Q1. What are the six required parts of a business letter?
Q2. What are the five required parts of a friendly letter? How does friendly letter differ from a business letter?
Q3. How does full block style differ from semi-block (aka indented) style? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each style?
Q4. I think your textbook gets memo (aka memorandum) writing wrong. Their lone example is too much like a letter. They are supposed to be different. The required parts of a memo are 1. the word memo, 2. To:, 3. From:, 4. Initial, 5. Re: (subject); 6. Body; 7. Additional recipients (optional), and 8. Enclosures (optional). How does a memo (memorandum) differ from a business letter?
Q5. Compose a business letter to an individual, politician, privately-held company, partnership or corporation with whom you have had some difficulty as a consumer, customer, constituent, or business person. It must include all the required parts of a business letter to receive credit for this assignment. If you do not know their real address, you may look it up or make one up.
Q6. Compose a friendly letter to a hero, celebrity (athlete, writer, or movie, television or recording star), friend, former teacher, or politician. Include the required parts of a friendly letter. Failure to do so, and you fail the assignment.
Q7. In a business letter, what does a proper heading include? Why should a proper heading include the date? If it doesn't have the date it fails the assignment.
Q8. What are some things you should keep in mind when working under a time-sensitive deadline?
Q9. According to your text, what is the purpose of routine and positive messages?
Q10. What are the purposes of each of the following types of messages:
- cover messages or transmittals
- acknowledgements
- inquiries
- inquiry responses
- sales and promotions
Q11. What is meant by the term(s), "sensitive and negative messages"?
Q12. What are "routine and high stakes refusals"? How should they be handled in business communications?
Q13. What are adjustment messages? What are full adjustments? What are partial adjustments? What are collections letters or messages? In general, how should they be handled?
Q14. In general, what are some things to keep in mind when dealing with international correspondence?
Q15. What are some things to keep in mind when you are dealing with deadlines regarding sensitive and negative messages?
Q16. For each of the following,
a.) summarize the column in a couple of sentences;
b.) briefly summarize the writer's message(s);
c.) tell what you like or dislike, agree or disagree with about the column, and
d.) state what you learned about (essay) composing after reading the column.
- Judith Geer, "Theater Can Change Minds and Lives"
- Sunil Baldwa, "Getting Acclimated to WNY Can Take Time"
- Lacina Onco, "The Debt for Diploma System is Fundamentally Unjust"
- Burt Siemens, "A Remembrance of Vin Scully's Gift"