The correspondence between Evelyn Trace and Professor Jedenacht marks the beginning of a writer-critic relationship, where Trace seeks Jedenacht’s advice and expertise while Jedenacht seeks to learn more about Trace. The name is unisex, and the address is general; despite his best efforts, Trace remains resilient to identification. The first poem, ‘Falling Off the Scaffold,’ is about an observer seeking to know more about the life of a mummy in a museum. Jedenacht observes that free verse requires poetic control, and recommends that Trace write in meter. This suggestion is accepted, and in the next letter Trace encloses an emblem poem. Jedenacht’s reply observes that this went out of style a while back, and recommends that Trace try again. After another poem, Jedenacht suggests that Trace switch to writing prose; as the correspondence continues, Trace writes three stories: one about a boy who incorporates the ashes of his dead father into a lucite bookend, the second about a girl who commits suicide, and the third about a dying woman who wants the end of her life to mimic the plot of a story she wrote called ‘Famous Last Words.’ Trace reveals that she is a woman, and addresses Jedenacht as ‘Dear Sir,’ having become convinced that the person critiquing her work must be a man. The third and final story is a thank-you for the work they have done together as well as an admission of regret that it can go on no longer. Jedenacht thanks Trace for her hard work, and comments that if they had continued, then this latest story might have been good enough to feature in Jedenacht’s literary journal. This last letter is signed Kathy Christine Jedenacht.