Re: OT - Errors on cover letters

["Susan Hogarth" <hogarth -at- gmail -dot- com>]

On Nov 5, 2007 2:17 PM, Michael L. Wyland <michael -at- sumptionandwyland -dot- com> wrote:
> ...
> I'm depressed when I see poor examples of writing from people who
> should know better.  ...

I am of course always ready to jump on the 'public skools suck'
bandwagon. But. I think there is something we do need to consider:
most people everywhere and at every time have been fairly poor
speakers and writers. The *examples* we have around from, say, 100
years ago are still around largely for a reason: people -liked- them
and considered them worth keeping. The writing of semi-literate clerks
and clerics and student was - deservedly - trashed.

Now there may well *be* an overall decline. I just like to point out
that there is likely also this 'selection bias' in operation as well.
Think about old houses: people often think that because they see so
many shoddy houses now and because most of the OLD houses they see are
very nicely built, that 'they don't build 'em like they used to'.
Well, heck, the shoddy houses of yesteryear (and there were plenty!)
have been mercifully pulled down (alas, largely to make way for the
shoddy McMansions of today), so we tend to see a higher -percentage-
of quality older homes than newer homes.

I just wonder if the same thing doesn't apply to writing and the (even
more ephemeral) speaking.

-- 
Susan Hogarth
http://www.colliething.com
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