Stanley Fish, New York Times , May 31, 2005

1. “WE are at that time of year when millions of American college and high school students will stride across the stage, take diploma in hand and set out to the wider world, most of them utterly unable to write a clear and coherent English sentence.” Stanley Fish, New York Times, May 31, 2005

17. Anatomy of an Error “Well into the nineteenth century, America was as dominated by the printed word and an oratory based on the printed word as any society we know of.” Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

18. Anatomy of an Error The culture was also “oratory based on the printed word” (41).

19. Anatomy of an Error Print led to an oratory based society. Print led to an oratory-based society. Cf. “This was the beginning of carbon-based life.”

20. Anatomy of an Error The culture was also “oratory based on the printed word” (41).

21. Anatomy of an Error “Well into the nineteenth century, America was as dominated by the printed word and an oratory based on the printed word as any society we know of.”

22. Anatomy of an Error “Well into the nineteenth century, America was as dominated by the printed word and an oratory [-] based on the printed word as any society we know of.”

23. A Matter of Opinion

24. Q: What is a matter of opinion? A: That one should not treat one’s parents like dirt.

25. If it should affect her that her parents do not know about her life. • Who cares that she has lied and why should it matter to her that her parents are looking for her.

26. Th[e] fact [that] her parents are worried about [her] has no relevance to her current life. • The matter of opinion is that Gertrude doesn’t give thought to the worry of her parents. • Eve’s background is a matter of opinion. • Her caring about her past and not talking to parents

27. A matter of opinion falls into the same category as “a matter of fact,” but this statement... • The womans [sic] feelings toward her parents [knowing?] where she is. • A matter of opinion is saying that her not wanting to speak to her parents is the matter of opinion. In other words the subject that they speak of, the[y] each have a different opinion on it.

28. A matter of opinion is granted to Trudy because she does not care if her parents know whether she is alive and doing well in her opinion they don’t need to know and her new identity is who she is now.

29. “It was found that college students have extreme difficulty in expressing themselves clearly or intelligently.” New York Times, April 4, 1943

30. “When the [National Assessment of Adult Literacy, ‘the nation's most important test of how well adult Americans can read’] was last administered, in 1992, 40 percent of the nation's college graduates scored at the proficient level [the highest level], meaning that they were able to read lengthy, complex English texts and draw complicated inferences. But on the 2003 test, only 31 percent of the graduates demonstrated those high-level skills.” New York Times, December 16, 2005

31. The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so.

32. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage? a. People should be free to engage in self-destructive behavior. b. As long as it has the individual’s best interests in mind, society has the right to regulate behavior. c. It is immoral for society to ignore its poorest members. d. Society should pass laws that will bring about the greatest good to the greatest number. e. People should be allowed to do what they want, as long as the majority is not offended by it.

33. Normal Prose Miss Ivors, in what is a seemingly friendly exchange, points out that Gabriel has tendencies akin to those of British sympathizers, that he writes for The Daily Express, a paper she refers to as a “rag,” something that only “a west Briton” (163) would write for.