Writing an Abstract
Abstract Worksheet
| Final Abstract Template
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Note: I wrote this for my Subcultures in Cyberspace class, which is why the examples provided have a cultural studies feel. Feel free to adapt it for your own purposes.
Many students working on abstracts find themselves panicked
with "blank page syndrome." To help, I have developed some Mad-Libs
style (aka fill in the blank) tools for you. The first tool is the Abstract
Worksheet.
Once you have completed the Worksheet, you are ready to move to the Final
Abstract Template. Both these documents are available in Microsoft word
form, below.
You may also find it useful to read Terri's
Tips on How to Write a Cultural Studies Paper before attempting an abstract.
Your Topic, broadly defined:
Fill in these blanks:Your Topic, narrowed down:
For my final in this class, I think I’d like to (examine, explore, analyze, interrogate, etc) the (phenomenon, question, practice, etc.) of (state your “object," here.)
(An example: "For my final in this class, I'd like to examine the phenomeon of Latinas in the United States who blog.")
Out of all the many directions one could take this topic, I’m particularly interested in (detailing, considering, exploring, etc) the issue (s) of (one or two particular features of your object/question goes here.)
(An example: "Of the many directions one could take this topic, I’m particularly interested in considering how and in what contexts Latinas switch from English to Spanish in their writing.")
History of your Interest /Experience in this Topic:
Your Cultural Object(s)I’ve been interested in my topic (since we began class, for a few years now, all my life, yesterday.) To tell the truth, I have (a great deal, none, some) personal experience with the issues I’m bringing up here, experience which I (may, will not, not sure) bring up in the course of this project.
(An example: "Although I am Latina myself, I only became interested in Latina studies two years ago, and in Latinas who blog (I am one) only recently. Although I know I draw on my contacts in the blogging world I cannot say yet how much personal information I will use for this project.")
To ground my project, I’ve been looking at web sites, films, chat groups, etc.), which relate to my topic because (give a reason, here.)
(An example: "To ground my project, I've been looking at a series of blog rings devoted to Latinas, as well as keeping abreast of the postings on the website Latina.com")
Your observations of Experts in the Field
To think about my material in greater depth, I refer to (name a writer, here)’s work on (name a topic, here) and (name a writer, here)’s work on(name a topic, here.) My preliminary experiences looking at these other writers’ work leads me to believe I will (disagree with, relate to, wind up questioning, not sure how I’ll feel) their thoughts regarding my topic. We’ll see how it goes!
(An example: "To think about my material in greater depth, I refer to Gloria Anzaldua's work on border cultures as well as Cherri Moraga's work on authenticity and Latina voice. My preliminary experiences looking at these writers' work leads me to believe I will wind up borrowing some of their ideas about speech and writing on the page, and update others to respond to the many-to-many nature of the Web.")
Relevance of Topic Choice to the Class:
My reasoning for presenting this topic for a class entitled “Subcultures in Cyberspace” is (outline your logic, here.)
(An example: "In class, we talked about subculture as a means to represent both lived and imagined identies. My instinct tells me that Latina bloggers straddle these two categories of idenity in interestng ways." )
Your Lingering Questions:
Although I’m generally enthusiastic about the subject matter I’ve chosen for my final paper/project, I still have a number of lingering questions about how to proceed in order to turn in a strong final product.My questions are: (state your questions). Here are the steps I’m am going to try to take to address those questions (state your steps.)
(For example, "Although I’m generally enthusiastic about the subject matter I’ve chosen for my final paper/project, I still have a number of lingering questions about how to proceed in order to turn in a strong final product.My questions are: is a mere textual analysis of English/Spanish use sufficient to make claims about Latina blogger identity? What if I coupled textual analysis of blogs with ethnographic interviews of bloggers themselves? To address these questions, I am going see what Terri thinks. I'm also going to ask her for resources on the practice of interviewing on the internet.")
Tentative Title: (title, here)
Name: (your name here)
In this (paper, project, presentation, etc.), I plan to (examine,
explore, analyze, interrogate, etc) the (phenomenon, question, practice,
etc.) of (your “object” goes here.) I’m particularly
interested in
(detailing, considering, exploring, etc.) the following (questions,
features, observations, etc.): (detail one or two questions/observations/etc,
here..) Using the work of (name some of your sources here),
I will (suggest, argue, posit) that (finish your sentence, here.)
My logic for presenting this topic for a class entitled “Subcultures
in Cyberspace” is as follows: (state your reason here.)
Tools in Microsoft Word format
Worksheet and Final Abstract Template