Group Members: LASTNAME, First Name (Of All Members)

Updated: 2-jul-08

Cover Sheet for Stage Three of an academic paper or non-expository writing, group work

Course: ##

Name: YOURLASTNAME, First name

Group members: LASTNAME, first name (of all members)

Date submitted:

Informative title Your title does not need to match other member titles at this stage. (Example—not: “Women in the Tale of Genji” rather: “Three Women Favored by Genji: Aoi, Murasaki, Akashi”):

Type_title_here

Thesis, as concise as possible (your thesis does not need to match other member titles at this stage):

Type_thesis_here

Paper abstract (150 words absolute maximum). Each group member does this for the entire paper. (See the end of this document for my definition of an abstract; your thesis does not need to match other member titles at this stage):

Type_abstract_here

Your portion of the paper (indicate as precisely as possible the part(s) your are responsible, don’t forget to address the issue of the bibliography):

Type_yourpart_here

Optional question, but useful for me to know: Until before this class, how many college level term papers in the humanities have you written? (0, 1, 2-3, more than 3, etc.)

Type_here_if_you_choose_to_answer

Other comments you might wish to make:

Type_other_comments_here_if_you_wish

Please notice that there are further instructor comments below, beginning on a second page.

When I ask for an abstract of your paper, what do I mean by that?

An abstract is something you write AFTER you have written the complete draft that gives a very concise summary of its contents. In academic journals it is used to deliver the important findings of an essay quickly, to let a reader know the main information and help him or her decide whether he or she needs to read further. In our case, it is used to check if you have a clear view of what you have written in terms of topic, method and what your essay or project’s important results or conclusions are.

An abstract is NOT a description of topic or approach or what you plan to do; it is a summary of your main discoveries and conclusions and how you arrived at them:

 I was curious what 100% cacao hot chocolate tastes like. (That just says what you will do.)

 I was curious what 100% cacao hot chocolate would taste like so I made it last week and served it to friends. (That just says what you did, but we don’t know the results.)

 I love cacao and wondered if there is an upper limit to how much can be put in hot chocolate. (There is the organizing question.) I discovered that 100% cacao hot chocolate can induce vomiting. I made it for 10 people and 8 of them became sick. (That shows the question, the method and the result.)

The below is a student’s Stage Three Cover Page abstract. It is not an abstract because, while it gives good details of both the topic (comparison of various types of suicide) and the method (an emphasis on suicide’s effect on spectators and other survivors), it does not describe the conclusion. We are forced to read the paper, which neutralizes the usefulness of the abstract:

I look at the way ritual suicide was performed in Buddhist self sacrifice, samurai seppuku, and shinju double suicides. I compare reasons behind it, the results, and try for a particular emphasis on the spectators and the how it affects the remaining people, and what use those deaths have for the living.

So, for example, instead of “I compare reasons behind it” – that is what will be done, the writer should say “I conclude that the reason behind it is …”. Other changes would also be necessary.

Here is a second example with the same problem.

This paper is an experimental look into what makes a good representation of atmosphere, how Western works provide a different kind, and how classical Japanese works provide it.

After reading the essay, it seems to be that this could have been the abstract:

This paper is an experimental look into what makes a good representation of atmosphere. I compare modern Western literary prose and Heian period Japanese literary prose to explore this issue. I conclude that Western literary prose provides atmosphere primarily through plot that relies heavily on logical progression and strong emotions while classical Japanese works use a type of associative sequence the foregrounds subtle emotions.

The above is three sentences covering: topic, method, conclusion. Often this will be too simple a formula but it can be workable at times. You should cover these points in some way.