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The
most important thing to remember about your abstract is that it is essentially a
written outline of your research essay. To construct this abstract,
first carefully map out your essay by outlining the main body. You should
have 2 sections in the main body. The first section should contain 4-6
central argument/reasons that advance or prove your position that you take in
your thesis statement. Each of these 4-6 arguments/reasons will require a
separate paragraph to develop, so you should have at least 4-6 paragraphs in
this first section.
The
second section should contain 2-3 of the main counter-objections that the
opposition would raise to quarrel with your thesis. Your job is to fairly
and accurately represent those 2-3 views and also to refute them.
By refuting these 2-3 opposing arguments, you must try to challenge them, show
them to be wrong, reveal what is logically problematic with them. In
essence, you want to do your best to dismantle them. You will in all
likelihood, however, discover that at least one of these 2-3 counter-objections
will be pretty hard to refute. In this case, the best argumentative
strategy is to acknowledge that it's a pretty good argument and concede
that it is a good point. In any controversy, no side is every always right
about each point in the debate, so an occasional concession is
appropriate.
Having
understood that what your essay should accomplish in its main body section, you
just need to condense all of this for your abstract into single-sentence
statements. You should not elaborate or go into any detail or
explanation; that's what your essay is for. Overall, keep in mind that
your abstract just gives the reader an overview, a bird's eye view of the
landscape of your essay.
The
abstract must include the following 5 elements (but do not enumerate them in
your abstract like I've done here!):
-
State
the controversial issue that your essay will discuss
-
Indicate
your position on the controversial issue. This is the same thing as
your thesis. (Copy your issue and your thesis as you have
written them on your proposal you sent me. We both should have an
identical copy of your thesis and proposed controversial issue.)
-
Summarize
the multiple arguments/reasons that you will use to advance your
thesis. You should have about 4-6 of these arguments/reasons in
your essay. Devote 1-2 sentences to state each of these 4-6
arguments/reasons.
-
Acknowledge
the 2-3 main/substantial counter-arguments and briefly refute them.
(The best way to do this is in the form of a single sentence that uses subordination.
See the example below.)
-
Write
a concluding sentence for the abstract.
Try to capture the essence of your concluding paragraph in your
controversial essay.
Requirements
for the research essay abstract:
-
Use
the MLA format for manuscripts (margins, spacing, heading, title, font face
and size). The best thing to do is to use your essay template or else
religiously follow the guidelines in the "Manuscript
Conventions" sheet.
-
The
abstract must be written in a single paragraph. (I will not read
anything that exceeds one paragraph.)
-
Length:
1/2 to 1 page long. (I will not read anything that exceeds 1 page.)
Sample
Abstract:
The
following is part of my abstract on the controversial issue of the morality of
zoos. I have not included all the sentences, but you can see how to write
the various parts of the abstract. The ellipses represent sentences that I have
omitted. Each of the parts are color-coded to correspond with the 5
elements above.
One
of the less publicly debated issues, but nonetheless an important one, is the
question of whether it is moral to keep animals in zoos. This
essay argues that it is immoral to keep animals in zoos. First
it is immoral to keep animals in zoos because zoos teach us a false sense of
our place in the natural order. Secondly, zoos establish an unnecessary
hierarchy between humans and animals. Additionally, animals are not
really studied in zoos, but instead they are paraded as show pieces or
trophies. Finally, zoos are irrelevant in this age of the Internet where
virtual zoos can teach students as much about the animal world without caging
that should be allowed to live freely in the wild.
Although
opponents defend zoos on the grounds that they "preserve" and
"protect" animals, humans actually are interfering with the natural
order of nature. Also, many supporters claim that zoos elevate the
visibility of animals on the endangered species list, yet there is no
documented evidence that keeping animals in zoos helps to ensure a species'
survival. Unwaveringly, this essay
rejects the notion that zoos serve any valuable function in society and
encourages people to boycott them.
Take
note of two aspects of this abstract.
First,
notice that the thesis talks about the essay as if the essay were a separate
piece of work. That's okay here because it is a entity separate from the
abstract. If you read published abstracts that you have encountered in the
course of your research, you'll find that this practice is common. (However,
it is not acceptable to announce your thesis statement like this within your
research essay when you turn it in!)
Notice
also that in the counter-argument section, I write the
objection in the subordinate clause and then put my refutation in the main
clause of the sentence. This is the most effective--and economical--way to
write both the counter-argument and my own refutation of it. Since you
don't have a lot of room to work with, try this method in your own abstract so
that you economize on your language.
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