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I escaped unscathed, but my paper didn't

Date: January 15, 2003 | 12 Dhu-l-Qidah 1423 Hijriah
Blog: veiled4allah
Subjects: school, paralegal
Now I know that my Legal Writing class is going to be tough. Our first assignment was to write a confirming letter, i.e., a letter sent to another law firm confirming arrangments made by telephone. It was a very simple letter, not more than a few sentences. The instructor blacked out the names then put up most of the letters on the overhead in order to tear them apart in front of the class for even such minor faults as writing "this is to confirm" instead of "this confirms" (which is a shorter phrase and thus better). I could visualize my grade point average going down, down, down, because of this class as I saw how the instructor was evaluating the letters.

I'm sure this will be one of those things I'll look back on later and say that it was of benefit to me and to my writing skills. I'm not sure when was a last time I took a writing class this rigorous, if ever. And that's good. But I sure don't think I'm going to enjoy the class while I'm in it. neutral

In other news, I received word that I'm eligible to join Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for students at community colleges. For some reason, it's not enough to get good grades to get in, you also have to pay a $60 fee. Somehow that makes it seem less of an honor in my eyes. Shouldn't it be purely for achievement? Of course, it's been awhile since I was in college, so maybe all honor societies are like that these days.
~ Posted by Al-Muhajabah, a member of the reality-based community, at 10:19 PM

Comments

one of the top five commentors on this blog! Jonathan Edelstein said: Total comments: 91   gold stargold stargold stargold stargold star

Oh, hell, I always write "this is to confirm." Back to school for me...


~ Posted at January 16, 2003 05:03 AM | Comment Permalink
Natalie said: Total comments: 6  

Basically, your instructor wants you to use active voice, not passive voice. Stay away from the many variants of "to be" and you'll be fine on that score. smile

~ Posted at January 16, 2003 08:21 AM | Comment Permalink
moderator Al-Munaqabah said: Total comments: 996   gold stargold stargold stargold stargold star

In my very next class, my Civil Procedures instructor was talking about confirming letters and what did he say? "This is to confirm" I wrote it that way because that's how I hear and see people do it.

Like I said, I think this will probably be good for me but the truth is, I feel that as long as what you're writing is clear and gets the job done, you have more important things to worry about than proper use of the active voice in your confirming letters. Like making sure that you win the case for your client.

~ Posted at January 16, 2003 12:08 PM | Comment Permalink
Natalie said: Total comments: 6  

See, I'm a recovering English major and my boyfriend is a grad student in English (and teaching freshman comp), so writing in active voice is something that's second nature to me.

But as you said, the most important thing is whether or not what you write gets the job--no matter what the job is--done.

~ Posted at January 16, 2003 02:12 PM | Comment Permalink
moderator Al-Munaqabah said: Total comments: 996   gold stargold stargold stargold stargold star

I like the "recovering English major" part wink

~ Posted at January 16, 2003 07:49 PM | Comment Permalink
sadia said: Total comments: 11   gold star

salaaam..just wanted to say that you're new layout colours look good! great blog, mashaAllah

~ Posted at January 17, 2003 06:32 AM | Comment Permalink
Natalie said: Total comments: 6  

It's been seven years and I'm still suffering the effects. What constantly amazes me is that people keep giving me jobs where I have to balance budgets, not write grammatically correct sentences. big grin

~ Posted at January 17, 2003 05:52 PM | Comment Permalink
moderator Al-Munaqabah said: Total comments: 996   gold stargold stargold stargold stargold star

Thanks for dropping by, sister Sadia smile Yeah, I've got some new colors and some other new features that I hope will make it easier for visitors to navigate the blog and find more information and links.

Natalie, I know what you mean. Of course, sometimes we ourselves choose a new direction. I was a physics major in college, then I went into the high tech field and did computer tech support and network administration. But that field bombed the last few years. After spending about a year and a half in a dead-end office job then getting laid off, I decided to go in a radically new direction. So now I'm studying law. Who would have guessed it?

invasion

~ Posted at January 17, 2003 07:30 PM | Comment Permalink

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