StyleEase: A Paper and Reference Formatting Software Using the Modern Language Association Handbook Style (review)

aesthetic) to the sociological prose of a specialized discourse community in the Poststructuralism ofthe 1980s (where the reigning values were theoretical). What troubles Goodheart the most is that "a literary sensibility" is not even requisite today for professional entry into the discipline. As a way ofinfusing a new vitality into the discipline, Goodheart proposes reinfranchising certain ideas that have apparently become disreputable in the humanities: objectivity, disinterestedness, tradition, and aesthetic appreciation—intellectual attributes that should be the common possession ofscholars whatever their political or cultural position: left, right, or center. These few ideas I have focused on are certainly only suggestive of the book's intellectual richness. To savor fully the subtlety, perceptiveness, and persuasiveness of Goodheart's compelling argument, you need to immerse yourself in his lucid and arresting prose. Does Literary Studies Have a Future? is one ofthose few books described by Francis Bacon, in OfStudies, that needs "to be chewed and digested." * StyleEase:A Paper andReference Formatting Software Using the Modern LanguageAssociation Handbook Style. Version 1.0. Guilford Publications, Inc., 2000. Asao B. Inoue Washington State University StyleEase is an easy-to-install patch-like program that adds templates and options to your current version ofMS Word. Ifyou are looking for a documentation tool that will help you insert citations, add works cited and reference lists, and format papers according to MLA Handbook style, then this is it. The program uses the styles and template options already offered in Word and adds custom Word templates for documents such as MLA papers, term papers, theses, and dissertations. The slender user manual adequately explains all the main features ofthe templates and menu options, including a few standard features ofMS Word as they apply to the program's templates. For instance, there are chapters on changing style properties such as font size, color, type, and paragraph orientation and formatting . The templates use the MLA Handbook format and include: MLApaper.dot: to write a journal article or paper. Dissert.dot: to write a dissertation. Termpapr.dot: to write a term paper. Thesis.dot: to write a master's thesis. 132 -r ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * FALL 2001 Reviews The software's strongest feature—and maybe worth the purchase—is its Insert Reference command that allows you to add in-text citations (on the fly) and reference entries all at once. You build yourworks cited page as you write your paper in MS Word using intuitively designed dialogue boxes. Entering references is easy and produces clean, editable text in your document. The templates provided are meant to streamline page formatting (such as block quotations, citations, cover pages, font sizes, headings, tables, figures, captions, running heads, etc.) and reference page generation, but ifyou do not already know how to use and manipulate Word styles, you may find learning to use these templates a bitcumbersome at first. Ifyou already use styles in your documents, these templates are excellent and will be a breeze. They format the text for you and place all the information where it belongs. Ifyou justwant a handy tool to create works cited pages and reference lists, then this is still a solid tool and little knowledge of how to use styles is needed. The downside to using the templates (StyleEase's main feature) is that you must learn StyleEase's styles and their names. Again, this is easy ifyou know about Word styles already. In order to use StyleEase you must have a CD-ROM drive and one ofthe following versions ofMS Word, running on a Windows 95, 98, NT, or 2000 operation system: •Word 2000 (PC) •Word 98 (Mac) •Word 97 (PC) •Word 7 (PC) •Word 6 (PC or Mac) The manufacturers acknowledge that "StyleEase is an independently developed product that has not been endorsed by the Modern Language Association (MLA). StyleEase is not intended to function as a substitute for the MLA Handbook or the MLA Style Manual." * FALL 2001 # ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * 133 ...