The Chicago Manual Writing
Style Workshop
as presented in Kate Turabian’s
Manual for Writers Sixth Edition
Part 1
Presented By: Melissa Thomas
Written By: Rhonda Wilkins
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Outline of Part 1
 Tips
on using the Turabian Manual (TM)
 Overview of the Turabian Manual
 How to Prepare the Paper Manuscript
 Chicago Editorial Style
 Practice Activity
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Tips on How to use the TM
Manual
 Tab
pages you refer to often.
 Use the Index. (p. 287)
 Refer to Samples. (14.18-14.42)
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Overview of the Turabian
 Preface
– The Parts of the Paper
 Ch. 2 – Abbreviations and Numbers
 Ch. 3 – Spelling and Punctuation
 Ch. 4 – Capitalization, Italics, and
Quotation Marks
 Ch.1
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Overview of the Turabian, cont.
– Quotations
 Ch.6 – Tables
 Ch.7 – Illustrations
 Ch.8 – Notes
 Ch.9 – Bibliographies
 Ch.10 – Parenthetical References and
Reference List ** (MLA Style)
 Ch.5
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Overview of the Turabian, cont.
11 – Comparing the Two
Documentation Systems
 Ch. 12 – Public Documents
 Ch. 13 – Preparing the Manuscript
 Ch. 14 – Formats and Sample Layouts
 Selected Bibliography
 Index
 Ch.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
General Instructions for
Preparing the Paper Manuscript






Paper: 8 ½ x 11 in. (13.35)
Typeface: 12-pt Times Roman/Courier (13.27)
Double Spacing (14.5)
Margins: 1 in. all sides (14.2-3) leave enough
space on left margin to account for binding.
Page Numbers: upper right-hand corner (14.6-9)
Paragraphs and Indentation (use tab key)
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
General Instructions, cont.
 Title





Page (1.7, Sample, 14.18)
Name of the university centered near top of
title page
Full title of paper
Course department and number
Date
Writer’s name
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Chicago Editorial Style
Period (3.55-59)**



Use to end a complete sentence.
Also used in abbreviations, quotations,
numbers, and references.
Use two spaces after a period, not one.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Commas (3.65-83)
 Use

The height, width, or depth
 Use

to set off nonessential clauses.
Switch A, which was on a panel…
 DO

in series of three or more items.
NOT USE before an essential clause.
The rifle shot that started the battle also
started the war.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Commas, cont.
 Use
to separate two independent clauses
joined by a conjunction.

Cedar shavings covered the floor, and paper
was available…
 DO
NOT USE between parts of a
compound predicate.

The results contradicted Smith’s hypothesis
and indicated that the effect…
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Semicolon (3.84-88)
 Use
to separate two independent clauses
that are not joined by a conjunction.

The participants in the first study were paid;
those in the second study were unpaid.
 Use
to separate elements in a series that
already contain commas.

The color order was red, yellow, blue; blue,
yellow, red; or yellow, red, blue.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Colon (3.88-90)

Use between a complete introductory clause
and a final phrase. (If the clause following the
colon is a complete sentence, it begins with a
capital letter.)

Roosevelt spoke of four freedoms: the freedom from
want, the freedom from fear …
Rule of thumb: If you can use the phrase “such
as,” then you can use a colon.
 DO NOT USE after an introduction that is not a
complete sentence.


The reasons for the Great Depression include the
stock market crash, the extended drought…
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Quotation Marks (5.11-17)

Use with direct quotations other than block
quotations.
 Use to indicate the title of an article or chapter in
a book when used in text.
 DO NOT USE to cite a, word, phrase, letter or
sentence as a linguistic example. (Instead,
italicize them.)


He clarified the difference between farther and further.
DO NOT USE to introduce a technical or key
term. (Instead, italicize them.)

The term zero-base budgeting appeared…
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Punctuation with quotation
marks (5.17)
 Periods
and commas placed inside
quotation marks.
 Semicolons and colons go outside.
 Question marks and exclamation points
placed outside unless part of quotation.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Ellipsis points
(3.59, 3.111, 5.18-29, 5.33-34)

Use to indicate any omission of words, phrases or
paragraphs in quoted material.
 Place a space before the first dot and a space after the
last.
 Always place within quotation marks.
 If ellipsis points precede or follow quotation marks, do
not leave a space between first ellipsis dot and quotation
marks.
 Do NOT use before or after a clearly incomplete
sentence.
 Do NOT use before a block quotation or after a block
quotation ending in a complete sentence.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Parentheses (3.98)
 Use

to introduce abbreviations.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
 Use
to set off structurally independent
elements.

The patterns were significant (see Map 5).
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Brackets (3.99)
 Use
to enclose material inserted in a
quotation by some person other than the
original writer.

“when [his own and others’] conclusions were
studied”
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Spelling (3.1-53, 8.58)
 Use
spell check.
 For reference, use Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary or MerriamWebster’s Collegiate Dictionary, tenth
edition.
 For further reference, use Webster’s New
Biographical Dictionary or Webster’s New
Geographical Dictionary.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Capitalization (4.1-13)
 Capitalize
major words in titles and
headings within body of paper.
 Capitalize the first word after a colon or
dash in a title, if a complete sentence.
 Capitalize proper nouns and trade names.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Capitalization in quotations (5.26)

If quotation is set off from text by comma, period,
or colon, capitalize the first word, even if it is not
capitalized in the original text.


The journalist replied, “No one can foresee the future
affects.”
If quotation is joined with writer’s introductory
words, the first word is not capitalized, even if it
was capitalized in original text.

The committee believed that “they had done their job
admirably.”
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Capitalization, cont.
 DO
NOT CAPITALIZE names of laws,
theories, models, or hypotheses.
 But retain capitalization of personal
names.

Brady or gun control law
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Italics (4.14-33)
 Use
for titles of books, periodicals, and
microfilm publications.
 Use sparingly for emphasis.
 Use to introduce a new, technical, or key
term or label (only the first time.)
 Use for letters, words, or phrases cited as
a linguistic example.

Words such as big and little
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Abbreviations (2.1-28)
 Use
sparingly.
 Do not use etc., explain what you mean.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Lists (1.2, 3.57, 3.89, 8.4)
 Lists
may be single-spaced within
double-spaced text.
 Tables, outlines, lists, and letters not
immediately relevant to the text
should be placed in an appendix and
referred to by a footnote.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Numbers
 The
general rule in Chicago Style: Spell
out numbers through one hundred and any
whole number followed by hundred,
thousand, or million.

The population is close to twenty million.
 Spell
out any number that begins a
sentence or title.
 Use numerals for all other numbers.

At least 879 people voted at the precinct.
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success
Numbers, cont.

Use numerals to express all numbers
expressing scientific or statistical material.
 Except when beginning a sentence, never spell
out the number preceding percent or %.
 Use a zero before decimal point when numbers
are less than 1.


0.23 cm, 0.48 s
DO NOT USE a zero before a decimal fraction
when the number cannot be greater than one
(e.g. correlations, proportions, and levels of
statistical significance.)

r(24) = -.43, p < .05
Tomás Rivera Center for Student
Success