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FREE · 4 ESSAY TYPES · MARKDOWN EXPORT

Essay outliner

Pick an essay type, enter your topic, and get a section-by-section outline grounded in standard rhetorical structure. The outline is template-driven, so it stays predictable and easy to customise.

Argument: [your position] on [your topic]

  1. 1. Introduction

    • Hook: a fact, anecdote, or statistic that grabs general readers.
    • Background: 2-3 sentences of context on [your topic].
    • Thesis: [your position]. State the position clearly in one sentence.
    • Roadmap: brief preview of the 3 supporting reasons.
  2. 2. Body 1 — Strongest reason

    • Topic sentence stating the first reason.
    • Evidence: cite a specific source, study, or example.
    • Analysis: explain why the evidence supports the thesis.
    • Transition into the next reason.
  3. 3. Body 2 — Second reason

    • Topic sentence for the second reason.
    • Evidence and quotation (with citation).
    • Analysis tying back to the thesis.
    • Transition.
  4. 4. Body 3 — Third reason (and counter-argument)

    • Topic sentence for the third reason.
    • Acknowledge a counter-argument that general readers might raise.
    • Refute the counter-argument with evidence.
    • Reinforce the thesis.
  5. 5. Conclusion

    • Restate the thesis in fresh words.
    • Synthesise the three reasons.
    • Call to action or final reflection.

Why a template instead of AI

AI-generated outlines tend to be plausible-but-generic and often miss the rhetorical pattern your teacher is looking for. Templates encode the standard structure (intro, three body paragraphs, conclusion for argumentative essays; scene-setting, rising action, climax for narratives) so what you get back maps cleanly to what graders expect. Once you have the skeleton, fill in your own ideas, sources, and voice.

About the Essay outliner

The essay outliner produces a structured skeleton for an essay in seconds. You pick an essay type, enter your topic, and optionally your position and audience, and it lays out a titled outline with introduction, body sections, and conclusion, each broken into specific bullet prompts telling you what belongs there. You can copy the whole thing as Markdown and start writing.

It is for the blank-page moment, when you know your subject but not how to arrange it. Rather than staring at an empty document, you get a sound default structure for an argumentative, expository, narrative, or compare and contrast essay, with prompts like 'topic sentence', 'evidence with citation', and 'transition' already in place. The outline is template driven, not AI written, so it is consistent, instant, and entirely yours to edit.

How to use it

  1. Choose an essay type: Argumentative, Expository, Narrative, or Compare and contrast.
  2. Enter your topic in the Topic field, for example universal basic income.
  3. For an argumentative essay, add your position so the thesis prompts can name it.
  4. Optionally enter your audience, which is woven into the hook and counter-argument prompts.
  5. Read the generated outline on the right, then click Copy as Markdown to paste it into your editor and flesh it out.

Examples

An argumentative essay scaffold

Pick Argumentative, set topic to universal basic income, position to 'UBI is necessary', and audience to policy makers. The outline is titled around your position and includes an introduction with a thesis prompt, three body sections building from the strongest reason, a counter-argument to address, and a conclusion.

A compare and contrast layout

Choose Compare and contrast with a topic like 'remote versus office work'. The outline drops the thesis and position fields and instead gives you a point-by-point body structure: feature one, feature two, feature three, each handling subject A then B then analysis, followed by a key-tension section.

Frequently asked questions

Does it write the essay for me?
No. It generates a structural outline with prompts, not finished prose. It is template based rather than AI generated, so it gives you a reliable framework and bullet reminders of what each section needs. You supply the actual arguments, evidence, and wording.
How do the four essay types differ?
Argumentative builds a thesis and three reasons including a rebuttal. Expository explains a topic through background, mechanism, and implications. Narrative follows a story arc from setting to resolution and theme. Compare and contrast uses a point-by-point structure across shared features.
Why does the position field only appear sometimes?
Position is specific to argumentative essays, where you defend a stance, so it is shown only for that type. The other types do not take a side in the same way, so their outlines build the thesis from the topic alone.
Can I export the outline?
Yes. Copy as Markdown puts the full outline on your clipboard as a heading-and-bullet list, ready to paste into any Markdown editor, a document, or a notes app, where you can rearrange and expand each point.
What if I leave the fields blank?
The outline still generates, using placeholders such as [your topic] and [your position] in the prompts. That lets you see the full structure before committing, then fill in the fields to personalise the headings and thesis prompts.

Good to know

Treat the output as a starting frame, not a rule. The classic five-part argumentative shape and the point-by-point compare structure are dependable defaults that suit most school and college assignments, but a strong essay often departs from the template once you know your material. Add, cut, or reorder sections freely after copying.

The prompts are deliberately generic so they apply to any topic, which means the real work is still yours: replacing 'cite a specific source' with an actual source, turning 'topic sentence stating the first reason' into your sharpest argument. Used well, the outliner removes the friction of deciding what goes where, so you can spend your energy on the evidence and the writing rather than the architecture. It pairs naturally with a citation tool once you reach the stage of filling in real references.

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