Reviews (7)

This is a supplement, not a primary resource
Hopefully this statement will help those of you who are trying to decide what to buy: If you do not own a full copy of the APA Publication Manual, then do not buy this book. This book is meant to be a pocket-sized reference guide that you can carry with you. It is meant as a supplement, but it is not the primary resource -- the APA Publication Manual is the primary resource.
Incomplete
There's no rules for title pages, no examples of manuscript pages, no rules for pagination. It doesn't even tell you if the reference list belongs on a separate page or what its heading looks like. I consider these glaring omissions, particularly if you are expected to use pure APA and have no departmental style guide (like me). This book is basically a glorified guide to citation and syntactic rules. Avoid it and pay the extra five bucks for the complete book. Getting the cheap book as some kind of protest won't signficantly hurt the APA and it will just make things harder for you.

Good book, lacking in visual references
While this is a great condensation of the main rules needed to write in APA style, this book lacks one major thing -- the practical examples of how to apply APA style in a document or manuscript.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Professional - General    5. Psychology    6. Publishing    7. Reference    8. Social sciences    9. Writing Skills    10. American English    11. Usage guides    12. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (567)

The House on Mango Street
The House on Mango Street is a story of Esperanza Cordero.Esperanza is sharing her life in a poetic form.She writes poems to describe her life on Mango Street.She is embarrassed to point and say, "That's my house."Her mama says, "It's for the time being," papa says, "its temporary."Esperanza shares her stories of love, friendship, and the trail of life.Esperanza's friend Sally gets into lots of trouble with boys and her papa doesn't tolerate this.Working at such a young age isn't very easy, but papa doesn't want Esperanza to go to public school, he believes you'll turn out bad.Living in the ghetto of Chicago can get difficult sometimes in ways that can just confuse you, like your friend getting married when she hasn't even reached eighth grade.Sandra Cisneros will share Esperanza's feelings and descriptions about neighbors and family great.Boys, where should we start?To Esperanza, they live in separate worlds, you can really only rely on your true friends.In the end, all these moments of feelings only equal one word, Life.
this book is so weird
this books chapter titles were random as hell and so was the book. its so weird.there is no plot whatsoever. i hated it, don't buy it cuz it sucks major balls.

For ESL students
I teach a beginner writing course for ESL students preparing for college, and we use this book to help students develop that all-important voice. The stories are simple but full of feeling, and resonate deeply with my mostly Latino students. Yes, there are incomplete sentences and words that don't belong in academic writing, but I find my students understand the concept of personal vs. academic writing, and can enjoy the book on its own terms. In addition, it could easily form the basis of a reading course for students once they are beyond the very early stages of learning English. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bildungsromane    2. Chicago (Ill.)    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Girls    7. Literary    8. Mexican Americans    9. Popular American Fiction    10. Research And Report Writing    11. Fiction / Literary    12. Modern fiction   

Reviews (109)

a mess
For being the official source on APA this book is appallingly bad. It is extremely hard to use, is incomplete, and seems to have even less information than is freely available on the net. Save yourself some time and skip buying this.

The Plot was pretty slow moving
I don't know... i just think the plotting of this novel was just pretty slow and not really exciting at all.The villains were just cardboard characters, the hero was kinda blah, and it just didn't build to an exciting resolution.So I can only give it two stars for effort...

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition
Very easy to find guidlelines for references and how to use them make this 5th edition a must for students and their tutors who are engaged in publishing research.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. History    5. Psychological literature    6. Psychology    7. Publishing    8. Reference    9. Social sciences    10. USA    11. Writing & editing guides   

Editorial Review

The world is divided into two types of people: those who wince when they seethe words Read more

Reviews (58)

Took two weeks to get here
Shipping took way too long to get here, almost 14 days. They probably could have chosen a better option to send it, but didn't.

Fast & Pragmatic Rules for the Busy Writer
It's not just for reporters.If you write letters, memos, reports, updates, briefs, and the like, this book will make you a more competent and confident writer.
Insufficient but requisite!
If you write or publish regularly, you'll need to devise addendums to the AP Guide. A short list might evolve into your own style guide, since the AP may not cover abbreviations you commonly use, for example. But this guide is indispensible prior to (or in lieu of) having your own guide (a monstrous task). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Newspapers/Magazines    2. Handbooks, manuals, etc    3. Journalism    4. Journalistic Writing    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Libel and slander    7. Media & the Law    8. Reference    9. Research And Report Writing    10. Style manuals    11. United States    12. Writing Skills    13. Communications law    14. USA    15. Writing & editing guides   

Subjects:  1. College readers    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    3. Composition & Creative Writing - General    4. English Composition    5. English language    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Language    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    10. Report writing    11. Rhetoric    12. Creative writing guides    13. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    14. Writing skills   

Reviews (4)

Out of date!
The book is very useful & accurate for citing books and other print articles, but has no information on citing web pages, emails, or other electronic texts. It is based on the 1995 4th edition of MLA, while MLA is up to the 6th edition (2003)

An Excellent, Although Incomplete, Source On MLA
This Review refers to the paperback edition of The Essentials of MLA Style: A Guide to the System of Documentation Recommended by the MLA for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph F. Trimmer. CONCISE and easy to use MLA how-to book
Bought for my Kidlet, she's found it a wonderful guidebook to writing MLA style papers. We looked at the full-version (over 200 pages) and it was, quite frankly, overwhelming.Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Bibliographical citations    3. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    4. Editing & Proofreading    5. English Composition    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    9. Reference    10. Scholarly publishing    11. Style manuals    12. Writing Skills    13. Reference / Writing Skills    14. Writing & editing guides   

Editorial Review

Newly revised to conform with the Read more

Reviews (37)

You need this book
This book is a must-have for anyone writing a college level or above paper.I've found that it's better used as a reference, not as the kind type of book you sit down and read.One warning, it is a manual, so it's pretty dry - dry, but necessary.

Excellent Resource
As valuable today in professional business writing as it was 20 years ago in college.

This book is the Bible for Historians!
I was instructed by several of my past professors that this book would be the guiding light in regards to submitting & creating scholarly materials in my academic writing matriculation.They were right, this book regardless of its many editions has been in my possession for the last 6-7 years.Academians of all concentrations when it comes down to the publishing of Termpapers, Thesis, or Dissertations, you really cannot go wrong with this Chicago-style format.This book made assessing materials, writing papers, citations, proper documentation, and even grading essay papers as a college instructor an enjoyable experience.However, as a undergraduate and graduate student I was introduced to this bible.Now I am entertaining the idea of future editing. I recomment this book to all of my students and colleagues alike!
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Subjects:  1. Academic writing    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    3. Dissertations    4. Dissertations, Academic    5. Education    6. General    7. Handbooks, manuals, etc    8. Higher    9. Reference    10. Report writing    11. Teaching Methods & Materials - Arts & Humanities    12. English    13. Reference / General    14. Writing & editing guides    15. Writing skills   

Reviews (5)

Expensive for Students, Expansive for Instructors
I have been teaching with Markel's 7th ed. for almost two years now, and I find that the book provides a springboard for all sorts of discussions into the wild world of Technical Writing. I can typically get through about three quarters of the book in a semester, and I am constantly tweaking the class to allow students more access to the material from this book.
Owner's review
This book is in awesome shape, I used it for an online course, so i have never carried in a book bag.No markings, and very very minimal corners bent.

Interesting and real world scenarios
I teach technical writing at a community college and frequently switched textbooks until I discovered Mike Markel's.It is well organized, gives 8 measures of excellence in technical writing that students quickly grasp, has very up-to-date scenarios that prompt critical reading and writing and the online quizzes and resources are the frosting on the cake.This book is a great tool for educators, students and absolutely anyone who wishes to write in a professional manner. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Technical Writing    5. Technology    6. Telecommunications    7. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Dissertations, Academic    3. Education    4. Education / Teaching    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Report writing    7. Research    8. Education / Research    9. Research methods: general    10. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (4)

Hodges' Harbrace Handbook
I've been using this handbook for about 25 years, and recently realized that my edition was the 3rd, published in the 1970s! So I ordered the latest edition (14th edition), and was so pleased with my purchase. This is a handbook that lives in our office, and gets used to death (we do graphic design, copywriting, editing). Any new employee on our staff is required to at least become familiar with the table of contents (in case of emergency!), and very soon they too are heading for Harbrace's to look up something. We love it.

The Guide for American English
It never ceases to amaze me how many times some ... grammarian tries to correct my writing only to review my Harbrace College Handbook to see they're wrong and I'm right. This is the definitive guide to American English grammar. Easy to read, plenty of examples, and more importantly it even covers those gray areas of usage letting the ready know this non-standard without simply cutting you off without explanation. I have purchased the latest edition ever since I purchased my first copy as text to Advanced Composition during my undergraduate days at the University of Maryland University College. Harbrace as served me very well ever since helping me obtain a high GPA in regards to my written assignments. I have a lot of other grammar books that I look at now and then, but Harbrace remains the standard.

The Guide for American English
It never ceases to amaze me how many times some anal grammarian tries to correct my writing only to review my Harbrace College Handbook to see they're wrong and I'm right. This is the definitive guide to American English grammar. Easy to read, plenty of examples, and more importantly it even covers those gray areas of usage letting the ready know this non-standard without simply cutting you off without explanation. I have purchased the latest edition ever since I purchased my first copy as text to Advanced Composition during my undergraduate days at the University of Maryland University Collage. Harbrace as served me very well ever since helping me obtain a high GPA in regards to my written assignments. I have a lot of other grammar books that I look at now and then, but Harbrace remains the standard. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Editing & Proofreading    3. English language    4. Grammar    5. Handbooks & Manuals    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Reference    8. Rhetoric    9. Writing Skills    10. English    11. Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure    12. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    13. Reference works    14. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (2)

Superb organization awful content
The range of story and poetry selections is so limited, the materials bore students to death. The issues the texts are obsessed with--morbid existential guilt, death of a spouse or a parent ala Joyce, O'Connor, Cather, etc.,--no longer have the spell-binding effect they once had on the adult sensibility. We now live in an age where more dramatic problems occur. There has got to be some good literature that covers issues of our day, such as mass murder, rape, school-shootings, hysteria, incest, money problems, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, religious intolerance, etc. This textbook is totally out of touch with the current realities of our lives in the 21st century.

Ideal Textbook for Introduction to Literature
I chose to use McMahan's text because it saves me time as an instructor of English.Composition comprises the most significant portion of a student's grade in a college literature class, and this text teaches students how to write an essay about literature from the beginning of the process to the end.I also like the bonus of a novella, The Awakening, which is often taught at the intro. level but under separate cover.Such a deal. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. College readers    3. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    4. Composition & Creative Writing - General    5. English Composition    6. English language    7. General    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    10. Literary Criticism    11. Problems, exercises, etc    12. Report writing    13. Rhetoric    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    15. Literature: History & Criticism   

Reviews (6)

Great Resource for the Dissertation
I found this book to be a great resource as I am doing research for my dissertation. It has helped me to look at the lit review in a new light and has given me several ideas of others avenues to search.

so good my advisor is going to use it
This book is great.It has all you need to complete a research paper at any level.I used it for my bachelor's project which, according to my advisor, is equivalent to a Master's thesis in content requirement.My advisor has asked me to lend him the book so he can use it to revise the current research manual supplied by the college.This book is easy to read and has a lot of useful tables and charts.

Great resource!
Great, current resource for writing a lit review.Especially appreciated the specific information about how to analyze and synthesize information. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Humanities    3. Reference    4. Report writing    5. Research    6. Social Science    7. Social sciences    8. Sociology    9. Education / Study Skills    10. Social research & statistics    11. Study & learning skills   

Reviews (14)

An Excellent Guide
The Bedford Handbook is an excellent guide for anyone enrolled in a college English course. The book gives details on correct grammar usage, as well as descriptions of different essay styles. The book is very helpful to me with my English class.

www.sportofdistraction.com
This guide will prove indispensable for those of us who lack grammatical expertise.It's the little things that this book provides that are the most helpful.If you plan on training yourself to improve your writing--this guide will serve your needs.

Fastest Handbook in the West
I have written many papers with the help of this literary wonder.It works well with the resources on http://www.dianahacker.com and is consistent with current MLA formatting.The information is well-organized and easy to find.I couldn't be happier with this book!It's even a good conversation starter if you happen to be with friends who write!Check out the section on ellipses... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    3. Reference    4. Research    5. Writing Skills    6. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Reviews (52)

a must for secondary and post-secondary students
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Editions is a must for anyone who is attending secondary or post-secondary school, because it shows them how to properly cite their sources when writing a research paper. It show them how to create a bibliograhy and works cited page for just about any kind of source that they are using, whether it is a book, scientfic journal, newspaper, magazine article, or online source.

A Must-Have Book for College Students
I have used this book extensively since I began my Master's degree program, and I have been very pleased with both the content and simplicity of use.Having been out of school for several years, I found myself confused as to how to correctly cite various types of media for a bibliography, but this great book is loaded with examples of how to correctly cite any type of media.
MLA Handbook: The Savior of College Students
The MLA Handbook is the most useful writing instruction manual available.The handbook's straight-forward English and clear-cut presentation of its contents, will make writing research papers, formal letters and yes, citations, a smooth and swift task.College freshmen and sophomores will be sharpened and formed into skilled and knowledgeable writers.And their anxieties will be consumed by a confidence that no longer fears those dreadful words "research paper."But this does not mean that you should sell it back after you meet your requisites!The MLA handbook is a not something you discard like those odious textbooks that are reprinted and updated every semester.It is a trustworthy handbook there for your literary refinement, always.The MLA handbook should be issued to all incoming students at orientation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Editing & Proofreading    3. Handbooks & Manuals    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Reference    7. Report writing    8. Research    9. Writing Skills   

Reviews (5)

The Brief Bedford Reader
This book is filled with lots of different stories that are very interesting.The story that I liked was the Champion of the World by Maya Angelou.In this story she writes about how African Americans were treated and how afraid they were.She telling us about a fight between Joe Louis an African American and a white boy.She says if the white man wins they'll have to go back to slavery.The store they were watching the fight at was full with people watching the fight, who didn't leave until the fight was over.It was a close fight.But at the end Joe Louis is the winner.The blacks were afraid to drive home after the fight so they spend the night in town.Who knows what could of happened if they did drive home after Joe Louis had defeated the white boy.

The Power of the Essay
The Bedford Reader provides the teacher of writing with a powerful tool.Provocative, interesting, varied essays are presented within a coherent framework of rhetorical strategies.
The Best I've Ever Seen
I was required to get this book for an Intermediate Composition course in college and it has to be the best college textbook I have ever had.First there is a wide variety of stories to choose from and at least one will appeal to everyone.Even though it is a educational textbook I still read it in my leisure time, as well. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Reviews (7)

Usefulness of the Handbook
This handbook is a great asset for any college student that requires a great reference on all types of writing formats in an English course. The Handbook does clearify alot of misconceptions with writing formats such as MLA, APA, Chicago Manual, and many others. It also provides you examples on how the papers using such writing formats should appear on a paper.
BEST Writers Handbook of All ! !

Just what I expected
The book that I recieved what in the exact quality that it was listed to be in.I was a little disappointed in the amount of time that it took to get the book compared to other companies I have worked with on Amazon, but I understand it might not be the companies fault. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. English Grammar    4. English language    5. Grammar    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Language    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    10. Report writing    11. Rhetoric    12. English    13. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    14. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (5)

Excellent!Wish I had bought it months ago.
I wish I had this book when I was doing my final core class preparing my prospectus.I had it on my 'wish list'.It would have made things much easier if I had obtained it earlier.I read it one sitting.Written in layman's terms.The best book out of several that I have bought to prepare for my dissertation.Highly recommend this as the one to obtain!You will find it valuable.

Handy Guide
This book is providing me with excellent guidance throughout my dissertation process. Honestly, it has even been more helpful than my advisor. As many doctoral students do, I keep odd hours while writing, often getting my best ideas in the middle of the night. It is great to be able to access my handy advisor 24/7, meaning that my ideas have been easily acted upon no matter what time of day or night I think of them. A bit pricey, but well worth it for me.

Comprehensive and Clear
This is an outstanding guide for the dissertation process. I have consulted several other similar works on how to write a dissertation but this is the one I have relied on the most because it is comprehensive and very easy to follow.The entire text can be read in a few hours for a very good over view of the process.Then it becomes a very handy "survival" life line when problems come up. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Dissertations, Academic    3. Education    4. Education & Training    5. Higher    6. Psychology    7. Report writing    8. Research    9. Research & Methodology    10. Study Skills    11. United States    12. Education / Study Skills    13. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (18)

The Little Brown Handbook
the book is alright but...the East Texas Bookstore sent me the book that is cut all the page numbers and everything is cut don't buy books from "EAST TEXAS BOOKSTORE."

Essential for anyone who wants to write well!
Whether you're a student or a grammar geek like me, this book is a must-have. Whatever words you use are a direct reflection on you and your intelligence, so why not use the best resource to shine?
the best grammar book
I work in a peer-tutor center at my university and mostly encounter students using Harbrace, but LBHB is SO much better tha Harbrace or any of the others I have seen -- organized better, easier to understand.I keep mine right next to my computer -- unless my roommate has it by hers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. English language    4. Grammar    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    9. Report writing    10. Rhetoric    11. Language & Linguistics    12. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Subjects:  1. Assessment, Testing & Measurement    2. Authorship    3. Clinical psychology    4. Composition & Creative Writing - General    5. Psychodiagnostics    6. Psychological Research    7. Psychology    8. Report writing    9. Research And Report Writing    10. Psychology & Psychiatry / Testing & Measurement    11. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (34)

A balanced and informative guide
I found Asking the Right Questions (ARQ) to be a very balanced and thorough approach to critical thinking. I am an electrical engineer by profession... I am well-regarded by my peers as an careful thinker; however, I have found myself frustrated at times when discussing controversial issues with friends... some lines of thought don't ring true, but are nonetheless hard to refute. After reading ARQ, I found that these dilemmas are frequently either the result of not agreeing on the definitions of ambiguous terms (e.g. oppression, sexism, racism) or on some logical fallacy that was used. This has made a quite difference in my ability to discern the issues at hand.
Demolishing the Wrong Arguments
This slim volume is a textbook on "critical thinking," which seems to be the art of argumentative analysis.You read an argument, ask a series of questions, and thereby test the worth of the argument.
One of the best books on argumentation
This is the best book I've read about argumentation so far.The book doesn't waste your time describing the history of argumentation or going through ancient Greek terms as so many other books or courses on the subject do.If you want to improve your argumentation skills in a short time, this is the book to read.It also gives fresh ideas and new angles to more advanced readers.The book contains lots of practice exercises where you can test the skills you've just learned.The chapters about good evidence should be required reading for anyone involved in decision making in organizations.However, this book falls short of teaching how to captivate the audience.If that's what you need, you'd better read a good book on giving presentations first. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Critical thinking    4. Criticism    5. Education    6. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    7. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    8. Language & Linguistics    9. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    10. Language Teaching & Learning (Other Than ELT)    11. Literature: History & Criticism