Student's Guide to Writing College Papers: Fourth Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) - Softcover

Turabian, Kate L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226816311 ISBN 13: 9780226816319

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2010

Synopsis

High school students, two-year college students, and university students all need to know how to write a well-reasoned, coherent research paper—and for decades Kate Turabian’s Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers has helped them to develop this critical skill. In the new fourth edition of Turabian’s popular guide, the team behind Chicago’s widely respected The Craft of Research has reconceived and renewed this classic for today’s generation. Designed for less advanced writers than Turabian’s Manual of Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Seventh Edition, Gregory G. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams here introduce students to the art of defining a topic, doing high-quality research with limited resources, and writing an engaging and solid college paper.

The Student’s Guide is organized into three sections that lead students through the process of developing and revising a paper. Part 1, "Writing Your Paper," guides students through the research process with discussions of choosing and developing a topic, validating sources, planning arguments, writing drafts, avoiding plagiarism, and presenting evidence in tables and figures. Part 2, "Citing Sources," begins with a succinct introduction to why citation is important and includes sections on the three major styles students might encounter in their work—Chicago, MLA, and APA—all with full coverage of electronic source citation. Part 3, "Style," covers all matters of style important to writers of college papers, from punctuation to spelling to presenting titles, names, and numbers.

With the authority and clarity long associated with the name Turabian, the fourth edition of Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers is both a solid introduction to the research process and a convenient handbook to the best practices of writing college papers. Classroom tested and filled with relevant examples and tips, this is a reference that students, and their teachers, will turn to again and again.

About this title

About the Author

Joseph M. Williams (1933–2008) was professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago and the author of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. He is also coauthor, with Wayne C. Booth and Gregory G. Colomb, of the best-selling guide The Craft of Research, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews

Here is the latest edition of a guide that “repurposes the ideas, principles, and practical wisdom” found in The Craft of Research (3rd ed., 2008) and A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (7th ed., 2007). The editors have simplified and updated many of the ideas and principles for beginning college students. Starting with an introduction (“Why Research?”), the book is divided into three parts. Part 1 (“Writing Your Paper”) explains the research process, finding a question, planning an argument, taking notes, preventing plagiarism, and writing and then revising a draft. Part 2 (“Citing Sources”) covers the need to cite sources and describes the three most popular citation styles in detail, and Part 3 (“Style”) includes the usual rules for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. Three appendixes include a glossary of grammatical terms, specific tips on formatting a paper, and resources for research and writing. An excellent index provides page numbers instead of the more cumbersome outline numerals. Blue boxes highlight important or helpful tips (“Verbs for Introducing a Quotation or Paraphrase”; “Write for Target Readers, Not Your Teacher”). Excellent up-to-date analogies and specific examples also make this very user-friendly. The newest MLA style is used (no URLs for material cited from the Web). However, advice about using recordable CDs (not flash drives) when using a public computer already seems outdated. Librarians will love reading that the purpose of learning to research is “finding information we can trust” and students should “watch out for Wikipedia.” Instructors may appreciate online suggestions at http://www.turabian.org/turabian_instructor_guide.pdf. This guide should be in every high-school, college, and public library. --Susan Gooden

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226816311
• ISBN 13: 9780226816319
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Colomb Gregory G., Williams Joseph M., University Of Chicago Press Staff