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An abstract is a short paragraph that describes or informs the essential components of a larger work.
Creating an Abstract is simple. Cut and past the following into a separate document so that you can edit it before you add it to your paper:
When you are done, you should have almost a complete paragraph that makes sense and clearly says what your paper is about. You may have to edit your paragraph to add transition words to make it make sense before you add it to your paper.
Tip: Format the MLA abstract citation the same way you would format a citation on a MLA works cited page.
Sample MLA Citation and Abstract:
Butler, Robert Olen. "Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot." Tabloid Dreams: Stories, 1st ed., H. Holt & Co., 1996, pp. 71-82.
The narrator of this cautionary tale is a deceased husband that has been reincarnated as a parrot. The husband’s jealousy led to his death as a result of his indignation towards his wife because of her conversations about a new guy at her office. As a parrot the husband states “She said another thing about him and then another and right after the third one I locked myself in the bathroom because I couldn’t rage about this anymore.” This resentment led the husband to locate the co-worker’s address and go to his house. He climbed a tree in the backward to get a closer look inside and fell resulting in his death. After his reincarnation as a parrot, his wife selects him at a pet store and he is relegated to living in a cage watching his wife engage with other men. The husband acknowledges that his life as a parrot is the price he has to pay for “living life in a certain way”.