Customer Reviews

Student's Guide for Writing College Papers

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In it's time this was probably THE reference for writing term papers, but with the passing of time, it has become dated. With information on such things as footnotes, it is simply not up-to-date with the styles currently in use at most colleges. Probably manuals such as the Beacon Handbook or the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers would be better reference choices.

The photograph of a typewriter on the cover is evidence that this was written quite some time ago. Because it was originally published in 1963, and this edition came out in 1976, it is probably older than most of the people purchasing it! The book has largely been superseded by The Chicago Manual of Style (15th Edition) and other more recent works, yet it still has important advice.

MOST RELEVANT SECTIONS FOR STUDENTS TODAY (pages 1-76, 169-179)
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-what a paper ought to be
-why we right them
-how to choose a topic
-how to use the library
-evaluating sources
-outlining
-note taking
-writing first drafts
-final drafts
-sample research paper

SECTIONS WORTH READING, BUT DATED
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Chapter 6 on style and Chapter 7 on bibliographies and footnotes are easier to read than many other books out there, and I thumb through them every once in a while. However, in my own writing, I rely on conventions in the Chicago Manual of Style.

BOTTOM LINE
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This is an inexpensive, solid work that has stood the test of time. I would recommend it as a supplement to more up-to-date style manuals.
***Please note that a fourth edition just came out in May. I hope to look at it sometime soon to see what changes they made (Student's Guide to Writing College Papers: Fourth Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)).

I was disappointed with this book for several reasons:
1) It was written pre-video, pre-internet; therefore, many aspects of incorporating sources into class papers lack any directives by Turabian.

2) While sharing the "what not to do's", this book lacked many "to do's". For example, in the footnoting section, she indicated when not to use Ibid., but the book lacks specific direction on what to do.

3) Information is not easily accessible for specific points...lots of searching to find where the information is located in the book.

While eventually you get to the information you need, I found myself using my "best guess" in writing my papers and hoping for the best. I had hoped that this book would build my confidence BEFORE I submit my student work. Unfortunately, my university using the Turabian method!

Yes, this book is outdated for citing internet resources, etc. However if you need to understand how to put together and outline, this book has an excellent section with an example of an actual outline. This is something that I have found to be missing from current handbooks and it has proved very valuable to me.