Confessions of a Functional Non-Writer
Re: “Dere Valeud Client,” by Anna Gorman (Nov. 21)
Although I’m not quite that bad, I am exactly like the people the article is talking about. I graduated from UCLA 21 years ago. I couldn’t write then, and I still can’t. I always ask myself: How the hell did I graduate not being able to spell or write? I was a sociology major and the majority of exams were essay tests, and I don’t know how I did it.
Suzn Brown
Sherman Oaks
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I judged a moot court today. The competitors were from a major American Bar Assn.-accredited law school. I found three glaring errors in the material. Spell-check and phonics will be the death of the English language.
William M. Monroe
Orange County
Superior Court
Judge
Corona del Mar
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As the publishing arm of the assessor’s office, the Appraisal Standards Section is very much involved in the subject of your very fine article. . . . New staff coming into the section view a two-hour video on business writing skills. Others are allowed to sit in for a refresher.
The problem noted appears to be pervasive in our society today. I certainly don’t have the answer, but I strongly suspect it lies somewhere between the fourth and 12th grades (note the high number of college-entering freshmen that are taking remedial classes), lack of parental supervision (TV rather than reading), and the huge influence of mass media as a visual/graphic tool (icons seem to work) rather than one that requires an individual to read.
Hadley B. McGaughey Jr.
Principal Appraiser, Office of the Assessor
County of Los Angeles
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For years I have been appalled at the continual use of poor grammar and spelling in all media. As you no doubt know, it is not just the business world which is haunted by this malady.
Personally, I blame not only the schools, which allow students of all ages to talk poorly. Equal responsibility must be shared by sports announcers, newspapers and talk shows alike. How many times have you heard the grating “I have took” or “I have went” bellowed over the air waves by a well-known, if not prominent, television personality? That’s worse than fingernails across a blackboard!
Ellie Boothe
Sparks, Nev.
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Re: The Changing look of the Reading Page.
A huge improvement over what was there before. The other design was thoroughly old-fashioned and easy to overlook. Yours commands attention. Well done.
Carol Jago, Director
California Reading and Literature Project, UCLA
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Ever since the L.A. Times launched its efforts to promote literacy by age 9, I have been going to the Metro section of the Sunday paper as soon as I bring in my newspaper. The last few weeks I have noticed a change in it and I don’t feel it has the depth and quality it used to have.
I am a third-grade teacher and really appreciated the column “Head of the Class” written by various teachers and experts in the field, especially the ones by high school teacher Carol Jago.
I don’t know why the format for this page has changed, but I hope you will consider my constructive criticism and go back to the old format, which had more interesting features on it.
Susan Branman
Los Angeles
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Editor’s note: Regular features such as “Head of the Class” will continue to appear but may periodically make way for other items, such as this new “The Readers Write” column.
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Re: “Dear Diary: A More Personal Writing Lesson,” by Kristina Sauerwein (Oct. 31).
I don’t believe that writing every day, even writing in stream-of-consciousness style, can be busywork, and if a person writes about the things that are important to them, I don’t see how it can it be called offensive.
I am glad to see someone is teaching kids to get their feelings down on paper and make them real.
Michael Killingsworth
San Diego
