Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!husc6!rutgers!umn-d-ub!jness
From: jness@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU (Joel Ness)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: $99 PROGRAM FREE?
Message-ID: <3239@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU>
Date: 26 Feb 90 15:46:06 GMT
References: <6838@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>
Reply-To: jness@ub.d.umn.edu.UUCP (Joel Ness)
Organization: University of Minnesota, Duluth
Lines: 48


In article 52577 of comp.sys.mac, haphip@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Jeffq) says:

>Here's a contest, sponsered by Reference Software, that can save you $99!
>All you have to do is find 15 errors in the below memo, and they'll ship
>you the $99 package AND a booklet called 'The Easiest Way to Improve Your
>Writing' free!  I came across this ad in a magazine and I figured I'd ask
>for y'alls hep on this.  (I'm in obvious need!)  Here's EXACTLY what the
>ad says, as far as rules:
>
>  New Grammatik Mac found fifteen errors in this memo in just over a minute.
>Circle the same errors, mark exactly what the problems are, and send them to
>us.  If you find them all and identify the problems correctly, we'll send you
>Grammatik Mac absoulutely free.  

>So here's my plan.  Y'all mail me any and all errors you find and, if you want,
>tell me and I'll send you the final draft with corrections and explanations,
>and who you can write to get your free software package.  Or just mail me and
>ask... I am not purposly withholding information or anything, I'd just like
>some help and I'd also like to give y'all a chance at this.  Sounds pretty
>good, eh?

>There are 15 errors; one of them is in the first sentence of the last 
>paragraph.  ..'what's it done' is passive voice.  Only 14 more!  Mail 
>the errors and identify them (ie what KIND of error.. punctual, sp, etc.)
>to:
>haphip@ucscb.ucsc.edu

  I was going to look for these errors, too. And then I noticed that the
one they had marked (...'what's it done') wasn't wrong. At least, it's
not passive voice. Passive voice required a past participle and a form
of the verb "to be." It turns the object of a sentence into the subject.
Besides, passive voice isn't automatically "wrong,"
it serves an important purpose in language (or it wouldn't exist). It
just gets overused sometimes in scientific and technical writing, and
generally should be avoided if it hides meaning or causes confusion. 

  Anyway, after seeing that the one example they gave wasn't even
correctly labeled I gave up. Who knows whether there are really 15
mistakes in the letter, and whether the 15 I'd spot would be the 15 they
had in mind? 

Disclaimer: I've got an Master's in this stuff (tech writing) but it's
fading away fast now that I'm the Mac guy her.

Joel Ness			       		INTERNET: jness@ub.d.umn.edu
Information Services		        	BITNET:  JNESS@UMNDUL
University of Minnesota, Duluth