Unit 6.1 me) atielMsiaKe) 9 Guiding questions PR Tea re Rel) rd + Howdo you write a letter to the editor? * Become familiar with the elements of letter writing. * Develop skills for writing letters of complaint or letters to the editor. Writing an effective letter isnot only a usefil sil for your Paper { writing task, but also for ie ‘Word bank eae % = ‘areeting {In this unit, you will practise writing a formal letter to the editor eter Paper 1-style writing tasks are also included in ths unit to help you prepare forthe exam. synthesise direct opening concise argument aalltoacton Model text Text 6.1 Your address —— Meliss Davenport 123 Sunrise Dr Tulsa, Oklahoma ‘Their address —— American Apparel 456 Sunset Rd. | Los Angeles, California Date —— 28 August 2000 Greeting —-— Ta whom it may concern, Direct opening —— 1 am writing to you to express my concern about your ecent advertixement featuring, Lauren Phoenix, which I find inappropriate and disturbing. Concise argument —1—1 fear that women who view thisad will think that they must look young, skinny and sexually available in order to be fashionable and atractve. By stating her weight Reference to source text —— ('150lbs of magic) claiming she ic famous and showing her sexually aruxed, you create an unealistic definition of beauty’. Such images encourage bulimic, depressed and loose behaviour. In fact studies by Martin Lindstrom suggest that sex in advertising only distracts from the product and brand being promoted. Call to action —-—1 kindly ask, for the ake of young American women, thar you pull this ad from all media. ‘Your company’s image would benefit more by focusing on'sweatshop fee instead of ‘sexually discriminatory’, Thank you for taking my opinion into consideration for future advertising campaigns. Salutation —— Kind regards, Signature Melise Davenport 274Key features explained ‘Addresses: Write your own address fst, folowedby the address of the personto whom ‘youare writing, ‘These can be written topleft or top right Date: There are different formats for writing ‘the date. Any of these can be used. Greeting: With a letter to the edtor tis importantto remain formal:H! would not be appropriate, Direct opening: Sxplain why you ae writing yyourletter You should make the point clearly atthe beginning-The reader might not wantto read the rest of your lettenif you do not state ‘yourmain point fromthe start, Concise argument:| etiersto the editor tendto be short (200-300 words) Make an effective argument inthe second paragraph, explaining why the edtor should care about the complaint Referto the stimulus text Call to action: What chould the edtordo after reading your letter? Offer the editor a ‘olution Salutation and signature: Theres no ‘eed ta be origral or especialy creative. Kind ‘regards is very busnesclke Be sure to write your name in fullbelow your sigrature. Melissa 123 Sunrise Dr. ‘Tusa, Oldahoma American Apparel 456 Sunset Ra Los Angeles,Calfornia 28 August 2020 ‘28th of August 2020 ‘August 28th 2020 Dear Mr.wor Ms. “To whom it may concern, Totheeditor ‘Jam writing to youto express my concems about.” ‘Iwould fke'to bring to yourattention.” ‘Stating [the modefs] weight (150bs of magic), claiming she is famous and lteraly showing her serualy aroused leads to bulimic, depressed and innapropriate behaviout! “Veindly ask that you pull the ad from all media” “focus on’ sweatshop free'instead of’ sexually discriminatory’ “Kind regards! Sincerely. (more personal) Allthe best, les formal) is not poite to be very direct when stating your purpose. With regards to formal letters in the Enalish-spesking world, however itis important to state very clearly why you are writing and what you want the reader to do in response (all to action). Unit 6.1 Formal letter ATL Communication skills Learning how to write various types of letters for different purposes is life skill. Writing a letter, especially in response to a passage or event, requires the ability to read, synthesise, formulate, argue and ‘communicate. Youcan practice these skills ‘throughout Chapter 6 bystudying the ‘model texts’ and ‘Key features explained’ sections. 275Exploring text types 1.1. On the left is an advertisement for Barnardo's, a charity ‘organisation for the support of children. This advertisement, that frst appeared in 2003, was considered controversial and shocking Text 6.2.isa letterto the editor, and is not very well written, Make a Ist of ‘what you can identify is wrong with it and ways in which the leter could be improved. Use a copy of the table below. What is wrong with Ce td core i Barnardo's ad on which Text 6.2 Is based CONCEPT Context Whenever you receivea letter oremail the first sentence that you read should give you a sense of context: © Whois the writer? © Whyhave they written thisletter? © Whois the reader? © When wasit written? Answering simple ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and why" questions can help to Giveyou a hetter sence of context 276 Text 6.2 Dear Barnardos, 1 was travelling on the subway the other day with my two daughters,ages4 and 10 months. My oldest girl saw yourad and completely flipped out. She asked me if something like that could happen to her or her litte sister. { had to spend the rest ofthe day reassuringher that it wouldn't. Bue {chink your poster gave her nightmares anyways. 1 don’t know why you would publish such disturbing images.You'e only scaring people, like mothers and small children The subway i a place for people to travel without having to think about dying babies and poverty. But your ad ruins that whole experience. In fact, our ad isa disgrace. Cheers, Rachel Carmichael 1.2. Write an improved version ofthe letter to the editor (Text 6.2) Complaining about the Barnardo's advertisement. Apply what you know about the key features ofthis text type, Before you write your letter, have a clas discussion and make a ist ofthe complaints that could be made about the Barnardosad. 4.3 Write your own letter to the editor in response to the Barnardo's ad Take into consideration the cass diseussions that you had in Activities 1.1 and 1.2.6.1 Formal letter Standard Level Exam preparation When tackling a 1.4 Write a 250-400 word letter in response to one of the following writing tasks. Include the Paper 1 writing task, kkey features of this text type-You have one hour and 15 minutes to write your letter. be flexible when ‘4 Identities: You have seen an advertisement that uses models to sell mobile phones You are er et esta worried that the modes’ lack of lothing and unrealistic body size et false expecations or You nave learned about young readers. Write leterto the mobile phone producer to express your concerns. (Look i Unit 13 on Beauty and i-een for sonae ideas) Letters tothe editor 1b Experiences: You have just returned from an outdoor adventure holiday that did not go as Felltalet you had expected, The tavel agency's website promised bettt facilites and services than ‘oe orate you received. Write a letter of complaine that describes your dissatisfiction, Feel free to use your imagination when describing this outdoor adventure and the services promixed by the However, you might be Organisation (See Unit 2.2 on‘Extreme sports for some ideas and inspiration.) ated to write ater Hamas ingenuity. You have recently been to an exhibition a an at gallery The fapired arte Of bfelsoraletter explores themes that you find very interesting. He uses techniques that are very contemporary Of application. Rather and materials that are Very uriconventional. Write a letter to the gallery, in which you offer than sticking toad) Your response to his arrwosk. (Go to Unit 3.3 for inspiration.) Hee eee keep key concepts in to Higher Level Exam preparation lato youre wring towrite! 4.5. Write a 450-600 word letter tothe editor in response to one of the flowing writing tasks Include the key features ofthis text type You bave one hour and 30 minutes to write this a Human ingenuity: You have just heard someone speak about the effect of technology on Jhuman relationships. She has made claims that younger generations are addicted to their devices disappointed by their career choices and self-absorbed by social media. Write a letter to the speaker in which you agree or disagree with her point of view Feel free to refer to «examples from your own life experience, where relevant. (Go to Unit 3.2.0n Technology and Jhuman interaction’ for ideas) 1b Social rganisaton: A local university wants to top its affirmative action postive programme, where ethnic minorities are given scholarships and grants to attend the university. Write a letter to the university giving them your opinion on the matter (Turn to Besides focusing on technclogy and migration for ideas and inspiration.) © Sharing the planet: There sa politician in your wate or country. running for an elected position. He has promised to re-open coalmines and stop investments in renewable sources of energy: What’ more, he does not believe in global warming, Write him a leter expressing your opinion om this matter. (Look at Unit 5.2 for inspiration.) 277