LettersGroup 3:•Abdullah AlShammasy•Jieteng Luo•Marco Colella•Stefania Angelini

What are letters ?

Why Letters ?

To Whom and for Whom• This genre is global and it can be written and

read by everyone for all sorts and purposes.

Figure 1: The universality of letters

Formal Letters• There is a conventional template to this form, which

is usually followed.

Figure 2: Formal letter blueprint

Types of Formal letters

An Example:

Figure 3: Example of a cover letter

More Examples

Figure 4: A letter form Martian Luther King to Jackie Kennedy

Figure 5: Obama addressing the public

Exercise

• Find the missing parts

Informal Letters

An Example:

Figure 6: Bonaparte to wife

More examples

Figure 7: A wedding invitation Figure 8: ‘Thank You’ letter

Exercise

Write a short informal letter. Choose any topic you want.

New Era Modifications

• Circulating letters is far more efficient• The convention can be changed

Virtual Letters • Not only written but also spoken• It can be a video or a voice message

Martin Luther King form jail:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Y-64GJT8E

A Distinguishing Fact

There is no absolute formula for distinguishing formal form informal forms.

•The degree of formality (even within formal letters there can be dissimilarities) •Stature of the recipient •Exigency of subject•Qualification

Comparing

• Letters might be the largest genre?• There is only a certain scaffold, not a rule

which dictates the contents

New Idea…maybe?

• If the genre of letters is to be striped from its conventions, what will happen??

• It will be a mere vessel for sharing information; hence amorphous and covers almost all genres

Recap

• Letters are medium for knowledge exchange• It has certain conventional pattern• It can be directed for all sorts of purposes

Questions ?

Works Cited Blake, Gary. The Elements of Technical Writing. New York: Macmillan

Publishers. 1993. Print. “Epistolography”. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. 1991. Print. Figure 1: The World Tourism Organization. The Universality of Letters. 2012. dw.com. JEPG file.Figure 2: Formal letter blueprint. About.com. JEPG file.Figure 4: Martin Luther King. A letter form Martian Luther King to Jackie Kennedy. 1963. JFK Library and Museum. JEPG file.Figure 5: Obama, Barack. President Obama's Letter Welcoming Federal Employees Back to Work After Shutdown. 2013. Oregon Research. JEPG file.Figure 6: Bonaparte. Love letter Bonaparte to wife. 1795. Aromantictreasure.com. JEPG file.Figure 7: Kidd, Elmer. Wedding Reception Invitations. 2013. Blogspot.com. JEPG file.Figure 8: Roopa. Thank You Letter. 2011. Putti’s World. JEPG file.