SAMPLE OUTLINE FOR A DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH

This is a sample of an outline based on some brainstorming and organization of the picture we viewed in class (from “National Geographic”).

(1)	The topic sentence says what is being described and what the OPINION is about it (i.e., it’s mysterious.)
(2)	The main content is organized spatially from front to back.
(3)	The details are descriptive enough for the reader to imagine some of the crucial details (e.g., the road is of dirt, not modern black asphalt). 
(4)	The details SUPPORT the opinion in the topic sentence that the picture is mysterious (e.g., no people are present, it’s dark and foggy, and it’s isolated).

OUTLINE: (1) A TOPIC SENTENCE, (2) MAIN PARTS, AND (3) SPECIFIC DETAILS 

TOPIC: A MYSTERIOUS village in a jungle

FRONT
	MIDDLE:  a dirt road that leads into the village
	RIGHT: a little girl with long messy hair and a old, baggy white dress
	LEFT:  a sad looking horse eating grass

CENTRAL AREA
	about a dozen wooden huts with grass roofs
	spread through the village unevenly
	Each hut is triangular and has two wooden poles sticking out from the tops
	No people are there

BEHIND/AROUND
	Thick green trees on all sides
	a hillside with forest rises up from the back, isolated
	somewhat dark and foggy