Thesis Outline Skill

A thesis dies two ways: chapters that are containers instead of arguments, and a through-line only the author can see. This skill builds the outline argument-first — every chapter has a job and a claim — and then reads it like an examiner, flagging the weak links before the defense does.

What This Skill Produces

• The thesis sentence — one sentence; if it takes three, the work isn't scoped yet
• The chapter map — per chapter: its job in the argument, its central claim, its evidence
• Evidence allocation — which data/sources carry which chapter, exposing overloaded and starving chapters
• The examiner's risk register — the 3–5 weakest links, each with a shoring-up plan

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The research question and (draft) answer — even rough; the outline is built around the answer
• What exists already — data collected, chapters drafted, the literature review's gap statement
• Program constraints — length, chapter conventions of the field, deadline
• The supervisor's known opinions (optional but valuable — outlines that fight the supervisor lose slowly)