Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Reflections on Test 2

I have been trying to answer everyone's question without contradicting myself or our textbook; but rereading some of my responses to the posts, I realize that I need to state what I've been thinking but keeping to myself.

What Dzanc originally sent my office was a Word attachment to an e-mail message. The Word document is a hybrid of a proper business letter and an informal e-mail message (e-mail has, as you've no doubt heard, affected the levels of formality we now communicate at). When I copyedited the version I prepared for test 1, I tried to keep the author's informal style while correcting grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors; that is, it was not my intention to turn it into a proper business letter.

What I asked you to do in test 2 is slightly different; that is one reason I asked you to use my editing of test 1 as a guide.

Also, I believe I mentioned in class that there is an organization, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, that is already doing what Dzanc proposes to do. Dzanc's letter indicates no awareness of this organization, and this is another tip-off that Steve and Dan are inexperienced. I decided not to bring this up when we talked about the test because I didn't want it to be a factor in how you edited the text.

Hope that clears up a few things; let's talk more about these matters when we meet on Friday.

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