CEE 320 Instructor:
Winter Quarter 2006 Steve Muench
Abstracts 1 Writing Assignment
Read the first 4 “Other Readings” (Seattle Times Articles, Reconsidering the Gas Tax...,
Environmental Justice..., The Road to Hell...) and write an abstract for 2 of these articles.
Each abstract should be 200 words or less and typed (e.g., using Word). This amounts to
a total length of less than one page. Basically, an abstract concisely conveys the meaning
of the paper. More precise requirements, paraphrased from the Transportation Research
Board's Website, are:
An abstract must be self-contained, and it must not require reference to the paper
to be understood. It should present the primary paper topics and relevant
conclusions; the techniques or approaches used in the paper should be described
only to the extent necessary for comprehension; and conclusions should be
presented concisely and informatively. The abstract should not contain unfamiliar
terms that are not defined, undefined acronyms, reference citations, or displayed
equations or lists.
Try not to write the abstract as a narrative of your experience reading the article. Rather,
just write a summary of the article. For instance, rather than writing, “…the article then
goes on to describe the impact of transportation infrastructure on the price of a bottle of
Coca-Cola…” (italics added to emphasize what is not necessary and will, in the end soak
up precious words), write, “Transportation infrastructure’s effect on the economy is
demonstrated by cataloging the prices for a Coke in several locations.”
I intend to discuss some of these readings in class so it would be a good idea to read them
so you can contribute to the discussion. It is also possible that I will include a couple of
questions based on these readings in the midterm. The questions will be quite easy to
answer if you have done the reading.