How to: write an outline and a blurb

How to: write a blurb and an outline

by Merle Feddersen

"One Friday Morning"

4 steps

“One Friday Morning” is a short story written by Langston Hughes which portrays the injustice and discrimination black people have to endure in our modern society.

The short story is about a young, colored girl named Nancy Lee, who despite her skin color blends in perfectly well and is admired by her fellow students. In order to win the Artist Club scholarship she paints a picture of an old Negro woman sitting on a bench in the park, the American flag waving above her head, expressing her dream of racial equality. An April afternoon Nancy is sent to Ms. O’Shay, the vice-president of the school, and together with Ms. Dietrich, the school’s art teacher, she announces that Nancy has won the scholarship. On the day of the scholarship presentation Nancy is sent to the office yet again only to hear from Ms. O’Shay that she cannot receive the scholarship, because the committee have heard that she is black. Although, Nancy is utterly disappointed, in the end she still hopes for a better world to come where skin color does not have an impact on people’s lives.

step 1: read the text

step 2: highlight important parts and note down keywords

(who? what? when? where? why?)

step 3: first sentence -> basic information such as title, name of the author and topic.

step 4: Give the main points

(help: divide into parts)

What is an outline?

• summary

• brief, structured account of the essential information

• % own opinion

• simple present

• short and precise

cut out examples, illustrations and figurative language

My blurb

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

How well do you really know the person you love? This is the question that has been roaming around Nick’s head since his beautiful wife, Amy, has disappeared on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary. Apart from investigations run by the police, the public gets involved in the search for Amy, author of the famous children book series Amazing Amy, and Nick finds himself in the center of a vivid media spectacle. What at first glance seems like a kidnapping soon turns out to be much more disturbing than that. As Amy’s diary reveals shocking details about their marriage and more striking evidence against Nick occurs, America’s sympathy for the caring husband suddenly turns into pure hatred.

Is Nick really a cold-hearted killer? And where did Amy go?

What is a blurb?

• coined by Gelett Burgess in 1907

• "To blurb is to make a sound like a publisher."

• a brief advertisement, promotional description

• found book jackets

• laudatory, praising

• interesting, thrilling

• creative writing style

• don't reveal plot twist or ending

• to whet sb. appetite