This post from Rachael Cayley's blog on Academic Writing - Explorations of Style - gives a really clear overview of how to do a reverse outline. 'Reverse outlines are outlines that we create from an existing text' to 'reveal the structure—and thus the structural problems' of it. Cayley details the process as follows:Â
1. Number your paragraphs. (Paragraphs are the essential unit of analysis here; next week we will look at why paragraphs are so important.)
2. Identify the topic of each paragraph. At this point, you can also make note of the following:
a. Is there a recognizable topic sentence?
b. How long is the paragraph?
i. Does the topic seem sufficiently developed?
ii. Is there more than one topic in the paragraph?
3. Arrange these topics in an outline.
4. Analyze this outline, assessing the logic (where elements have been placed in relation to one another) and the proportion (how much space is being devoted to each element).
5. Use this analysis to create a revised outline.
6. Use this revised outline to reorganize your text.
7. Go back to your answers in 2a and 2b to help you create topic sentences and cohesion in your paragraphs.
