A Pocket Style Manual

Therefore, you're only going to benefit by having this manual. Whatever style you end up writing in, all the writing formats are easily spelled out for you. Furthermore, if you're a visual learner, there are sample papers at the end of each section for clarification.

In addition to being a reference manual for the different styles, "A Pocket Style Manual," also includes sections on clarity, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, research sources, usage and grammatical terms. All are in an easily to find, readable and understandable formats.

Overall, an excellent choice for undergraduate students who will be taking courses in many different disciplines.


The best brief style manual available   June 27, 2004
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This grammar handbook is concise and so EASY TO USE! It has all the essential reference information that you need when you are writing an essay or professional letter. Everything is clearly laid out and well-explained. Many grammar books are thick, heavy, and intimidating--filled with information that will never be read. Who wants to read a grammar book? They are for reference, not reading! This is a small paperback with a spiral binding so it lays flat. I teach freshman composition and introduction to literature classes, and I always assign this book to my students. P.S. If you want a small grammar book that you can actually read, check out THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF COLLEGE WRITING by Michael Harvey. I have my students buy both; Hacker for reference, and Harvey to read.


A Quick, Reliable resource! Two Thumbs Up!   July 2, 2006
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is a wonderful little resource book that is a must-have addition to any student's backpack. As a graduate student who, in my undergrad days, studied journalism and mass communication as a minor, I have been exposed to a good number of writing styles and their respect style books. What is nice about this volume is the concise nature.

Hacker presents not only one style, but the three most-used styles (MLA, APA, and my favorite, Chicago). While this is by no means exhaustive, it does provide a guide to the most frequently cited forms of publication. If you are a full-time student, I recommend purchasing the full version of your preferred or required style. However, have this in your bag too!

I recommend this book to all who have to write papers.


Cite it right...   April 21, 2004
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

`The Pocket Style Manual' compiled by Diana Hacker is one of the most useful tools for student and professional writing available. One of the more confusing aspects of writing for many students (and those beyond student level) is the range of styles for citation, organisation and structure in texts. Different schools and different professions expect their own styles to be applied - just what is the difference between MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association) style, anyway? This book provides the answer in short, easy-to-use fashion.

The first section of Hacker's text goes over the basics of good writing - grammar, clarity, punctuation, and essential mechanics such as capitalisation, abbreviation, numbers, etc. This is not a guide that will teach the reader, but rather serve as a reminder, refresher, and quick ready-reference guide for those who (usually at the deadline and in a hurry) need information quickly to finish their assignments and projects.

The three primary styles presented for organising and documenting a research paper are MLA, APA and Chicago - the majority of papers done in sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts are expected to be done in one of these three styles (there are yet other styles, lesser used, as well as foreign styles, but these are relatively rare in the United States). Each section of style shows cover pages, sample pages of text, footnote/endnote formats, as well as the many levels of documentation and citation of sources required. Even with the dozens of documentary examples for sources from books, articles, journals, newspapers, videos, lectures, internet and more, there are always new situations arising that make documentation problematic. This guide does not solve every citation problem, but will solve the vast majority of them.

In the conclusion, there are glossaries of usage, grammatical terms, and a list of style manuals for more in-depth work. Perhaps the one omission here (somewhat surprising to me, given its wide usage in colleges) is that Turabian's `Manual for Writers of Term Papers' is not included in this list.

Overall, the design and format of this book is very useful, incredibly handy, and makes it one that I keep readily available for consultation whenever I write for academic purposes.