One more suggestion is in place here. In writing an outline, be careful that you express similar subdivisions of a topic by similar grammatical elements. For example, in the first outline above, (a) under I is a phrase; (b) under I should be a similar phrase. It would be incorrectly worded Winter or What the winter problem is. What is the advantage of such similarity?
Using the divisions you made for one of the subjects under [Exercise 155], develop an outline for a theme.
Exercise 157
Choose one of the following subjects; restrict it or expand it, if necessary; select a proper title; write an outline; and then write or deliver your composition, following your outline closely. Notice that the shorter your title the more it includes, and therefore the longer your composition must be to deal adequately with the subject.
1. Giving talks before a class develops self-reliance.
2. Most inventors would not have succeeded without perseverance.
3. The more training a man has, the better chance he has to succeed.
4. Most rich men learned to save early.
5. The value of courtesy in a retail business.