Business Letters 28 February Days to CAHSEE!

Miss Barron’s Students C/O Miss Barron A MacArthur Blvd. Santa Ana, CA CAHSEE Writers California Department of Education 1430 N. Street Sacramento, CA 95814

CAHSEE Writers California Department of Education 1430 N. Street Sacramento, CA Miss Barron’s Students C/O Miss Barron A177 Segerstrom High School 2301 MacArthur Blvd. Santa Ana, CA February 28, 2012 Dear Students: We understand that you and your teachers at Segerstrom High School have been preparing vigorously for your upcoming CAHSEE. Good job so far! The reason for this letter is that we are concerned that you may not know how to write a proper business letter yet. After writing Biographical Narrative, Persuasive, Response to Literature, and Expository essays, we realize you have already come a long way in your preparation. The good news is that all of the organizational techniques that you already know how to use can be applied to business letters. As you learn how to write business letters, remember that you should use one of the four other modes of writing within the body of your letter. For example, if the prompt asks for a letter requesting a replacement product, you can use biographical narrative to describe how you came to purchase the item and discovered the product to be defective. Some of you may suspect that the business letters cannot be as easy as just writing one of the other essays with a couple formatting changes, but simply put, all you have to do is add some headings and greetings. Good luck on the CAHSEE! Regards, CAHSEE Writers

Let’s start by looking at the standard… How is a business letter really different from an essay?

Writing Standard 2.5 Write business letters: a. Provide clear and purposeful information and address the intended audience appropriately. b. Use appropriate vocabulary, tone, and style to take into account the nature of the relationship with, and the knowledge and interests of, the recipients. c. Highlight central ideas or images. d. Follow a conventional style with page formats, fonts, and spacing that contribute to the document’s readability and impact.

It also has more specific purposes…

Purpose Three Most Common Purposes: 1.To Request  Request a replacement or refund for malfunctioning merchandise.  Request information.  Request action to be taken. 2.To Complain  Often this implies or directly requests action to be taken to change a situation that the writer does not like. 3.To Inform  Sending requested information to a business

Request (v.) 1. to ask for, esp. politely or formally: He requested permission to speak. 2. to ask or beg; bid (usually fol. by a clause or an infinitive): to request that he leave; to request to be excused. Synonyms: appeal, apply, beg, beseech, bespeak, call for, desire, entreat, inquire, petition, seek (dictionary.com) Notice: To request has a polite and formal connotation to it. It does not mean demand or require. It is a very civil way to interact with someone else.

It has a few formatting technicalities…

Format of a Business Letter Heading – Name and address of the person sending the letter Inside Address – Name and address of the person/business you are sending the letter to Salutation – The greeting (e.g., Dear_____, To Whom It May Concern:) Body – The information that the writer wants to communicate (mode of essay) Closing – Nice way to end the letter (e.g., Sincerely, Regards, etc.,) Signature – The writer signs his or her name at the bottom of the letter

Here’s What It Looks Like: 1. Heading 2. Inside Address 5. Closing 3. Salutation 4. Body 6. Signature

Good question! It’s all about your audience. But how do I “request” information and communicate in a civil way without sounding mean?

Elements to use in a business letter…to get what you want!!! In the real world, you will probably not know the recipient of your business letter, so think FORMAL for all parts of the letter: Vocabulary – Use words that the audience will definitely know, and that will let your audience see that you know what you are talking about. Tone (attitude of the writer toward the topic—you should definitely know that by now) – This should be formal, as if you were talking to your principal or someone who is interviewing you. Style – This should also be formal: NO SLANG, NO CONTRACTIONS (e.g., can’t, isn’t, etc.).

How do I know which mode of essay to put in the body of the letter ?

Consider the Prompt Is the prompt asking you to describe something that has been taking place? (Hint: Use Biographical Narrative) Is the prompt asking you to give information about certain things? (Hint: Use Expository) Does the prompt ask you to convince somebody to do something? (Hint: Use Persuasive – this is the one that you will most likely encounter)

Sample Outline (For Persuasive) First: Get Block Style Done Heading Inside Address Date Salutation (Don’t forget the Closing and Signature at the End)

For the Body Intro Hook Thesis (This will be what you are requesting) Body Paragraphs Topic Sentence Reason Analysis Interpretation Counterargument (in at least one paragraph) Concluding Sentence Conclusion Revisit Hook Call to Action (Reiterate what you want the recipient to do) Subtle Rephrase of Thesis Statement

Just to review Before your essay… Use a Heading – Where it’s Coming From  Your Name  Your Title (If applicable)  Address  City, State ZIP Use an Inside Address – Where it’s Going  Recipient’s Name  Recipient’s Title (If applicable)  Recipient’s Address  Recipient’s City, State ZIP Date  Month Day, Year  Example: February 26, 2010 Salutation  Dear_________,  To Whom It May Concern:

Just to review After the essay… Closing  Sincerely,  Yours Truly,  Thank you,  Regards, (Notice the comma!) Signature  Sign your name  Leave 5 spaces for signature, then type or print your name