Student Responses

I’m trying to learn for my Law class and I’m stuck. Can you help?

All follow-up responses (minimum of 2) should require 250-300 words.

Responses:

Gregory:

The abstract of a paper is a very important part of the paper. The abstract is an indicator of the quality and nature of the work that is about to be presented in the paper following the abstract. You want to have an abstract that is well structured, focused and purposeful. The abstract is the first thing the reader is looking at for a research paper and this gives the reader the idea of what they are about to get into before they ever start reading the research in the upcoming pages. The abstract is expected to be somewhere between 150 to 250 words in length. When writing the abstract for a research investigation it is divided into five different categories that include background, hypothesis, design/method, results and the conclusion. When writing an abstract for a research review it is divided into four different categories that include background, purpose, scope/method and conclusion. When the abstract is broken down into these categories it keeps the abstract in order and also makes it easier to read and understand. (Lohmann, J. R. (2009)

The introduction of the paper should grab the attention of the reader. The introduction is really the first impression of paper by both the professor and anyone else who reads the paper. When writing the essay for a paper it should include the main idea of the paper, the significance of the essay that is written and whatever the main thesis is that you plan to explain in the body of the paper. When you write your introduction your goal is to excite the individual that is reading your paper and motivate them to continue reading and understand the thesis and the reason behind why you wrote the paper and what you hope to explain. When writing your introduction page you should avoid using rhetorical questions. The reasons to avoid rhetorical questions is they serve no real purpose within the essay.

A rhetorical questions is a question that has no real answer to it and does not provide any new information to the reader and the paper is unable to answer any rhetorical questions. You can however use what is known as a narrative hook within your introduction. The narrative hook is also known as a literary hook this is used to hook the reader and give them enough intrigue that they will keep reading the rest of the paper. Essentially when someone looks at any type of writing from a fictional book to a research paper they are trying to figure out if what they are reading is actually worth their time. A reader will open up a book or research paper and look at the introduction and after about thirty seconds to a minute of reading they will have figured out if what they are reading is worth their time. It is the writers job to get that person to continue reading and they do this be using the abstract to give a brief overview and the introduction to give the narrative hook.

Citations

Lohmann, J. R. (2009). Editor’s page: Structured abstracts. Journal of Engineering Education, 98(4), 305. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docv…

Brent:

There are various parts of a research proposal that are necessary in order to lay out a clear purpose for the research being proposed as well as how it will be conducted. One important section in a research proposal is the abstract of the proposal. This is a section that appears at the beginning of the proposal, even before the introduction, and acts as a summarized layout of the entire research proposal. It serves to give an initial purpose for the research proposal as well as lays out the focal points of the research to be conducted. It is vital to addressing the necessity of the research, the benefits it will yield, as well as grabbing the attention of those reading the proposal. It is a big picture look into the proposal which lets readers know what they can expect to see as they read through the paper.

The introduction of the research proposal serves the purpose of giving a much more detailed outline of what the research proposal is about. It also serves to set the tone of the paper and grab the readers attention in order to get them interested in the subject and more open to the proposed research being conducted. It also sets the stage for the proposal by citing previous research or papers related to the topic which can help establish the validity for the proposed research as well as the benefits it could yield. A good introduction can set the stage for a reader to focus more on your research proposal as well as layout the rest of the proposal.

The key to an effective introduction is the use of a Narrative Hook to grab the attention of the reader and set the tone for the rest of the paper. There are various methods that can be used to set a Narrative Hook in a paper to grab the readers attention and arouse their interest. These hooks can range from the use examples of the topic, statistics regarding the topic, a short story to intrigue, or the use of questions to generate curiosity among readers. One thing you do not want to use as a narrative hook is a rhetorical question. This is due to the fact that the hook is meant to captivate the audience and establish a sort of relationship with the author. A rhetorical question does not due this and instead simply states the authors opinion in the form of a question. This keeps the reader from developing a sense of curiosity or arousing intrigue.

References:

American Military University (AMU). 2016. “Beginning the Writing Process: Abstract and Introduction Construction