An abstract briefly states the major points of a longer piece of writing, usually in language similar to that of the piece being abstracted. Its primary purpose is to enable readers to decide whether to read the work in full. Abstracts are written for many formal reports, journal articles, and most dissertations, as well as for many other long works. Because a long abstract defeats its purpose, abstracts are usually no longer than 200 to 250 words and may be much shorter.

Besides accompanying the material being summarized, abstracts may also be collected in periodical indexes. Most of these indexes, which may be directed to a general audience (such as Dissertation Abstracts International) or to a specific audience (such as Historical Abstracts'), are retrievable by computer. (See also, The Research Paper.)

ABSTRACT

Most Koreans see education as a means to getting ahead and achieving a better life. Korean teens in the U.S. still feel enormous pressure to excel in their studies. U.S. policy of teaching individualism goes against Korean culture.

—from InfoTrac Magazine Index, Katie Monagle, "Pressure in America , Too"

abstract words/concrete words

Abstract words refer to concepts, ideas that cannot be discerned by the five senses. Concrete words create sensory images.

abstract work, courage, kind, idealistic, love, go concrete scissors, golden, icy, shuffle, stumble

Good writing often uses concrete words to illustrate an idea expressed in abstract words.

Real (as I will call vine-ripened, soft-walled, acid-flavored, summer-grown) tomatoes are an article of faith, a rallying point for the morally serious, a grail.

— Raymond Sokolov, "The Dark Side of Tomatoes"

 

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