A Sample Working Outline

• INTRODUCTION •

  1. After surviving a cosmic storm, comic book heroine Susan Storm was amazed that she was still alive and even more amazed that she had gained the power to become the Invisible Woman. By creating a force field, she could bend the light waves around her so that she could not be seen. This may sound like science fiction, which it is—for now.

  2. Today we will take a look at advances in the science of invisibility.

     • Introduction includes the five components—attention-getter, thesis, relevance to audience, credibility, and preview

  3. These developments have the potential to affect every aspect of our lives—from aesthetics, architecture, and entertainment to the military, telecommunications, and transportation. •

  4. After conducting library research and interviews with professors on campus, I have been amazed to learn about the process of invisibility.

  5. To understand this exciting new use of technology, it is necessary to first consider the physical science of invisibility, then review experiments attempting to render objects invisible, and finally have a better look (so to speak) at the tremendous effects that this technology could have on our lives in the future.

• BODY

  1. Invisibility requires transporting light around an object.

     1. Fiction writers have depended on magical properties. •

        • Subpoints and sub-subpoints are indented properly.

        1. In Greek mythology, the Cyclops gave Hades an invisibility helmet to give him an advantage when battling the Titans.

        2. British science fiction writer H. G. Wells wrote of a magic elixir that a person could drink to become invisible.

        3. J. K. Rowling imagined an invisibility cloak for Harry Potter.

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     2. Rather than focusing on science fiction, researchers have focused on scientific principles.

        • Full citation of research sources

        1. Visibility depends on light. In a personal interview on February 10, 2007, Professor Craig Rutan, physics chair at Santiago Canyon College, explained that to make something appear invisible, you must find a way to transport light around the object. For example, for the blackboard in this room to be visible, light must travel toward it. If something blocks that light, the board will become invisible. •

        2. This effect explains how you see a mirage on a hot summer road. In the November 2006 issue of Discover, Duke University physicists David Smith and Dave Schurig note that “when light rays from the sky hit the hot, thin air just above the surface of the asphalt, they bend. . . . Rays once headed from the sky to the ground are redirected to your eye, making the road shimmer like water. In effect, the mirage is cloaking the (now invisible) road behind an image of the blue sky.”

  [TRANSITION Now that we know what is required for invisibility, we’ll take a look at scientific efforts to make objects invisible.]

  • Experiments presented in chronological order

  2. Invisibility research is progressing well. •

     1. Research began with microwaves.

        1. According to senior editor Josie Glausiusz in Discover, November 2006, the Duke physicists used microwaves instead of light waves because they have a “substantially longer wavelength, which makes the cloaking effect considerably easier to achieve.”

           • Use quotation marks when quoting a source word-for-word.

        2. The same source indicates that the physicists used specially created metamaterials that “possess an ability, not found in nature, to bend light at extreme angles.” They placed rings of these materials around a small cylindrical object and were able to “bend microwaves to flow around the cylinder like water flowing around a pebble in a stream.” •

        [SHOW VISUAL AID OF THIS PROCESS]

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     2. More recent trials have cloaked objects from visible light.

        1. Lynn Yarris of the Berkeley Lab Communications Department reported new findings in “Making 3D Objects Disappear,” September 17, 2015. A Berkeley research team headed by Professor Xiang Zhang created an ultrathin “skin cloak” with a width of 80 nanometers (about 3 millionths of an inch). The cloak was placed around a tiny three-dimensional object, and when light was focused on the object, “the light reflected off the skin cloak was identical to light reflected off a flat mirror, making the object underneath it invisible.”

           • Note where presentation aids will be used.

           [SHOW VIDEO OF INVISIBILITY CLOAK WORKING] •

        2. In Science, September 18, 2015, Professor Xingjie Ni and colleagues on the Berkeley research team note that “the cloak can also conceal objects with sharp features like abrupt edges and peaks.” They add that if the cloak is “designed correctly, both the container and the objects inside the container will become invisible.”

     3. How long will it take until an invisibility cloak that can shield larger objects from sight becomes feasible? According to National Geographic News, November 20, 2008, Ulf Leonhardt, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore, states that “it’s a question of the will and the money put into this field.”

  • Transition shows movement from one main point to the next

  [TRANSITION We have seen how scientific research is proceeding. Next, let’s consider how invisibility technology could affect our lives in ways that we can now only imagine.] •

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  3. Invisibility technology has many practical applications.

     • The words first, second, third, and finally signpost the four applications.

     1. First, an invisibility cloak can improve our visual environment. Ian Sample, science correspondent for the Guardian, wrote on March 18, 2010, that “some scientists believe cloaking materials could be used to hide unsightly buildings or high-security facilities.” •

     2. Second, invisibility technology can save energy. According to the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers, in “Invisibility Cloak Might Enhance Efficiency of Solar Cells,” October 1, 2015, “Modules that are presently mounted on roofs convert just one-fifth of the light into electricity.” Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are working on “optical invisibility cloaks” to “guide sunlight around objects that cast a shadow on the solar panel.”

     3. Third, satellite connections may become more efficient. Jim Kerstetter, senior editor for CNET News, wrote an August 21, 2012, article on the CNET News site about Intellectual Ventures, a company that has received funding from investors that include Bill Gates. The company has patented metamaterials technology that would eliminate the need for the heavy and expensive equipment planes that now are used to stay connected with satellites. The technology, about the size of a laptop, could even be used to create a “personal satellite hot spot.”

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     4. Finally, invisibility research is being extended to shields that protect us from other types of waves. Adam Piore, contributing editor for Discover magazine, wrote in the July–August 2012 issue that scientists are exploring how sound waves can be cloaked to reduce noise pollution, how seismic waves can be cloaked to protect buildings, and how ocean waves can be deflected from ships.

• CONCLUSION

  • Efficient summary of main points

  1. First, we examined the science of invisibility. Second, we looked at current research into the process of making objects invisible. Finally, we looked at the tremendous effects that this new technology could have on all our lives. •

     • Clincher ties conclusion back to introduction

  2. Now, you may not be able to run out tomorrow and purchase an invisibility cloak, but in the not-too-distant future, research into invisibility will benefit diverse fields, including national defense, medicine, and communications. Furthermore, individuals like Susan Storm, with her Invisible Woman identity, may no longer just be comic book characters. •

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  • Full citation of sources in list of works cited (check with your instructor about his or her preferred citation format)