Academic Writing--Writing Letters for Different Occasions

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For Monday's class (October 26), write up some notes and suggestions, based on the following five rhetorical situations (we will use your notes as a starting point for a class discussion):

1. Close Family Member:

Write a note to one of your parents, asking him or her if you can borrow the car to take to Lake Ohrid for a week .

2. Good Friend:

Write a note to your best friend, asking him or her if you can borrow 1,000 denars, which you will pay back in two weeks, after you get paid.

3. Acquaintance:

Write a note to a classmate, asking for a ride to Aleksander the Great Aerodrome, for a flight that departs at 5:30 in the morning. You are not very close to this person, but he or she has a large van that can hold your three suitcases.

4. Business Relationship:

Write a letter to your bank representative, asking for a 500,000 denar loan for a new automobile.

5. Employer:

An elderly uncle needs to go to Germany for a very serious operation, and you need to accompany him. Write a letter to your boss, asking for two weeks unpaid leave from work.

Each of the above situations requires a different tone or register; therefore, you need to decide the kind of letter or note you would write for each of these five occasions. For example, will your letter be formal or informal? Semi-formal (which is somewhere between informal and formal)?

Also, consider this: the occasion may differ from person to person. For example, in some families, the relationships between parents and children are more formal than in other families. Also, some employers and employees are close friends, so asking for time off may require a less formal approach.

The point is, it is up to you to decide the level of formality you wish to use in writing someone for a favor, but that level should be based upon the kind of relationship you enjoy with the person, who may or may not grant you your request.

Keep this in mind: the person from whom you are asking a favor enjoys a position of power over you because he or she has the ability to grant or deny your request; therefore, for a positive outcome, you have to write a persuasive letter.
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