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Writing Abstracts
The most important characteristic of the abstract is that it is convincing. Follow the conventions of abstract writing in order to convince the conference organizers (or journal editors or...) that your paper is fabulous and needed for their event and/or publication.
- State the problem. Explain that your topic hasn't received much scholarly attention or that your argument diverges from most scholarship on the issue. “Most feminists have questions Emilia Galotti's murder... I argue that it was necessary...”
- Question/Thesis/Fragestellung. Make an argument not a description. Why is it interesting and/or important to read these authors/texts or to look at things in this way? State clearly what your paper does: “This paper contrasts/examines/analyzes...”
- Methodology. Not always necessary, but you can include something about your methodology. “Cultural Studies allows us to examine Turkish-German writing so that...”
- Five-Paragraph Essay. It can be very helpful to follow (loosely) the format of the five-paragraph essay: introduce the topic/problem, make three points, and present a conclusion. Your conclusion is the most important aspect for the readers; you should probably put this earlier rather than later. However, end with a conclusion that drives home your thesis.
- Audience. Think about who will be reading your abstract and who will be listening to/reading your paper. Don't include specialized terminology or specific names without explanations (if they might be unfamiliar to people reading the abstract).
- Avoid self-deprecation. Don't insult your work. Why would someone else want to read it then?
- Develop a narrative persona that is not you but is also not totally removed. Speak about “this paper.”
- Length. Abstracts are normally about one full double-spaced typed page (ca. 250 words).
- Proofreading. Have someone else read it! Have your advisor read it (that's what they're there for!). Have a fellow graduate student read it.
Very often, you'll write the abstract first. You can use it as a structuring guide while writing your paper.
- Clarity. Make your argument and your structure clear to readers. Lead the readers toward changes of topic. This is especially important in orally delivered papers.
- Topic sentences. Put a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph. Everything in the paragraph is subordinate to this topic (or it needs to be cut and placed elsewhere). The second most important sentence is the concluding sentence, which sums up the paragraph and provides a transition to the next paragraph/section.
UMass Commonwealth College has guildelines for writing abstracts.
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