APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Writing with attitude: tone
Writing for success: APA writing style
Earning applause: APA writing for the academic audience

As a child, when you talked with your parents, demonstrating attitude or tone earned you a reprimand; when you write to your instructors in the classroom, demonstrating attitude or tone earns you praise. If you’re an athlete, tone is your post-score celebration. If you’re a cook, tone is your presentation on the plate. Tone, your attitude toward your audience and message, is determined by your content and purpose.

Controlling your writing tone provides you with the flexibility to express yourself forcefully or in a friendly way, formally or informally, sarcastically or serenely, or dramatically or comically. APA’s recommendation for achieving tone is to “imagine a specific reader you intend to reach, and write in a way that will inform and persuade that individual.”

Writing an array of papers across a variety of college courses requires application of a range of tones. For example, a playful, humorous tone frequently applies to sports and music topics, a satirical, sarcastic tone frequently applies to pop culture topics, and a serious or sober tone frequently applies to health issue topics. For almost all social science topics, especially scientific topics, APA recommends an informational, formal, and confident tone — like a conversation with your professor after learning your emailed final project disintegrated in cyberspace.

Nonscientific papers (especially essays) allow tone flexibility ranging from serious to sarcastic. Content such as writing to an instructor almost always requires a serious, formal tone; content such as writing to a sibling and a peer frequently requires a humorous, informal tone.

APA recommends identifying researchers’ differences of opinion with a “noncombative” tone. Note the difference in the following examples:

· Combative language — “Gaven (2021) completely neglected …”

· Noncombative language — “Gaven (2021) lacked referencing …”

Tone is frequently determined by one or two words:

· Bridget introduced John, her current boyfriend. (John shouldn’t pay cash for Bridget’s Valentine’s Day gift.)

· The professor’s explanation was more bizarre than usual. (Don’t let the professor hear what you’re thinking.)

A powerful two-letter tone word in the English language is no. With no explanation, no can’t be weakened or rebutted. Simply stated, no means no. The tone of no weakens when you add qualifications: No, I am not comfortable. Qualifications can be rebutted; an exclusive no can’t be argued.

APA says that contractions, colloquialisms, and similar informal language “distract from a professional tone in academic writing.” (Note: That differs from this book. The For Dummies brand uses contractions.) You should almost always avoid the following patterns of informal language:

· Contractions (two words condensed into one with an apostrophe). If you’re unfamiliar with contractions, see English Grammar For Dummies by Geraldine Woods (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). You can include contractions in direct quotations.

· Colloquialisms (informal language that should generally be avoided in formal writing). Examples include beats the heck out of me, doesn’t mean diddly-squat, gonna (going to), and hoodwinked (duped).

· Clichés (overused expressions that should generally be avoided in formal writing). Examples include searched high and low, proof is in the pudding, prime example, and on pins and needles.

· Jargon (specific language common to a profession or group that may be unfamiliar to general audiences). Examples include the ball is in their court, bottom line, and due diligence.

· Idioms (spoken-language expressions whose meaning differs from the literal understanding of the words). Examples include penny for your thoughts, burn the midnight oil, and jump on the bandwagon.

Here’s a real-life example of the importance of tone. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, language describing states’ request for people to remain at home frequently communicated an incorrect tone. Note how the tone changes with the following words:

· Shelter-in-place (references threats)

· Lockdown (references institutional emergencies)

· Quarantine (references a health department’s order to remain indoors because of a contagious disease)

· Hibernate (references animals conserving energy)

Most states issued stay-at-home or safe-at-home orders, both of which have a more agreeable tone.

Tone also comes into play with project presentation. If a hard copy is required, establish tone with a well-organized, visually pleasing package containing a clean copy. If an electronic submission is required, submit the recommended file format (usually a PDF) with the recommended filename and appropriate hard page breaks. Email your assignment to yourself to ensure there is no loss of formatting. See Chapter 15 for details on formatting.