ENGL 3130: Business Writing

Professor:If you've never met a professor you might wonder what we do. We do research, write grant applications, write articles and books, review colleagues' work, give public presentations, participate in university governance, and teach (distill hundreds of books and articles into syllabi, create quizzes and tests, assign papers, offer feedback, grade, write letters of recommendation, design new classes). Most of the professors you will meet care deeply about teaching. They just wish they had more time for it. Remember there's a difference between learning and being entertained. Remember also that you don't have to like someone to learn from them. Dr. George Pullman
Office address: 2424, 25 Park Place
Phone: 404 - 413 - 5458When you do call someone, have a voice message prepared in advance. No more than 10 seconds. Speak slowly. Just say who you are, what you want, how to reach you. Repeat your number at the end, s-l-o-w-l-y. If you need more than 10 seconds, use email or face-to-face. I never use the phone, so with me, go straight to email.
Office Hours: I am available via gpullman@gsu.eduWhen emailing a professor, the subject line should be class number: day, time. Like this, for example, ENGL 3130: TR, 8:00. That way you don't have to introduce or explain yourself. The proper salutation is, 'Professor Lastname.' Don't use txt spk. Use complete sentences and standard punctuation. Don't ask questions Google answers. Don't ask, 'What did I miss?' (unless you want to antagonize your professor). Sign off with Thank you, and your name. Don't expect an immediate response. Many professors answer email only during a set time, say between 4 and 5 pm. I'm compulsively responsive to email but tend to maintain radio silence between 10 pm and 5 am..
I am early to class and frequently stay late, if you want to speak face-to-faceDon't be anonymous. Go to your professors' office hours at least once; early on is best. (Think of a smart question first: why did you get interested in SUBJECT HERE? What do SUBJECT majors do when they graduate? Most people, not just profs., like to talk about themselves, especially indirectly). Generally speaking, if you behave as though you take your learning seriously, a prof. will take you seriously. Otherwise, you are just a face in a sea of ever-changing faces..
You may also make an appointment, office, Skype/FaceTime, coffee shop.

Sentence-Level Revision Exercises

Below is a collection of sentences culled from my own and other people's writing. Most of them have a single stylistic imperfection. Some have several. See if you can correctly re-write each one. Check your revision by clicking on the sentence. While the suggested revisions are accurate, there may be alternatives. Your guiding principle is always the fewest words necessary. If you want to challenge yourself, see how quickly you can revise 10 randomly selected.