Want your essay read? ***PLEASE READ***

[Erin]

(This message is posted in all the essay forums.)

Let's keep it simple:

• Before posting your essay, run it through a word processing program with a spell-checker and punctuation/grammar checker.
• Want somebody to comment on your essay? Then comment on another person's essay. Simple as that--give a little, get a little. The forum is a collaborative effort.

Why?

First, the spelling and punctuation problems. Literally thousands of essays have been posted on TestMagic, here in the TestMagic forum, and on the TOEFL Essay part of the website. I personally have read over 3,000 essays on TestMagic in the last few years. Word processors, such as Microsoft Word, can do a great job of finding spelling and punctuation errors, and they can do so very, very quickly, much faster than a human can.

By copying and pasting your essay into a word processor before posting in the forums, you are doing three important things. First, you are helping yourself to learn--you will see your mistakes right away. Second, you are helping others help you--by correcting your own minor mistakes, other people can focus on the more important errors. Finally, you are being polite--it is simple common courtesy to do what you can before you ask others for help.

Second, it is vital that everybody help out a little bit, especially if you're looking for help. Literally thousands of people visit TestMagic every day, studying for the GMAT, GRE, SAT, TOEFL, TSE, and more, and collectively, they have an enormous wealth of information to share. But people need to share information and give a bit of help if they want to receive help. Yes, this is obvious, but it bears repeating nonetheless.

I know a lot of people will say that they aren't good writers or that they don't know enough English to comment on the essays of others. That's a good point, and is valid to an extent, but I have three counterarguments. First, any constructive comment is better than none at all. Even a simple, I thought your essay was good, even though I couldn't understand everything is better than nothing. And receiving even a small comment often creates (in the original poster) that nice warm, fuzzy feeling that we all love. Second, and I don't mean this in an unkind way, if you honestly cannot comment on an essay, then you probably aren't ready to write one; in other words, if you can write an essay, you should be able to comment on one, plain and simple. Third, well... Um, it just slipped my mind while I was typing. Sorry, hope it'll come back. :o

So, if you've made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I hope it helps the essay forums a bit! For those of you who like to help out, feel free to tell people to read the sticky post at the top!

[bsfer]

this is a good essey, need not any comments. i think. haha..
I am sheerly agree with you opinion.

[traflee]

hi Erin,

Good suggestions!!!! U just mentioned U have being reading the TestMagic forum for past few years, "I personally have read over 3,000 essays on TestMagic in the last few years." May i know how come? Just curious man!!!

[offlimitzzz]

hmm .... yes guys do comment on others essay .I happen to read - - number of views=10 , comments=NULL ..not fair? how much time ..just 5 mins na guys so do comment .

[ali_ft]

nice effort

[coolpaggy]

Erin Sir that was another master stroke from you..............

[kunal227]

hi this is my first argument that i m posting to testmagic please rate it and suggest the improvements.

The following appeared in the editorial section of a newsmagazine.

"Some states are creating new laws that restrict the use of handheld cell phones by drivers of automobiles. Such legislation, however, is sheer folly. Although some people with cell phones undoubtedly cause problems on the road, including serious accidents, the majority do not. Besides, problems are also caused by drivers who are distracted by any number of other activities, from listening to the radio to disciplining children. Since there is no need to pass legislation restricting these and other such activities, it follows that there is no need to restrict people's freedom to use a device that they find convenient—or helpful in emergencies."

Discussion:

I think here the author has made a good amount of assumptions in taking a decision about an uninvestigated situation. There are some critical things that the author has overlooked in calling the legislations if any as completely unwanted. Now let us check those assumptions.

First of all the author has assumed that many states are creating new laws to discourage the use of handheld cell phones but he has not supported this statement with any kind of substantial data for e.g. names of the states and kind of law imposed. If the so called laws really exist do they restrict the drivers completely from using the cell phones? Say, ‘if a person has driving license then he/she cannot have a cell phone.’ Thus without any statistical evidence the author has called formulation of laws as “sheer folly”.

Secondly the author sounds very confident in saying that only a few people are causing problem while using the cell phones. Here again the missing thing is the statistics in form of say % of people using cell phones on road and causing problems and that too driving. It may be possible that pedestrians using the phones may be a large percentage of people not causing any accidents, whereas drivers are the ones who are making a real havoc by causing serious accidents. The author should mention data regarding this to support his confidence but has failed to do so.

Finally the author tries to give some weak support to his argument by drawing attention to other activities like listening to radio, disciplining children, etc. distracting the drivers. But here we can question the author whether he has made any kind of investigation that no laws exist for the same and can he present any evidence on it? Also, has he made any comparative study about the potential of the so called other activities with using the cell phones in distracting the drivers? Also is he sure enough that these activities are done by the drivers only and no else sitting in the automobiles say other parent as far as disciplining the child is concerned? Regarding emergency the driver can park his automobile and use the cell phone.

At the end I would say that the author has made a meager or no study on the situations arising on roads due use of cell phones by the people who are actually driving. He could have made his argument more strong by presenting some data for e.g. percentages regarding cell phones users classified into drivers and non-drivers on the road and the ones actually causing accidents, also data about the severity of laws imposed if any, etc. Thus looking at argument I did not find any strong point for considering the point stated by the author.

[prasanna_gre]

Hi kunal,
It looks to me like u are trying to over emphasise on data. Problems in the usage of handheld cell phone is obvious. U dont need statistics to prove that. Do u?
At the same time we also the importance of time & cell phones as of today. We cannot afford not using a cellphone. So there are 2 solutions for this : Either dont pass the law, leave it as it was, Or modify the law as to use the cellphone only after taking the vehicle off-road.

[NotCrazy]

Hi Erin~
I am so gonna following thy suggestion

btw, thy avatar is cool : P

[scorpios]

Hi Erin~

I will firmly follow your advice ,too