The Manual

We have style manuals for the three main writing styles: Turabian, APA, and MLA. This is so that everybody will have a standard to refer to when they write. However, I wish that we had style automatics instead. That way, I would not have to look up the correct way to cite a webpage in Turabian--it would automatically cite it correctly for me. As it is, I must manually look up each entry to ensure that I have properly adhered to the guidelines listed therein. That takes time . . . .

Therefore, I see that I have only two options before me. I can either memorize each of the style manuals so that I will not need to look up information in them, or I can become just familiar enough with them so that I can quickly look up the information I need. Similar to the periodic table of elements or the nutrition information on the back of a can of pork n' beans, I think I will choose the latter.

There once was a student named Samuel,
Who worked on his writing assignment.
He opened his manual,
And became the man who all-
People adored as divine-sent.