Outline Model
Name
Instructor’s Name
Class
Date
Topic: Should parents wear costumes on Halloween?
I. Introduction
A. Hook/Attention Getter: According to survey data conducted by the Federal
Commission on Costuming Regulations, 78% of teens reported they were
embarrassed by their parents’ Halloween costumes last year (27).
B. History: provide researched history of Halloween and costuming norms (Smith
18).
C. Plan of Coherence: Despite evidence that certain social settings support and even promote the wearing of Halloween costumes by adults, parents in particular should not wear costumes on Halloween because they blur the social boundaries between parents and their
children, they often embarrass teenage children, and they are often unintentionally offensive.
II. Body: Development and Support of Position
A. Point 1: The first and most important reason that parents should not wear costumes on Halloween is because costumes blur the social boundaries between parents and their children.
1. Children look to parents for stability (Richards 9).
a. Further development of point.
b. Limitations of point (Springer 85).
2. Parents who costume often lose focus on personal responsibilities
(Jones 85).
B. Point 2: Secondly, parents who wear costumes are often an embarrassment to
teenage children.
1. Teens are particularly susceptible to bullying (Johnson 3).
2. Teens who have embarrassing parents are nearly twice as likely to develop affective disorders (Jong 72)
C. Point 3: Thirdly, adult costumes are often unintentionally offensive.
1. Use researched anecdote about white, male adult wearing a Moana costume
(Jennings 37).
2. Discuss perceptions of costuming by adults who don’t participate.
III. Body: Counterarguments
A. Counterargument 1: Some argue that Halloween costuming provides a once-per-year outlet for adults who are otherwise respectable members of society.
1. According to Lipson, adults need to purge pent-up adulthood frustrations (27).
2. Refutation (Rebuttal): There are many healthy alternatives to meet this
purging.
a. Healthy alternative 1 (Johnson 4).
b. Healthy alternative 2 (Richards 14)
B. Counterargument 2: Others may argue that adults who choose appropriate costumes can avoid embarrassing their children and offending others.
1. Refutation (Rebuttal): While this may be partially true, research suggests that adults-who-costume are not typically the best judges of what is actually appropriate (Sams 4).
IV. Conclusion
A. Restatement of the main claim and support.
B. Call to action.
