language pop quiz

I pulled the following sentence, which contains an error, from an article at The Atlantic titled "Is the Ivy League Fair to Asian Americans?" Here's the sentence:

Again, the implication here seems to be that while Asian-American applicants as a group excel at tests, an important factor in admissions, their talents, skills, and other interests tend to be significantly inferior to students of other races, and having them around isn't as enriching for other students.

The nature of the error is:

(A) poor tense control
(B) faulty/illogical comparison
(C) ambiguous pronoun reference
(D) dangling or misplaced modifier

From the same article, another sentence with an error:

As I see it, we know that even well-intentioned people regularly rationalize discriminatory behavior, that society as a whole is often horrified at its own bygone race-based policies, and that race is so fluid in our multi-ethnic society that no one can adequately conceive of all the ways it is changing; knowing these things, prudence dictates acceptance of the fact that humans aren't equipped to fairly take race into consideration. [italics in original]

The nature of the error is:

(A) poor tense control
(B) faulty/illogical comparison
(C) ambiguous pronoun reference
(D) dangling or misplaced modifier




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"between you and I"

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, whom I normally admire, has taken the bizarre position of defending the incorrect construction "between you and I." Here's the link to the article that quotes him, and here's the relevant quote:

The mavens’ case about case rests on one assumption: if an entire conjunction phrase has a grammatical feature like subject case, every word inside that phrase has to have that grammatical feature, too. But that is just false.

Jennifer is singular; you say Jennifer is, not Jennifer are. The pronoun She is singular; you say She is, not She are. But the conjunction She and Jennifer is not singular, it’s plural; you say She and Jennifer are, not She and Jennifer is. So a conjunction can have a different grammatical number from the pronouns inside it. Why, then, must it have the same grammatical case as the pronouns inside it? The answer is that it need not. A conjunction is just not grammatically equivalent to any of its parts. If John and Marsha met, it does not mean that John met and that Marsha met. If voters give Clinton and Gore a chance, they are not giving Gore his own chance, added on to the chance they are giving Clinton; they are giving the entire ticket a chance. So just because Al Gore and I is an object that requires object case, it does not mean that I is an object that requires object case.

I find Pinker's reasoning utterly wrongheaded in this. It flies in the face of a commonsense notion that, in the case of a compound object, each element of the compound carries the same (objective) case. I wonder whether Pinker himself actually takes the above reasoning seriously. Does he write "between you and I" in his research papers? Does he bow to whatever style manual (probably APA) governs the writing of those papers? If he does bow to convention, then why does he do so? That, too, would be an interesting subject to explore.


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PROOFREADING AND EDITING SERVICE!

While this service is primarily for Korean academics needing a bit of polishing for their research papers and articles, it's also for anyone else who thinks their writing might need help.

A bit of background:

While I was living in Seoul, South Korea, I worked as an English (and French) teacher, but also did plenty of proofreading and editing work. Sometimes this meant helping students out; sometimes it meant working with college professors and corporations; once, it even meant working for a major Korean business magazine for several months. I have plenty of experience as both a proofreader and an editor, and in my current day job, I have helped many high-school students with their college-admissions essays.

The process:

Once the schedule and payment have been figured out, the client then sends payment first and emails me the document(s) in question (MS Word format, please— .doc or .docx are both OK), and I will proof and/or edit them in the allotted time (I take no action until payment has been received). This phase will involve some back-and-forth with the client, as I'll probably have several questions regarding the client's intended meaning. By the end of the allotted time, I will have sent the client a final copy, along with any notes and commentary, if the client has opted for such.

For those needing lengthier papers proofed, the first thing I need to know is how much time I'm being given. If the job must be done in less than a week, I consider it a "rush order," and I charge more for such work. Basic rates are as follows:

Proofing only: $20 per 250 words.
Proofing plus critical assessment (no editing): $22 per 250 words.
Proofing plus editing: $30 per 250 words.

See the "cheaper options" listing, below, for more details on rush jobs and package deals.

For jobs under 1000 words, I calculate word count and price without doing any rounding or estimation; above 1000 words, I round down to the nearest 500 (e.g., a 2999-word document will be treated as a 2500-word document for pricing purposes; a 2499-word document will be treated as a 2000-word document, etc.).


Proofreading and editing: what's the difference?

While these two terms have somewhat overlapping definitions, I take proofreading to mean the correction of errors in style, grammar, mechanics, spelling, etc. Content is not changed; the main point of proofreading is to allow the author to speak in as clear a voice as possible—a voice untrammeled by distracting mistakes.

Editing is more. To edit means both to proofread and to alter content with the purpose of making a work internally consistent. If I, as a proofreader, see a flaw in the logic of an argument, I won't correct it. As an editor, however, I will concern myself with logic, wordiness ("can this paragraph be merged with another or dropped altogether?"), tone, and other matters that affect a work's content.

For this reason, I don't edit research papers. Academic papers must be written entirely by the original author(s). If I intrude in this process by altering content, I essentially become a co-author, which is highly unethical. I am willing, however, to provide editorial feedback on a separate sheet of notes, which the author may use or ignore as s/he pleases. In the meantime, I merely proofread research papers.

NB: I do not double-charge people who have paid for critique and who re-submit their papers to me for a second evaluation after they have made revisions to their first draft. Second-round proofing and critique are free.

Cheaper options:

If you're planning to be a repeat customer, I have cheaper payment options available. Here are some package deals.


Proofing only:

The basic rate for this service is $20 per 250 words.
RUSH JOB: $25 per 200 words, plus a $30 one-time fee.
(One-time fee still applicable with package deal.)

1. The 25,000-word proofing-only package:
    $1600 for what would normally cost $2000 (save 20%).

2. The 50,000-word proofing-only package:
    $2800 for what would normally cost $4000 (save 30%).

3. The 100,000-word proofing-only package:
    $4400 for what would normally cost $8000 (save 45%).


Proofing plus critical assessment (no editing)—for writers of research papers:

The basic rate for this service is $22 per 250 words.
RUSH JOB: $27 per 200 words, plus a $30 one-time fee.
(One-time fee still applicable with package deal.)

1. The 25,000-word proof-and-assess package:
    $1760 for what would normally cost $2200 (save 20%).

2. The 50,000-word proof-and-assess package:
    $3080 for what would normally cost $4400 (save 30%).

3. The 100,000-word proof-and-assess package:
    $4840 for what would normally cost $8800 (save 45%).


Proofing plus editing:

The basic rate for this service is $30 per 250 words.
RUSH JOB: $35 per 200 words, plus a $30 one-time fee.
(One-time fee still applicable with package deal.)


1. The 25,000-word proof-and-edit package:
    $2400 for what would normally cost $3000 (save 20%).

2. The 50,000-word proof-and-edit package:
    $4200 for what would normally cost $6000 (save 30%).

3. The 100,000-word proof-and-edit package:
    $6600 for what would normally cost $12,000 (save 45%).


The above packages mean that I'll proofread several of your papers, articles, etc., up to the 25,000- or 50,000- or 100,000-word limit. Beyond that, I have to charge extra for any "spillover." You have the option of buying another package, of course; once you engage my services, I'll maintain an "account" to keep track of how many words you've used up. Note that being a repeat customer is, ultimately, much cheaper than consulting me sporadically.


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