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Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Interpreting the question: Developing a plan

ReSTExL@DCU
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Arriving at the core statement and developing an outline plan

After some reflection and brainstorming you should be able to write down one/two sentences (or a paragraph) about what you understand your central idea or argument to be.  Even if you do not use this sentence/paragraph in your final essay it can be invaluable in helping you to clarify and focus your thinking and expose any gaps or weaknesses in your argument.  Remember that a list of facts or possible ideas is NOT a core statement.  The primary functions of a core statement are summarised as follows by Petrucci :
  • to encapsulate the whole of what you want to say,
  • point to all the major links in your argument,
  • be logical, complete, concise,
  • answer all the main ‘becauses’ and ‘whys’,
  • provide the skeleton with no major bones missing!
You can derive an outline plan for your writing assignment from this core statement (or topic sentence) and your brainstorming ‘map’. Your plan can be in the form of headings/sub-headings or in diagrammatic form.  As you proceed through your assignment you may need to come back and review/revise your core statement and your outline plan from time to time.