Final answer:
An outline is a plan for a speech or paper, structured to clearly present a main thesis and supporting points. For an outline to be effective, it should have a hierarchical structure, clarity in focus, and a strong flow of ideas. Outlining is crucial for organizing thoughts and engaging the audience.
Step-by-step explanation:
An outline is essentially a plan or a skeleton of your speech, essay, or paper that organizes main points and subpoints in a coherent structure. Drawing up an outline can ensure that you have a clear focus and thesis, as well as help to arrange your thoughts logically to appeal to your readers or listeners, influence their sympathies, and meet rhetorical expectations.
In assessing whether something is an example of an outline, we look for characteristics such as a hierarchical structure of topics and subtopics, perhaps numbered or bulleted, each addressing aspects of the main thesis. From the information provided, it seems that the focus is on the effectiveness of the outline in delivering a clear message with structure that contributes to oral fluency, thereby aiming to engage the audience.
To improve the flow of an outline, ensure that the points build on one another and that each main point is supported by subsequent subpoints—a topic sentence, an illustration, an explanation, or evidence. Reading the first sentence of each paragraph can reveal the structure and help determine if the outline successfully guides the reader.
Keeping in mind these aspects, when planning your writing, it's important not to skip the outlining process as it's instrumental in crafting a well-organized and impactful piece.