writing letters

Excerpt on letter writing from The Call to Write by John Trimbur:

“Letters are easy to recognize. They have a predictable format that usually includes the date of writing, a salutation (“Dear Jim”), a message, a closing (such as “Sincerely” or “Yours truly”), and a signature. There are many occasions for letter writing, and the genre of letters can be divided into a number of subgenres, such as personal letters, thank-you notes, email, text messages, business letters, letters to the editor, and letters of appeal. Nonetheless, letters are easy to identify because of the way they appear on the page, computer screen, or cell phone.”

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The following is a list of helpful resources to help you get started on writing a letter.

Handouts

• Adding Perspectives to Argument
• Audience and Purpose
• Business Letters
• Opinion Essays
• Rhetorical Analysis for Professional Documents
• Rhetorical Appeals
• What is a Genre and Why Should I Care

Personal/Open Letter

• Preparing a Personal Letter:PDF from Kent State University that provides overview and sample letters
• Personal Letters:  Information from Purdue OWL.
• Writing a Personal Letter:  YouTube video

Business Letter

• Writing the Basic Business Letter: The Purdue Online Writing Lab explains basic business letter writing.
• Business Letters:  Site from Writing Studio at CSU that discusses different types of business letters
• The Writer's Handbook:  Business Letter:  Information on format from University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center.
• The Key Forms of Business Writing: Business Letter:  YouTube video
• Sample Business Letters

Letter to the Editor

• Letters to the Editor:  Information from Writing Studio at CSU on different types of periodical letters
• Letter to the Editor:  YouTube video
• Letter to the Editor:  PowerPoint overview

Memos

• Memos:  Overview from Purdue Owl
• Writing Effective Memos:  Information from University of Maryland University College
• Purdue Owl:  Memo Writing Part 1 and Part 2:  You Tube videos