joylein's Full Review: Peggy M. Houghton, Michael F. Peters, Timothy J. H...
At the end of the school year I went temporarily insane and signed up for a series of classes offered through Old Dominion University in Norfolk. The six classes were being offered free to the teachers in my school district. Our schools serve an at-risk population, and successful completion of the courses will enable me to add an endorsement in special education endorsement to my teaching license. I am not one to pass up over $1200 in free college courses, so I decided to take the plunge.
I recently completed two of the classes over the summer session. My first thought upon seeing some of the very writing intensive work was "What in the world was I thinking?” I am an art teacher. I am creative and relatively intelligent (I think), but I hate to write papers! For the two courses I recently completed, I had to write a total of three papers using the dreaded APA format and citations, with which I was completely unfamiliar. I have only written papers in MLA style…never APA!!!
After my initial panic and shock subsided and the realization set in that I had to do the work, I went directly to Amazon.com and purchased the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and a teeny little 60 page book called APA: The Easy Way. Having never written a paper in APA format, I knew I needed to consult the official APA manual.
What is APA? Why Do I need APA: The Easy Way?
The APA is the American Psychological Association. Years ago, the APA developed guidelines to be used by those who wish to publish their works in journals and other literature. In addition to the MLA style, the APA style is used in many colleges and universities. Much the coursework done at he graduate level requires students to use the rigid APA guidelines for format and citations. The APA style differs from MLA style, and it can be very confusing if the writer is not familiar with the APA style. I was one of those poor, confused writers before I purchased APA: The Easy Way.
All papers or publications done in the APA writing style are double spaced with one-inch margins. There is a specific format for in text references, the cover page, and reference page as well.
I found the 439 page Publication Manual itself to be cryptic and confusing. Although it is actually quite straight forward, I found that I needed a condensed version of the guidelines in order to understand them. I am glad I decided to purchase APA: The Easy Wayalong with the official manual. It made my life (and writing) a lot easier!
APA: The Easy Way is meant to be used as a supplement to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It breaks down and simplifies a lot of the information found in the Manual itself. This little lifesaver of a book is broken down into three sections that make it easy to digest the information. This book makes learning the APA style a lot less painful!
The Breakdown
As stated above, this glorious little black book is divided into three sections. All sections are vital to understanding the mechanics of APA format and the information contained in the Manual. Below you will find a breakdown of what each section contains.
Part One: Part one is called the Mechanics of APA. It explains how to properly format your term paper of other writing selection using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office 2007 Word. This section explains (in simple terms) how to set up the :
· Margins
· Proper alignment and line spacing
· Font type and size
· Paragraph indentation
· Hanging indents (necessary for citations)
· Page header
This first section also briefly explains the multiple levels of headings, title page, abstract, table of contents, appendices, and paraphrasing.
This section also describes how to site authors, to include those sources with multiple authors. It explains how to state a direct quote from a source.
I found this section to be especially helpful and liked the fact that the explanations were simple and easy to understand. The way the information is broken down makes it easier to comprehend.
Part Two: Part two deals with the reference page and the format in which references should be listed. It explains the margins needed, abbreviations, numerals, and order of references.
This section gives the reader a complete rundown of how to create a proper reference for anything from journal entries, internet journal, newspaper articles, to those by anonymous authors. Because the APA format is so stringent and varies from the MLA format, there are subtle differences that one must be aware of. Professors expect proper format, so this section is very important.
I found this section very helpful when creating my own reference page. It never steered me wrong.
Section Three: This last section contains a sample APA style research paper. Some changes have been made to the paper for editing purposes for the APA guide, but it is still very helpful to see an actual example of APA style writing.
The sample paper contains everything from the title page to the reference page and includes examples of multiple levels of headings, which are pointed out to the reader.
I was really confused about the proper use of headings initially, but seeing the sample paper helped a lot. I also found the in text citation examples extremely helpful.
A Helpful Tool
At just a little over ten bucks on Amazon, I would say APA: The Easy Way is a worthwhile investment. It is not intended to be used as a replacement for the actual APA handbook, but it is a great supplement for those who have trouble understanding the journal itself.
At just 60 pages, it is not a monster of a book and will not overwhelm the reader. It is a great help to anyone who is new to or needs to brush up on the APA style.
I am glad I purchased this nifty little handbook, and I have gotten a lot of use out of it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is confused about the APA style of writing. It is an amazingly helpful tool.
I believe that this little book helped me to understand and overcome my fear of the APA style of writing. I did well in both of my classes and on my papers, so I know it helped me! Perhaps it can help you as well.
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