Yesterday was our first required writing class at work. The instructor, who is a freelance reporter who until two years ago was on-air talent and a copywriter at a local radio station whose tagline is "Magic 106.7," began with a joke. Bad sign. Radio that high on the dial is never funny on purpose and often includes musicians named Kenny on the playlist.
First we corrected some grammar in sentences that she had pulled from some things we had written. Since the instructor had earlier introduced herself with an e-mail that included a grammatical error, this was a surprise. But I had to respect that she went right at it. I learned that many people with whom I do not know what a compound sentence is. Jokes about "Why, the last time I had to do this..." were thick in the air.
Next, we corrected more grammar. This time it was an entire letter written without punctuation, carefully worded so that the meaning could be changed depending on where the commas and periods were placed. Like so:
"Joe - You have ruined me. For other men I yearn..."
And so on. Ostensibly, this activity was intended to show us the importance of putting punctuation in our writing. Baby, I'm a believer!
For homework, we have to write a letter about our company to either a friend or "a politician in Washington." Maybe I'll send one of you the letter. It is sure to be well punctuated.
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