APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Zeroing in: assignment approach and focus
Writing for success: APA writing style
Earning applause: APA writing for the academic audience

If APA were planning an awards party, audience and purpose would be invited because they’re well connected and confident. But the guests of honor would be approach and focus, a pair of writing skills that know how to accomplish the goals they want to achieve it. Writing without a predetermined approach and focus usually results in a professor commenting that the paper “lacks focus,” as well as a frustrated student. Determining approach and focus is like programming your GPS before a road trip. A successful approach and focus helps you enjoy the journey and celebrate the destination — writing a successful paper.

Approach

Begin your assignment approach by analyzing your purpose and key task. For example, if you’re required to evaluate the psychological benefits of pets on college campuses (think a fluffy Golden Retriever named Boomer), you’re arguing the importance of reducing stress on college students. Your approach dictates researching topics such as “psychological benefits of pets on campus” and “stress on college students.” The approach helps develop the focus. And if your academic goal exceeds “C’s get degrees,” then offer your professor original thinking such as “a pet’s stress reduction correlates with the pet owner’s relationship with the pet,” or “student stress reduction correlates with exercise frequency and social interaction.” You may also discover that Boomer benefits intellectually.

Professors teaching a course numerous times frequently identify patterns of past assignment misunderstandings and list approaches not to include, such as outlines, irrelevant content, outdated sources, and .com sources. Your logistical approach to the assignment should include identifying length, preliminary draft requirements, due date, and file submission formats. Also note APA optional requirements such as title page, table of contents, abstract, figures, and annotated references. As you begin your research, record source elements required for your APA reference page: author, source, title, date, volume, database, and so forth. You can review reference elements in Chapter 12.

The key task question sets into motion your assignment’s sequential approach, such as drafting your purpose statement (called a claim or thesis), researching your supporting evidence, and critically analyzing your topic — the heartbeat of your grade. You then write the middle section, responding to the key question. After drafting the middle section, you write the ending, and finally the beginning. The beginning or introduction is written last, when you identify content to be introduced.

If your learning style requires a sequential approach to writing, start at the beginning and write through the middle to the ending. But plan to revise the beginning after discovering your argument and analysis in the middle section. See Chapter 8 for more information on revising.

Answers to the following questions help you determine your writing approach:

· What’s the general context of the assignment within course parameters?

· What content does the assignment suggest for the beginning, middle, and ending?

· What assignment questions are required to be answered?

· What models are offered illustrating instructor requirements?

· What assignment ideas suggest new thinking on the topic?

· What approach to this topic appeals to the academic audience?

· If you were the instructor, what would you expect students to learn?

· What approach options does the paper offer: interviewing, surveying, or observing?

Focus

Focus is like your wireless connection to your online service, the thread that connects your device with your learning and gaming. No connection, no activity. Writing focus is the connective thread from your title through to your ending. It connects project development with paragraph purpose. It also connects the writing’s beginning, middle, and ending. No connection, no focused message.

Answers to the following questions help you determine your writing focus:

· Are the beginning and ending connected to the thesis of the middle paragraphs?

· Does every paragraph enhance the thesis?

· Does any paragraph appear to drift from the focus?

· Does the development of focus follow a sequential and logical pattern?

A reverse outline validates your focus. Summarize each paragraph topic with three or four keywords, and verify that each summarized topic contributes to the development of the thesis. Also evaluate whether paragraph topics can be organized more sequentially and logically. Here are examples of a reverse outline that identifies paragraph purposes (bolded):

· Evidence supporting the problem: Cooper’s 2017 “Causes of Childhood Injuries” reported that among children, bicycle accidents are the most common cause of serious head injuries. She also found that most of these injuries in children are preventable, but helmet use among children nationwide is just under 50 percent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) reported that 857 bicyclists were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2018.

· Evidence supporting wearing helmets: Wearing bicycle helmets, especially among casually riding adults, ranks as popular as a colonoscopy. Carlson’s 2020 “Serious Injuries Among Serious Bicyclists” found that more than 90 percent of cyclists killed in traffic wore no helmet. The same study also found that serious injuries among helmet users were as low as 15 percent.

· Evidence supporting helmet use: The major contributors to increasing children’s helmet use have been state legislatures and enforcement. Pennsylvania and New Jersey were among the first states to mandate helmet use for children.

Both college-level focus and your professor’s expectation require critical thinking — analyzing information and making reasoned judgments. Questions for developing critical thinking include

· What’s surprising about the topic?

· What related subtopics need additional exploring?

· What trends or patterns surfaced?

· Is this topic associated with other academic interests?

· Is the topic relevant to current events?

· How does discussion of this topic improve lives, organizations, and institutions?

· Is this topic relevant to course objectives, historical themes, or popular books?

Your early writing decision of topic approach frequently determines whether a writing project will be successful or unsuccessful. You increase your opportunity for a higher grade if you avoid topics that are too common, too narrow, too broad, too complex, too abstract, or too emotional.