When writing an essay, how would you best prepare an outline?

For the purposes of detailing how to best prepare an essay outline, I will be using the question "Discuss the theme of 'ghosts' in John Donne's poetry" as an example. Once you have chosen your question, your first step should be to begin compiling sources. I always recommend using JSTOR (an online archive of primarily journals and articles) alongside books from your library, as articles are often more specialised and more to-the-point than books are. It's important to begin with research as your readings can greatly inform the direction your essay will take. It will also help give you a jumping off point when the time comes to start writing. All too often, students find themselves stuck and unable to begin an essay because they can’t figure out where to begin. Therefore by focusing first on researching and compiling sources, you can ease yourself into the essay mindset and giving yourself a better idea of the subject area. It’s also worth noting that professors do look through your bibliography to see how many and what kind of sources you used. Professors want their students to write essays that demonstrate a breadth of understanding, and for this reason I would recommend always having minimum 8-10 resources in your bibliography (including primary sources); if you are not in honours just yet, you can get away with fewer although it’s a good habit to get into. Please note that research should be ongoing throughout the essay writing process. While you should try and get the bulk of it done before you begin writing, it’s a good idea to still be looking at JSTOR and your library's books. I find that if I am stuck on a point or am having a slow writing day, it can be extremely helpful to take a break from writing and just take notes on an article or chapter. Often it helps restart my brain by giving me a moment to reflect on my ideas, leaving me once again inspired and able to write.
After you’ve gotten through most of your research and taken notes on various sources, it’s time to decide on your thesis or argument. With a question such as "Discuss the theme of 'ghosts' in John Donne's poetry" students often fall into the trap of picking three poems and simply pointing out the use of ghosts in each. Whenever you’re writing an English essay, it is of the utmost importance that you have an argument, or at the very least a specific angle of discussion. A good argument can make all the difference between an average essay and a great essay. For instance, a good angle for our example question could be: “In this essay, I will be discussing how Donne’s use of ghosts interacts with the changing definition of ghosts during the Reformation, with a focus on the following poems: The Apparition, A Fever, and The Computation.” This thesis is far more specialised and gives a clear structure to the essay as a whole.
Once you have done your research and chosen your argument, outlining your body paragraphs should be no problem at all. When I outline my essays, I like to start with three sections that can be broken down into paragraphs. Each section of an essay should deal with a general, overarching idea or a single primary source, the section can then be broken down into paragraphs. In general, paragraphs should deal with one idea at a time. For example, I have divided this Donne essay in three sections, each section pertains to one of my poems: The Apparition, A Fever, and The Computation. Once you have chosen your sections, your next bullet points should be slightly less general points or topics you want to discuss about each poem. The best way to do so is by setting each topic up in question form: A. What is the poem’s form and metre? B. What ghostly imagery or theme is present? C. How is the meaning affected when one takes into account the protestant definition of ghosts? Firstly, if you are writing about poetry, it’s always a good idea to start by discussing the metre and form of the poem. Metre is extremely tricky to write, and as such the words and their placement are carefully thought through and can reveal deeper meaning and intention. Secondly, Question B and C are interconnected and should be the bulk of each section; B identifies, and C reflects and develops. In every one of your paragraphs, you should always return to your argument or thesis and it should be clear how you got from point X to point Y. Now that you have this skeleton set up, it’s up to you to add any quotes or thoughts you might have in bullet points under questions A, B and C.
The goal with an outline is to have a clear map for your essay so that when the time comes to write--all you need to do is fill in the blanks and develop your thoughts. Being a University student is tough and sometimes, we can get stuck and end up stress-freezing. Working on building an effective and detailed outline is a great way to move past the stress block and get your brain to start thinking about what you want to write. Having a good outline also means you can spend less time on writing; since you now know exactly where you want to go, you only have to put it down in words!