WRITE THIS WAY

WRITE THIS WAY

SBL style gonna make your prof smile

When you’re handing in your big essay

Good paper format gonna make your grade fat

Do it right and you might get an “A”

You don’t wanna look myopic when you’re writing on a topic

So you better get the background right

You need an intro and conclusion to your scholarly solution

And you want it all to look alright

Like this

Don’t make a lot of points in your first paragraph

Tell the reader where you wanna go

Then the body of the paper lays out all of the details

And you gotta make sure it flows

Most of the background information for your written presentation

Goes early then you get to specifics

Then you need a good a conclusion of the points that you have proven

Say it in a way that really sticks

I tell you to

Write this way, cite this way

Just gimme an A

Like this

SBL handbook is the place you’re gonna look

To find the dif’rent formats you need

It’s got right abbreviations and standard citations

For the all kinds of sources you read

Whether book or journal article or passage from the Bible

Or a multi-volume commentary

There are different formats for a first and second footnote

And another for a bibliography

Like this

Title page of your creation should have your information

Let a prof to tell you what they want

Double space paragraphs, indent a half-inch, inch margins

Type with a standard 12 point font

Single space indented footnotes, SBL abbreviations

And give all exact pages you use

Works cited, alpha author, single space, a line between’m

See the handbook so you’re not confused

I tell you to

Write this way, cite this way

Just gimme an A

Like this

Idea April 12, 2010

Lyrics finished December 28, 2010

Lyrics by Bill Griffin