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Stage 6

Write an Abstract

Warp to...

• What's an Abstract
• Parent or Lineage
• The Abstract Template
• Abtract Examples
• The Title

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What's an Abstract

• An abstract is summation of your research.
• Abstracts, typically, are either descriptive OR informative.
• We are writing informative abstracts, which are about 200-300 words long.
• Spoken outloud, an abstract lets you say as much as possible in 90 seconds.
• Abstracts are NOT summaries
• A real Summary would be much longer and include many sub-points as well as more specific data.
• Reading an abstract allows a research lead, or a conference chair, or a senior thesis advisor, or a graduate chair (for a master's or a PhD) to determine if you have an original idea or if you might be reinventing an idea that's already been done.

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Parent or Lineage

• You'll need to mention a parent or lineage in the second sentence of the abstract.
• Parent: any single theorist's idea of which you are utilizing to analyze your subject
  • Such as Ann Burton's use of Michele Gelfand's idea of loose and tight cultures
  • Or Jenna Stevenson's use of Emily Apter's Translational Injustice [Abstract example word doc]
  • Or Artis Gunn's use of Nella Larsen's concept of "passing" [Abstract example word doc]
• Lineage: any historically built body of knowledge relating to your subject.
  • Such as Erika Kendall's use of death and dying in children's animated films [Abstract example word doc]
  • Or, Makayla Johnson's use of hyperreality [Abstract example word doc]
  • Or, Robert Allen's use of Semiotics [Abstract example word doc]
  
  
  
  

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  Template for the Abstract

  • Download the abstract template
  
  
  
  

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  Former Examples of Abstracts?

  • Download former PCA-submitted abstracts
  
  
  
  

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  Creating a title

  • A good title should have two parts: a creative part and a descriptive part.
  • The Creative part is usually intriguing, or humorous, or allusive. (Below, the creative parts are in bold)
  • The Descriptive part is your thesis expressed as a sentence fragment.
  
  
  

  Intriguing:

  (excitable and raises questions without asking questions)

  • Translator, Traitor: Translational Injustices in The Three-Body Problem and other Emerging Chinese Science Fiction
    • Who is the traitor? Why are they a traitor? Because they translated something?
  • "Monika Deleted My Title": The Immersive ARGs and RPGs That Redefine Fantasy Horror Entertainment
    • Wait...who's Monika, and which title did she delete? and why is she deleting stuff that's not hers

Playful/Humorous:

(word play/ puns)

• FunKo POPed the Nerd Culture: How Contemporary Nerd Culture Uses Obscure Characters to Maintain Their Status
  • Funko POP toys; Funko "POPed" the nerd culture...ah, i get it.
• Let’s Talk Over Some Coco: Culturally-infused Concepts of Death and Dying in Children Fantasy Narratives from Coco to Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
  • Ooohhh, like having a cup of cocoa, but she used the film Coco. ah-ha.

Allusive:

(Alludes to other narratives or widely known ideas)

• It’s Dangerous to Go Alone, Take Someone with You: The Rise of Squad Mechanics and Simulated Social Trust in Mass Effect: Andromeda and The Outer Worlds
  • Ah, a play on the Zelda sign/warning. So...this is about video games.
• I Kissed Purity Culture Goodbye: Western Purity Culture and The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments, and Hulu’s Serial Pure
  • This one alludes to and spins the title of a book: I Kissed Dating Goodbye
  • If unknown to the reader, then this one would be more like an Intriguing title than an Allusive title.