Monday, October 6, 2008
Abstract vs. Background
When I originally wrote my paper I began with a background section in which I describe a day at a SEEDS summer camp. I liked this opening because I felt like it really set the stage for my descriptions of SEEDS as a fun and friendly atmospohere that's great for kids. However, in class when we did workshops, I began to worry that the main ideas of my proposal were not developing quickly enough, and maybe I would have to actually begin my paper with an abstract section. In the end, I decided to have a 2-sentance abstract within my cover letter, so that I could present the main ideas of my paper up front, and still begin the actual body of my work with a background description.
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3 comments:
This is a great idea. While your opening description was very colorful and interesting, it would be good to have a short abstract in the beginning. And then when people read the more descriptive section, they will already have a firm handle on what you're researching.
Has anyone made a Final Fantasy 8 joke about "SEEDs" yet?
*goes into hardcore geek mode*
Thank you for posting this. It reminded me that my group had metioned briefly something to the same effect in workshop Friday. I think I may go back and eitehr add an abstarct to the beginning of my paper or write a very brief one to add to my cover letters.
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