on paper) or use the copy and paste function (if on screen) to
make a duplicate of the separate page you created for this exercise. Cut and
re-order your sentences from Column 1. Try out different orders of these
sentences – does a different order work better? Does a different order help
your representative sentences flow in a more logical way?
Assignment
Write a 300-400-word Summary of either the PIE exercise or the Reverse Outline
Exercise (OR BOTH). Analyze the results of any expansion you did as a result of the
exercise. Use the prompts below as guidance.
1. From the reverse outline exercise, and from considering the PIE structure,
what did you learn about your draft – where is it strong and where are the key
places it could use improvement based on your own analysis?
2. What surprised you most when you did the reverse outline? What did you
have trouble with most in doing the exercise?
3. Where were the places in your draft you think you can expand on using the
PIE structure? Where will you layer in more explanation or illustration? Explain
here.
4. List the top 3 or 4 moves you will make in your own revision, regardless of
what you get from Instructor Review or Peer Review – what do you think are
three improvements you can make to strengthen your draft?
5. What is your plan to implement those improvements? Explain in detail what
you plan to do in your revision, having completed this analysis using these
strategies.

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